Gino Contilli

He began his studies at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in 1925, graduating in 1931. He composed his first works during the years of training in the specialization course with Ottorino Respighi. Since 1942 he has been director of the "Corelli" Musical Institute of Messina (later Conservatory, a detached section of the Francesco Cilea Conservatory), alongside his didactic activity the composition following more and more the dodecaphonic language, typically expressed in the four a cappella choirs (which won in 1947 the first prize in the competition of the Roman Philharmonic Academy). From 1966 to 1977 he was director of the Niccolò Paganini Conservatory. He has published with the Universal Editions and with the Suvini Zerboni Editions. Much of his archive is kept at the "Goffredo Petrassi" Institute of Musical Studies in Latina.