The contemporary Italian composer and pianist D’Aquila was born in Grote, Sicily in 1966. He studied composition at the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory (now renamed Alessandro Scarlatti) in Palermo under Alberto Giraldi and Marco Betta. He is the author of stage, symphonic, chamber, vocal and piano works performed on many Italian, European and American stages. Among the titles are: The operas  Little Mozart,  Alice in Wonderland, La carovana volante and  Le nuvole di carta; the ballet Il signor re diesis e la signorina mi bemolle ; the orchestral pieces Shadows of the Past, Forgotten Souls; Picciridda for voice, chorus and orchestra; Box of Memories for violin, cello and piano; Grey Havens for flute, clarinet, violin and cello, etc. In 2006 he composed another work for alphorn and string orchestra, Rohan for Carlo Torlontano. The artist’s musical language varies between the main techniques of post-Darmstadt avant-garde music, with particular emphasis on minimalism, neotonality and references to pop music.  Giovanni D’Aquila has taught composition at the Conservatory Arcangelo Corelli in Messina, since 2008 at the Conservatory Alessandro Scarlatti in Palermo.