Maximiliano Amici: Piano Works – Igor Cognolato

Maximiliano Amici, disciple of Luciano Pelosi and Stephen Jaffe, earned his master’s in music composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. He also holds diplomas in electronic music and conducting from the same Conservatory, as well as a diploma in piano performance from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples. He joined the doctoral program in composition at Duke University after a period of specialization in avantgarde music at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, with Prof. Erik Oña. He earned his Ph.D. in music composition at Duke in September 2021. His dissertation is a dramatic cantata for baritone, large chamber ensemble, male choir and electronics based on The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allan Poe, for which he also authored the libretto. His music has been played and recorded by several prominent chamber groups (Parco della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Deviant Septet, JACK Quartet, amongst others). The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI recorded his orchestral piece Flowing under the baton of Yoichi Sugiyama. He is also active as an electronic musician; the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and the Zeiträume Festival Basel have hosted his installations. Presently, he is Assistant Professor of Music and Composition at Duke Kunshan University, in China.

Maximiliano Amici, disciple of Luciano Pelosi and Stephen Jaffe, earned his master’s in music composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. He also holds diplomas in electronic music and conducting from the same Conservatory, as well as a diploma in piano performance from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples.

DCV 560 Maximiliano Amici The Pit and the Pendulum Various Artists

This recording offers an illuminating overview of Maximiliano Amici’s piano output composed between 2017 and 2024, brought to life by pianist Igor Cognolato. A composer of refined sensibility and structural clarity, Amici studied under Luciano Pelosi and Stephen Jaffe.

Education Michael has a degree in English Literature from the State University of New York. Despite having no formal music education, he has an active international career in several aspects of the music business.

Celia Swart (1994, NL) is a new music composer, saxophone player and visual artist. Growing up playing saxophone and piano, she found her love for composing.