Marco Betta obtained his diploma at the Conservatoire of Palermo under the guidance of Eliodoro Sollima and made further studies in Florence with Armando Gentilucci and at Città di Castello with Salvatore Sciarrino.
The principal elements of his way of making music already began to reveal themselves in his first compositions, which date from the mid-1980s: melodies suspended over harmonies and chord structures which combine the music of the ancient Mediterranean cultures with the great classical tradition and the music of our time.
Betta is among the most frequently performed Italian composers in Italy: he received commissions, including three lyric operas, from La Scala of Milan, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, the Arena of Verona, the Orchestra Sinfonica of the RAI in Rome, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana, the Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, the Sagra Musicale Umbra, the Teatro Rendano in Cosenza, etc. Abroad his compositions have been performed at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, at the Salzburg Festival and in other important centres.
From 1994 to 2002 he was the Artistic director of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.
His fourth opera, Il fantasma nella cabina, was produced in December 2002 at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo and at the Teatro Comunale in Modena, with Vincenzo La Scola, Katia Ricciarelli and Luciana Serra. The subject is taken from a short story by the popular Sicilian writer Andrea Camilleri. In 2003 Il fantasma nella cabina was produced at the Teatro Nazionale in Rome and at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Noto.
