Paolo Gasparin (born 1978) earned Master’s Degrees in Composition (under the guidance of Nicola Straffelini), Choral Music and Choral Conducting, Music Education, and Band Instrumentation from the State Conservatories of Castelfranco Veneto and Verona (Italy). He subsequently pursued advanced studies in Composition at the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, where he studied with Azio Corghi and Mauro Bonifacio.
His academic background also includes a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of Venice, where he studied under the guidance and intellectual influence of two of Italy’s foremost contemporary philosophers, Emanuele Severino and Umberto Galimberti. Galimberti supervised his Master’s thesis, Music as Original Sacrifice. He has further developed his methodological and pedagogical training through numerous specialist courses and has studied phenomenological-existential counselling.
His compositional language reflects a wide range of influences, encompassing the avant-garde, popular music, electroacoustic and musique concrète traditions, jazz, and sacred minimalism. His catalogue includes chamber, orchestral, choral, liturgical, and popular music, as well as arrangements and orchestrations.
Among his distinctions is the National Arts Award (Premio Nazionale delle Arti, Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, 2010), chaired by Azio Corghi, for the radio drama Nevina e Fiordaprile. His music is published by Sonzogno and Edizioni Ricercate, and has been recorded by labels including Sony BMG and Da Vinci Classics. His works are regularly performed in Italy and abroad, including at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, by performers and ensembles such as Nicolas Arsenijevic, Filippo Faes, Luis Lanzarini, Marina Notaro, Stefano and Francesco Parrino, Damiano Scarpa, Irene Veneziano, Coro FVG, the Art-Philarmonik Quartet, and the Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta. His compositions have also been broadcast by RAI Radio 3.
He teaches Composition for Music Education at the Conservatory of Alessandria and is the founder and artistic director of the choral project Alumni Cantores, established in 2022.
Gasparin has also been actively involved in the Italian system of Higher Music Education. From 2007 to 2013 he served as a member of the National Council for Higher Artistic and Musical Education (CNAM) within the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research. He has served on technical committees for the Ministry of Education, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR). As a representative of the Italian AFAM (Higher Artistic and Musical Education) system, he has been invited on several occasions to address the Italian Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and has presented papers at numerous national and international conferences, including those organized by the Association Européenne des Conservatoires. He currently serves on the Evaluation Board (Nucleo di Valutazione) of the "G. Donizetti" Conservatory of Bergamo.
From 2018 to 2022 he also served as Academic served as Academic Director of the historic "F. Manzato" Institute in Treviso.
