Biography
Born in Terni in 1979, Riccardo Panfili obtained a diploma in piano with full marks, honours and special mention, under the guidance of Elio Maestosi. He then studied composition under Ivan Vandor and obtained a diploma with full marks and honours.
At a very young age, he wrote his first compositions under the precious guidance of Vieri Tosatti. From 2003 to 2006 he attended courses held by Azio Corghi at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, and at the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna. Subsequent to the courses held in 2004 and in 2005, Corghi awarded him the Diploma of Merit.
In 2006 he won the First Prize in the Santa Cecilia International Composition Competition in Rome with the orchestral work Danzario, which had its world première on 7-9-10 February 2009 in the prestigious context of Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, conducted by Antonio Pappano, and was later performed during the Canaries Music Festival (on 14 February in Tenerife and on 16 February in Las Palmas).
He has been the recipient of numerous International Awards: First Prize in the International Composition Competition “A Camillo Togni” (score of 114 ; Mario Bortolotto as president of the jury); Second Prize in the 6th edition (2008) of the “Henri Dutilleux” Composition Competition (Henry Dutilleux himself as president of the jury, 219 participants from 41 countries); Third Prize in the “Egidio Carella” International Composition Competition (Ivan Fedele president of the jury); selected at the 7th International Competition organized by Taukay editions in Udine; Third Prize in the 2008 “Ton de Leeuw” International Composition Competition (second edition, Tirana); awared the “Nino Carloni” Prize in 2011, assigned by Italian Music Critics, and winner of the Play.it Prize in 2012. In 2010 RadioRai selected his piece Le Roi Bombance (commissioned by the Orchestra Nazionale della Rai di Torino, and first performed at the RaiNuovaMusica festival in Turin) for the prestigious International Rostrum of Composers in Lisbon.
His works have been performed by Orchestra Nazionale di S. Cecilia in Rome, Orchestra della Filarmonica a La Scala in Milan, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai in Turin, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra Filarmonica in Turin, Orchestra della Fondazione “A. Toscanini” in Parma, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, Kammerakademiae Berlin, HRO Orchestra in Lucerne, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Prometeo Quartet, Dedalo Ensemble, Ensemble InCanto, Thema Ensemble, Ensemble Dutilleux in Tours, Sestetto Stradivari, Ton de Leuuw Ensemble in Tirana etc.; by conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano, Fabio Luisi, Juraj Valčuha, Maxime Pascal, Carlos Izcaray, Jonathan Webb, Christian Järvi, Valerio Galli, Michele Spotti, Lorenzo Passerini, Tito Ceccherini, Pietro Mianiti, Fabio Maestri, Vittorio Parisi; by soloists including Simone Rubino, Alessio Allegrini, Alessandro Carbonare, Alessandro Deljavan.
For several years now he has been regularly collaborating with the percussion group Tetraktis. In 2012 he released a CD of his compositions (Inventions), published by Decca , with Alessandro Carbonare – clarinet – , and Tetraktis – percussions.
In April 2014, L’Aurora, probabilmente, a work for large orchestra, was performed at Teatro alla Scala in Milan (commissioned by Teatro alla Scala itself) under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano.
Also in 2014 there were the première of Inside, for clarinet and orchestra, commissioned by Teatro Lirico in Cagliari conducted by Alessio Allegrini, and the première of a string quartet — Lo smalto sul nulla — commissioned by Internationale Kammermusikfestival Nürnberg 2014.
In 2016 the piece L’Aurora, probabilmente has been performed, in a new version, by Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, and in the same year there was the première of Oltre la linea (Über die Linie) a new work for large orchestra commissioned by Teatro a La Scala in Milan, under the baton of Fabio Luisi.
In november 2016 the same piece was performed in Maggio Musicale in Florence conducted by Juraj Valčuha. In Dicember 2017, Fabio Luisi conducted a new symphonic piece, Abitare la battaglia, commissioned by Maggio Musicale in Florence, and in the same year the piece for solo violin, Esercizi di sovversione, (commissioned by the Paganini Award of Genoa) was performed by the participants in the International Violin Competition Paganini Award of Genoa, as a compulsory piece of contemporary music for the final stage of the competition.
After the composition of the piece Memoriale for string Sextet, written for Sestetto Stradivari of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, in September 2019 the new opera Noi, due, quattro… had its première in Florence, with a libretto by Elisa Fuksas, and commissioned by Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
In 2020 he was chosen as composer in residence by the Toscanini Philharmonic in Parma, for which he wrote the piece for orchestra Questo muro, conducted by Michele Spotti, and the Concerto for percussion and orchestra dedicated to Simone Rubino and conducted by Maxime Pascal, that was also later performed in February 2022 at the Orchestra Verdi in Milan again with Simone Rubino as soloist, under the baton of Christian Järvi. Also in February 2022 Fabio Luisi conducted a new version of Abitare la battaglia, during the regular season of the Orchestra Nazionale della Rai in Turin, while the new percussions quartet, White Death, commissioned by Tetraktis ensemble, was performed in August of the same year.
Among his upcoming engagements, he was invited by Fabio Luisi as composer in residence at the Grassi Foundation (Festival della Valle d’Itria), for the three-year period 2023 – 2025, where he will work on a new opera that will debut in 2025.
Since 2010 he has had the honour of being chosen by Hans Werner Henze as his musical assistant, and in November 2013 the Steering Committee of the Hans Werner Henze Stiftung awarded him the first Fellowship of the Foundation.
His music is published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni – SugarMusic S.p.A. in Milan.
Fotografie © copyright Musacchio Iannello