Salvatore Sciarrino Receives Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice Biennale

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in music has been awarded to Sicilian composer Salvatore Sciarrino by the Venice Biennale. Biennale Music Director Ivan Fedele praised Sciarrino for dedicating his life to composition with a spirit of research and invention, giving decisive impetus to the renewal of contemporary music. Born in Palermo in 1947, Sciarrino began composing at age twelve and held his first concert at fourteen. Influenced by Ravel, Debussy, and especially Beethoven, he developed a compositional logic based on complex musical aggregates and sound masses, creating discontinuous, polymorphic time. His work transcends the correspondence between music and figurative art. Sciarrino made his symphonic debut in 1969 at the 32nd International Festival of Contemporary Music in Venice with "Ancòra (berceuse)". Since then, his music has been regularly featured by the Biennale and in major theaters worldwide. The award was announced in 2016.