BIOGRAPHY

Composer, pianist, conductor and producer. He graduated in Piano with Carmen Romano and Composition with Lucia Ronchetti at the Conservatory of music “G. Martucci” in Salerno with highest honors, and graduated with the highest honors, at the Master’s courses (high improvement in Composition) of Ivan Fedele at the National Santa Cecilia  Academy in Rome. His personal interest in the mechanisms related to the production of sound and the characteristics connected to the cognitive processes of music led him to obtain a Master's Degree in Psychology at the "Leonardo Da Vinci" University of Tuscany in Florence. His research also led him to publish the book “L’arte del suono” with the publishing house Blue Spiral Records (2023).

 

He has obtained some prizes in National and International Competitions, among others:

Valentino Bucchi, International competition (Roma) 2005; Progetto giovani compositori, (Forlì - Milano) 2007, (chairman Giacomo Manzoni); International composition competition Toru Takemitsu 2009, chairman Helmut Lachenmann (Tokyo - Japan);   FORUM 2010 - MUSIQUE ET VIDÉO D'ART - Montreal (Canada); "Reading Session" of The  45 International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt; Gaudeamus Music Week 2011, Amsterdam (The Netherland); Wiener Konzerthaus's International composing competition 2012 - «Towards the Next 100 Years» (Vienna - Austria), 34th Frederic Mompou International Award (Barcelona, Spain).

He has followed the masterclass of  Salvatore Sciarrino, Tristan Murail, Brian Ferneyhough, Georges Aperghis, Michael Jarrell, Marco Stroppa, Hugues Doufourt, Yan Maresz, Bruno Mantovani.

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His compositions have been performed in Europe (Italy, France, The Netherland, Spain, England, Albany, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Greece), USA (New York, Boston, Des Moines), Japan (Tokyo), Russia (Moscow), Australia (Melbourne) and broadcasted by  NRN-FM Japanese National Radio, Ö1 - Radio Österreich 1, Sveriges Radio P2, Radio-Canada, Taukay Radio, VPRO RADIO, Concertzender Radio, RADIO 4 eigentijds (Holland) Radio Rai International and Rai Radio 3 (Italy), and performed by Tokyo Philarmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de Lorraine, Choir and Orchestra of Teatro San Carlo of Napoli, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, MDR Rundfunkchor, chamber ensembles like the Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Recherche, Neue Vocal Solisten of Stuttgart, Ensemble Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Studio for new music Moscow, VocaalLAB Amsterdam, Ensemble Algoritmo, Prometeo string quartet, Ictus&Nadar Ensemble, Amsterdam Collage Ensemble, Ensemble Transmission, FontanaMix Ensemble, Aleph ensemble, Monesis ensemble, Interensemble, soloists like Mario Caroli, Valentina Coladonato, Simone Beneventi, Ann Cravero, Matteo Cesari, Francesco Filidei, Erik Carlson, Franz Josef Hauser and directed by prestigious conductors like Zsolt Nagy, Tetsuji Honna, Marco Angius, Jacques Mercier, Flavio Emilio Scogna, Frank Wörner, Philippe Nahon, Clement Power, Dennis Russel Davies.

He has developed musicology activity at the “San Carlo” theatre of Naples, obtaining a scholarship for his studies. He has been selected by the Reading Panel 2008- IRCAM (Paris - France) for the Cursus 1 in Composition and Computer Music 2008/2009, and obtaining the artistic residence at the Citè Internationale des Arts.  

He regularly plays piano both as soloist and with various formations, executing musics of classical authors, contemporary, and his compositions (has played in Rome, Milan, Naples, Barcelona (Spain), Wien, Budapest, Stuttgart).

In 2008 and 2009 he was researcher at the Mèdiathéque Mahler in Paris, developing a project of research thanks to the European Placement on the music of Iannis Xenakis.

In June 2008 the POGAS (Office for the juvenile politics and sporting activity), the GAI (Association for the circuit of the Young Italian Artists) and the PARC (general Direction for the architecture and contemporary arts of the Office for the cultural Activities) confers the scholarship MOVIN'UP 2008, to support of his composer activity for the foreign countries.

Raffaele Grimaldi was Fellow Composer at the French Academy in Rome- Villa Medici (Prix de Rome) in 2014/15 and has been composer in residence with the Aleph Ensemble - L'Arbresle (France) in 2008, N.E.M. Nouvel Ensemble Moderne - Montreal (Canada) in 2010, Schloss Solitude Akademie in Stuttgart (Germany) in 2010/2011, Fondazione Spinola-Banna per l'arte in Torino (Italy) in 2011 and received commission from prestigious festivals like the San Carlo theater of Naples, Acanthes Festival, Ass. Nuova Consonanza, Festival Valle d'Itria, Fondazione Spinola-Banna, Xenia Ensemble & Studio for new Music Moscow, Hameln 2012 Jubileum, Rudolf Eberle Foundation, Biennale di Venezia.

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In his professional activity he has held lectures and workshops about his music at some important institutions like the University of Montreal, University of Turin, the Schloss Solitude Akademie of Stuttgart, the Tschaikovsky conservatory of Moscow, the conservatory of Utrecht. 

Since 2009 he has collaborated with the writer, philosopher and poet Diego Giordano, with who has produced various musical theater works.

His works are published by Universal Music (Vienna), Raitrade (Rome - Italy) and Suvini-Zerboni (Milan - Italy).

Besides he cultivates the painting, poetry and the philosophy with particular interest.

Raffaele Grimaldi actually teaches at the "G. Martucci" State Conservatory of Salerno (Italy) and lives in Paris (France).

He is co-founder of the blog www.nuthing.eu where he writes about contemporay music.