Giovanni Piacentini

He is a composer, guitarist, educator, and promoter of contemporary music.

In 2021, he was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, and his music has been praised by Forbes as “a tribute to the important cultural heritage of music in the West.”

His works have been described as “capable of encapsulating tiny and charming worlds, as if walking through a gallery of paintings” (Winnipeg Free Press) and as “incredibly beautiful, with an accessible compositional language” (The Clarinet Magazine). Piacentini has established himself as one of the most relevant voices in contemporary Latin American classical music. As a true embodiment of the composer-performer, Giovanni has received wide international recognition as a guitarist. Arkiv magazine described his performance as having “a sophistication and control that clearly distinguish him as a virtuoso.”

In 2018, he undertook a solo tour of China and has performed his works in highly prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, the National Museum in Mexico City, and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, among many others. In addition, he has appeared as a guest guitarist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), and his music has been performed by this same institution at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, one of the most iconic stages in the world.

His music has been performed by prominent international musicians and ensembles, including the legendary guitarist Eliot Fisk, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, the Lyris String Quartet, violinists Tim Fain and Movses Pogossian, as well as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, reaffirming the scope and versatility of his compositional catalog.

He has released five albums as a composer and performer, which has earned him a featured article in the prestigious British magazine Gramophone, a nomination for the Independent Music Awards in 2020, and, more recently, a Latin Grammy nomination, consolidating his international presence within contemporary classical music.

In October 2022, he premiered his Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, dedicated to and performed by Eliot Fisk alongside the Carlos Chávez Youth Orchestra in Mexico City. In 2025, he participated in a recording at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London with the London Symphony Orchestra, an artistic milestone that reflects the international reach and relevance of his creative work.

Giovanni Piacentini graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston, obtained his master's degree in composition with the renowned American composer Richard Danielpour, and completed his doctorate in music composition at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he also served as a teaching associate in music theory and history. He has been named a Teaching Artist Fellow by the prestigious Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

He resides in Los Angeles, where he teaches at Pepperdine University and the National Children's Chorus, combining an active international career as a composer and performer with a deep pedagogical vocation and artistic leadership.