Paolo Marchettini

Paolo Marchettini is an Italian-American composer, clarinetist, and pianist, originally from Rome, Italy. His extensive repertoire includes orchestral, choral, vocal and chamber music compositions. His music has been commissioned and performed by an array of international festivals including the Biennale di Venezia (Venice), PlayIt! Festival (Florence), Festival Berio (Rome), Nuova Consonanza (Rome), Villecroze (France), Baki Contempo Festivali (Azerbaijan) and others.

In 2005, Marchettini was a prizewinner in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition for his Violin Concerto. His composition Mercy for orchestra was also awarded the 2012 PlayIt! Festival prize for best symphonic piece of the year.

His compositions have been performed by prominent orchestras and ensembles, including the Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Orchestra Haydn, Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta, Orchestra di Santa Cecilia, the Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti, Algoritmo Ensemble, and Freon Ensemble. Additionally, his works have been broadcasted by Vatican Radio, Rai Radiotre, Swiss Radio, BR – Bayer Rundfunk Munich, and Radio Berlin-Brandenburg.

As an accomplished and versatile clarinetist, Marchettini has performed as soloist with orchestras in both Europe and the United States. He has collaborated directly with distinguished composers such as Goffredo Petrassi, Luciano Berio, Salvatore Sciarrino, Ennio Morricone, and Sylvano Bussotti. In recent years, Marchettini has also performed as a jazz musician in iconic venues of Harlem and lower Manhattan, including the New Amsterdam Musical Association.

A notable achievement in Marchettini’s career is his distinction as the first Italian composer in history to publish the complete cycle of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys. His compositions are published by Edizioni Curci, and Raicom.

In 2021 and 2024 Marchettini produced the albums The Months have ends and Ebony Chants with the New Focus recordings. These albums have been receiving great reviews, and they have been featured on both American and European radio stations.

Marchettini holds a doctorate in composition from the Manhattan School of Music. He studied composition, choral music, choral conducting, and clarinet at the Conservatorio and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and graduated with honors from Tor Vergata University in Rome with a degree in Arts, Music, and Show Disciplines. His teachers included Ivan Vandor, Azio Corghi, Richard Danielpour, Luciano Pelosi, and Claudio Dall’Albero.

Previously, he served as Assistant Professor of Composition at the Berklee College of Music (Boston). He currently teaches in the Theory and Composition Department at the Manhattan School of Music (New York).