Considered a pioneer in the use of electronic and avant-garde techniques of composition. Born October 24, 1925, in Oneglia, Italy. First music lessons were from his grandfather Adolfo and father Ernesto who were both musicians. In 1944, (World War II) a hand wound prematurely ended his career as a concert pianist. Studied with Giorgio Federico Ghedini and Giulio Cesare Paribeni at the Milan Conservatory. In 1952, studied with Luigi Dallapiccola at Tanglewood during the Berkshire Music Festival.
Married singer Cathy Berberian in 1950. She has premiered many of his works. They had one daughter before they divorced in 1964. Berberian died in 1983. Second marriage in 1965 to Susan Oyama (psychologist) with whom he had two children - a son and a daughter. They divorced in 1971. Third marriage in 1977 to musicologist Talia Pecker. They had two sons. Berio died May 27, 2003, at the age of 77.
Worked for the Italian Broadcasting Corporation from 1953 to 1960. Co-founded Italy's first studio for electro-acoustic music (Studio di fonologia musicale) in Milan with Bruno Maderna in 1955. Taught at Tanglewood, Mills College and Harvard University in the United States and at Darmstadt and Dartington Summer School in Europe. Also taught as a member of the composition faculty at the Juilliard School of Music from 1965 to 1971. Founded the Juilliard Ensemble in 1967. Ran the electro-acoustic department of IRCAM from 1974 until 1980. Conductor/Artistic Director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra in 1975. Artistic Director of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana in 1975-76. Became Musical Director for the newly founded Regional Orchestra of Tuscany in 1982. In 1984, was Artistic Director of the Maggio Musicale in Florence. Founded an institute for new music (live electronics) - Tempo Reale - in Florence in 1987 and served as artistic director. Became an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 1988. In 1993-94, was a Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. Interim Director of the St. Cecilia Academy, Rome in 1999. Artistic Director of the Saarländischer Rundfunk festival "Music in the 21st Century", Elected President and Artistic Director of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome (2000). Artistic Director of the European project "L'Arte della Fuga" (Spoleto, Den Haag, Lyon, London) in 2001. Resides in Tuscany.
Prizes and awards received include the Ernst von Siemens Prize (Munich -1989), the Wolf Foundation Prize (Jerusalem - 1991), the Mario Novaro Prize (Geneva - 1994), Praemium Imperiale (Japanese Imperial Prize for the Arts - 1996) and Premio Internazionale "Luigi Vanvitelli" (Caserta - 2001). Received honorary degrees from the City University of London (1980), the University of Siena (1995), the University of Edinburgh and the University of Turin (both 1999). Featured composer at the Milan Musica Festival (1996), the Présences Festival in Paris (1997), the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (1998), the Salzburg Festival, the Archipel Festival in Geneva, the Gulbenkian Festival in Lisbon, and the Gütersloh Festival (all 1999).
His best-known works are Visage, Sequenza III, and Sinfonia. His music is published by Universal Edition.
Bio compiled from the following sources:
Simms, Bryan R. Music of the Twentieth Century: Style and Structure. 2nd Edition. New York: Schirmer Books and London, Mexico City, New Delhi, Singapore, Sydney & Toronto: Prentice Hall International, 1996.
Morgan, Robert P. Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991.
http://www.universaledition.com/truman/en_templates/view.php3?f_id=564&spr=en
http://www.themodernword.com/joyce/music/berio.html
http://www.naxos.com/composer/berio.htm
http://www.thing.net/~grist/golpub/fowler/berio/beriobio.htm
http://www.emory.edu/MUSIC/ARNOLD/berio.html
