Biography
Born in Palermo, Italy, composer and conductor Salvatore Di Vittorio is heir to the Italian neoclassical orchestral tradition “following in the footsteps of Ottorino Respighi” – Luigi Verdi, Bologna Philharmonic Academy. In 2008, the great nieces of Respighi, Elsa and Gloria Pizzoli, entrusted Di Vittorio with the restoration of several early orchestral works, including the completion of the first Concerto for violin. With his work as founding Music Director of Chamber Orchestra of New York and the acclaimed Naxos recordings Di Vittorio has been recognized internationally among the leading scholars and interpreters of Respighi’s music.
His compositions have been performed (often under his baton) by such orchestras as London Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Teatro Alla Scala of Milan, and Teatro Massimo Opera of Palermo.
Di Vittorio is known for his lyrical orchestral poems which are inspired by classical antiquity and show connections to the Italian Renaissance and Baroque. Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia premiered Ode Corelliana in 2017, after a successful Venus and Adonis. “Venus was an orchestral song and a beautiful one.” – Philadelphia Inquirer. “Venus recalls Respighi, infused with Di Vittorio’s original imagination and ability to build musical architecture that ultimately fades, like Venus’s own loveliness…[influenced by] Bach and Ravel.” – Broad Street Review. In 2015, San Diego Symphony commissioned his orchestral Sea Fanfare “On a Theme of Monteverdi” for the centennial of Balboa Park at Copley Symphony Hall.
In 2012, Di Vittorio made his conducting debut with Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana at Teatro Politeama. Giornale di Sicilia praised the evening “From Pines of Rome to the Temples of Sicily”. La Repubblica acknowledged Di Vittorio’s “neoclassical works” as the third symphony “captures Respighi’s impressionism, with [influences of] Berlioz and Strauss.” Mayor Leoluca Orlando awarded Di Vittorio the Medal of Palermo for “the great importance of Di Vittorio as a promoter of Palermo around the world” – Il Moderatore.
Di Vittorio studied composition with Giampaolo Bracali (later, conducting) and Ludmila Ulehla at Manhattan School of Music, and philosophy at Columbia University. A protégé of Piero Bellugi (Florence), Di Vittorio’s works are published by Panastudio/Casa Ricordi (Universal Music), recorded on Naxos Records, and listed in Daniels’ Orchestral Music. With Villa d’Este a Tivoli in 2016, Di Vittorio became the first Italian composer during his lifetime to donate an autograph manuscript to The Morgan Library and Museum’s music archive – followed in 2019, by his completions of Respighi’s Violin Concerto and Tre Liriche.