Biography

Francesco Palmieri (*1996, IT) is a Basel-based classical and electric guitarist. His activity primarily focuses on contemporary music performance, intertwining instrumental practice with artistic research in music.

At 17, he debuted as a soloist with orchestra at the Teatro dell’Aquila in Fermo (IT) and as a result, was awarded the scholarship Lina Cinque (2014). Since then, he has performed as a soloist, with orchestra, in ensembles and in various chamber music groups in numerous festivals and concert halls including Festival d’Automne (FR) Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Ruhrtriennale (DE), Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik (DE), Darmstädter Ferienkurse (DE), Acht Brücken (DE), Festival Ultraschall (DE), WDR Funkhaus (DE), Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik (AT), Bregenzer Festspiele (AT), Opernhaus Graz (AT), ZeitRäume Basel (CH), Zoom In Festival (CH), Musikfestival Bern (CH), AngelicA (IT), Festival di Nuova Consonanza (IT).

He collaborated with renowned composers such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Beat Furrer, Clara Iannotta, Enno Poppe, Oscar Bianchi, Marco Momi, Elena Rykova and Simon Steen-Andersen, among others. He performed with Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Klangforum Wien, Collegium Novum Zurich and Ensemble Phace, playing under the conductors Emilio Pomarico, Brad Lubman, Clement Power, Nacho de Paz, and Enno Poppe, among others.

He is currently a member of the musical collective Opificio Sonoro (IT), with whom participated in the production of the documentary movie, aired on RAI5, Promenade Sciarrino (Dromo Studio, 2022) and the album Sciarrino: Chamber Music (Brillant Classics, 2023), both devoted to the music of Salvatore Sciarrino.

In 2020, Contrastes Records (UK) released his debut album titled Drownwords, featuring Simon Steen-Andersen’s complete works for guitar. He also recorded for Kairos (AT) and Liquen Records (ES). His recordings and performances have also been broadcasted on SWR2, WDR3, RSI, RTS, SRF, Ö1. In 2021 he collaborated with Fabrizio di Salvo on the soundtrack of American Geography, a short film directed by Magnum Photo’s documentary photographer Matt Black.

He received grants and scholarships from numerous foundations, such as Fondation Nicati-de Luze (2021), Fondation Irène Dénéréaz (2021), Geert und Lore Blanken-Schlemper Stiftung (2020-2021), Haiku Stiftung (2019-2021), LYRA Stiftung (2020), DOMS Stiftung (2020), Giovanni-Iviglia Stiftung (2019-2020), Christine-Fromer Stiftung (2019) and Fondazione Giorgio Cini (2016). Several of his projects have been selected for artistic residencies at GRAME centre national de création musicale (2022, FR), Mattatoio Roma (2021, IT), CPMDT Geneve (2021, CH) and La Muse en Circuit (2020, FR).

In 2019, he was awarded 1st Prize at the International Competition for Interpretation of Contemporary Music Valentino Bucchi in Rome (IT) and, in 2023, he was awarded 1st Prize in the Solo Category of Concours Nicati, Swiss Competition for Contemporary Music.

Francesco Palmieri graduated in 2017 with honors and honorable mention at the Conservatoire G. B. Pergolesi of Fermo (IT) under the guidance of Claudio Marcotulli. Then he attended the III Master en Interpretación de Guitarra Clásica at the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville (ES), held by Francisco Bernier, Zoran Dukic, Antonio Duro, Pablo Marquez, Lorenzo Micheli, Paolo Pegoraro and Judicael Perroy. In 2020, he was awarded a Master’s degree in Music Performance from the Bern University of the Arts, and in 2022, a Master’s degree in Specialized Contemporary Music Performance from the Basel Academy of Music (CH), both with full marks. In 2022/23 he attended the pre-PhD program Emerging Artists-Researchers in Sound and Technology at the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology of the Zurich University of the Arts (CH).

He is currently pursuing a PhD in Artistic Research in Music at the Malmö Academy of Music (SE).