Born in Palermo, Di Vittorio is a composer and Music Director and Conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. He began his musical studies with his father Giuseppe in Italy, then studied composition (with the late Ludmila Ulehla and Giampaolo Bracali at the Manhattan School of Music) and conducting (with Giampaolo Bracali, Francesco Carotenuto, and the late Piero Bellugi).
His music, focused on the program symphony or symphonic poem, is most influenced by Hector Berlioz and Richard Strauss. His works have been performed by orchestras in Orvieto, Palermo, Perugia, Brussels, Cairo, Florence, Rome, San Jose and New York. Di Vittorio has conducted the orchestras of Palermo, Rome, Florence, Danbury, Sofia, London, Vancouver and New York, and has taught at the Loyola School (New York City) and the Adelphi University.
In 2007, Di Vittorio gained considerable attention with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, when he was invited by Elsa and Gloria Pizzoli (Respighi’s great nieces) and Potito Pedarra (Respighi archive curator and cataloger) to edit, orchestrate and complete several early works of Respighi including the first Violin Concerto (of 1903), for publication with Edizioni Panastudio in Italy. He premiered and then recorded three of these critical editions, together with his own Overtura Respighiana and first two program symphonies, in 2010 with the Chamber Orchestra of New York for Naxos Records. The recordings were released in 2011.
Other notable restorations of historical interest include: Respighi’s 1908 orchestration of Claudio Monteverdi’s Lamento di Arianna (from the lost opera Arianna, 1608) edited in 2012, and Di Vittorio’s completion of Respighi’s orchestration of the Tre Liriche (Three Art Songs, 1913) edited for its centennial anniversary in 2013.
In November 2012, Di Vittorio gave the world premiere of his Sinfonia No. 3 “Templi di Sicilia” in his debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana at the Teatro Politeama in Palermo. Di Vittorio was awarded the Medal of Palermo from Mayor Leoluca Orlando who “recognized the great importance of Di Vittorio’s work as a promoter of the city of Palermo around the world.”
Di Vittorio resides in New York and Palermo.
Read More:
1. Salvatore Di Vittorio’s Official website, http://salvatoredivittorio.com/
2. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Di_Vittorio
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