leonardo mezzalira
Welcome to my website. I am a composer and researcher interested in contemporary music, mimesis and music semiotics, acoustic ecology and ecological thought. This is a text-based portfolio with +links+ to several media and materials. For more materials or collaborations feel free to contact me at: leonardomezzalira[ at]yahoo[d ot]it
I studied Music Composition at the Conservatory of Padova (Italy) and Forest and Environmental Sciences at the University of Padova. I am currently pursuing a PhD in Music Composition and Performance in a joint doctoral program coordinated by the Conservatory of Pescara (Italy). I work as a composer and artist-researcher, presenting my music and research in national and international contexts. My works received several prizes and were performed at several music festivals in Europe and in the USA, among which: EstOvest festival (Cuneo, Italy), ISCM New Music Miami (FL, USA), Festival Luigi Nono (Venezia, Italy), impuls (Graz, Austria), CAMPGround (FL, USA), Festival Cristofori (Padova, Italy), Bled Contemporary Music Week (Bled, Slovenia), IlSuono Contemporary Music Week (Sansepolcro, Italy), Arizona State University (AZ, USA), outHEAR (Thessaloniki, Greece) etc. I also worked as musical journalist, piano accompanist and teacher, and in 2019 I founded the contemporary music collective Taverna Maderna.
Countersinging for baritone saxophone and double bass, played by Michele Bianchini (saxophone) and Giacomo Piermatti (double bass) at IlSuono Contemporary Music Week 2025 [listen +here+]
Swamps for cello, accordion and percussion, played by Robert Feifan Hurley (cello), Marcell Csuka (accordion) and Luka Jahn (percussion) at the Bled Contemporary Music Week 2025 [listen +here+]
Impact for two spatialized violins and a metal cello built by Simone Tessari, played by Alexander Goldberg, Sara Mazzarotto (violins) and Elide Sulsenti (cello) at the EstOvest Festival 2024 [listen +here+]
Disturbance for bass clarinet and a metal contrabass clarinet built by Simone Tessari, recorded by Andrea Agrati (clarinet) and Simone Tessari (contrabass clarinet) at Forte Marghera [listen +here+]
Ethogram for guitar, played by Maria Criscione at IDEA 2024 in Milan [listen +here+]
Alpinetum for one percussionist, played by Elio Marchesini at IDEA 2023 in Milan [listen +here+]
Human A(u)thom, acousmatic music for a ballet by Chiara Vecchiato staged at Teatro Verdi in Padova in 2021 [watch the ballet +here+]
Stelle for piano, played by Luca Chiandotto for Amici della Musica di padova in 2021 [listen +here+]
So Hard to Tell You for bass flute and double bass, played by Elisa Azzarà (flute) and Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka (double bass) at impuls 2021 [listen +here+]
Milo-Étude for one percussionist, performed online by Alberto Anhaus for Taverna Maderna in 2020 [listen +here+]
Sadness machine for ensemble, performed in 2019 at the “C. Pollini” Conservatory of Padova [listen +here+]
animalium partes for woodwind quintet, performed in 2017 at Livorno Music Festival [listen +here+]
mineralia (alia) for ensemble, performed in 2017 at the “C. Monteverdi” Conservatory of Bolzano [listen +here+]
2026-09-25 • performance
Festival Cristofori, Caffè Pedrocchi, Padova (Italy)
Mozart im Wald for fortepiano
Matteo Bogazzi (fortepiano)
infos +here+
2026-09-05 • paper presentation
The Global Composition. Conference on Sound, Media and the Environment, Darmstadt/Dieburg (Germany)
Mimesis as Interactive Listening. Insights on Ecological Thought from the Use of Natural Models in Composition
infos +here+
2026-06-25 • project presentation
Endangered Conceptual Worlds. SAR International Forum on Artistic Research, Galway (Ireland)
Exploring Ecological Thought in Composition: Endangerment as a Key Point on the Map
2026-06-03 • paper presentation
Music as a Meaningful Art: 16th International Congress on Musical Signification, Helsinki (Finland)
Ecological Meanings in New Music. Hypotheses about a New Semiotic-Musical Framework
2026-05-15 • paper presentation
SPaMEC 2026: San Pietro a Majella Electroacoustic Conference, Napoli (Italy)
The Ecosystem-Disturbance Dynamic as Source of Musical Forms. Insights on Ecological Thinking through Collaborative Compositional Approaches
2026-05-03 • performance
SIMC festival, Roma (Italy)
New Landscape for guitar and string quartet
Eros Roselli (guitar), Marina Rossetti (1st violin), Michele Braghini (2nd violin), Stefano Lagatta (viola), Matteo Zanetti (cello)
2026-04-21 • performance
OutHear New Music Week, Thessaloniki (Greece)
Song for the Marshes for mezzosoprano, bass clarinet, violin and viola
Klangforum Wien + PPCM Graz: Camille Primeau (mezzosoprano), Sophie Schafleitner (violin), Dimitrios Polisoidis (viola), Dacil Guerra (bass clarinet)
2026-04-15 • talk
Fragile Present, Imaginative Futures: outHEAR New Music Week Symposium, Thessaloniki (Greece)
Composition, Mimesis and Ecological Thought
2025-12-05 • workshop + performance
Armonie Venete, Padova (Italy)
Workshop Eco-Risonanze with Science of Singularities (Bruxelles)
Niches for violin, clarinet, piano, a custom-built instrument and electronics, a collective composition by Taverna Maderna.
Andrea Miazzon, Pietro Ferreri, Leonardo Mezzalira (composers), Daniele Pozzi (electronics). Performers: Sara Mazzarotto (violin), Michele Fontana (clarinet), Dario Carpanese (piano), Simone Tessari (self-built instrument)
2025-11-28 • performance
Festival Luigi Nono, Venezia (Italy)
Niches for violin, clarinet, piano, a custom-built instrument and electronics, a collective composition by Taverna Maderna.
Andrea Miazzon, Pietro Ferreri, Leonardo Mezzalira (composers), Daniele Pozzi (electronics). Performers: Sara Mazzarotto (violin), Michele Fontana (clarinet), Dario Carpanese (piano), Simone Tessari (self-built instrument)
2025-11-16 • performance
SIMC Festival, Desenzano del Garda (Italy)
New Landscape for guitar and string quartet.
Eros Roselli (guitar), Marina Rossetti (1st violin), Michele Braghini (2nd violin), Stefano Lagatta (viola), Matteo Zanetti (cello)
2025-11-14 • research presentation
Accademia di Belle Arti, L’Aquila (Italy)
Composizione, mimesis e pensiero ecologico
2025-10-26 • performance
circolo Nadir, Padova (Italy)
— Disturbance for bass clarinet and custom built metal contrabass clarinet (coauthor with Simone Tessari). Andrea Agrati (clarinet), Simone Tessari (contrabass clarinet)
— Niches for violin, clarinet, piano, a custom-built instrument and electronics, a collective composition by Taverna Maderna. Andrea Miazzon, Pietro Ferreri, Leonardo Mezzalira (composers), Daniele Pozzi (electronics). Performers: Sara Mazzarotto (violin), Andrea Agrati (clarinet), Dario Carpanese (piano), Simone Tessari (self-built instrument)
2025-10-17 • performance
“G. Tartini” Conservatory of Trieste (Italy)
Laber, Apollo for soprano, tenor and bass on a poem by Giorgio Ferretti.
Cantando Admont (vocal ensemble)
2025-10-15 • workshop
Conservatorio “J. Tomadini”, Udine (Italy)
Composizione, mimesis e pensiero ecologico
2025-09-26 • research presentation
LabRAM, Pescara (Italy)
Composizione, mimesis e pensiero ecologico
2025-09-20 • performance
Amici della musica di Padova, Padova (Italy)
Broadcast for violin, commissioned by Amici della Musica di Padova.
Giovanni Agazzi (violin)
2025-09-03 • performance
Armonie Venete, Vicenza (Italy)
Sonata Jumble, version for soprano saxophone and piano.
Samuele Molinari (saxophone), Andrea Marinelli (piano)
2025-07-13 • performance
IlSuono Contemporary Music Week, Sansepolcro (Italy)
Countersinging for baritone saxophone and double bass.
Michele Bianchini (saxophone), Giacomo Piermatti (double bass)
2025-06-27 • performance
.abeceda Contemporary Music Festival, Bled (Slovenia)
Swamps for cello, accordion and percussion.
Robert Feifan Hurley (cello), Marcell Csuka (accordion), Luka Jahn (percussion)
2025-06-12 • performance
IDEA 2025, Fabbrica del vapore, Milano (Italy)
Sonar for euphonium, imaginary sounds and a sound-producing sculpture by Simone Tessari.
Marina Boselli (euphonium)
2025-06-08 • performance
Sala Biagi D’Antona, Castel Maggiore (Italy)
Chorus for violin, clarinet and piano.
Valentino Corvino (violin), Davide Braco (clarinet), Stefano Malferrari (piano)
2025-04-16 • performance
ISCM New Music Miami, Miami (FL, USA)
Stelle for piano.
Chen-Hui Jen (piano)
2025-01-25 • performance
Festival Mozart a Verona, Circolo Ufficiali, Verona (Italy)
Sonata Jumble for Bb clarinet and piano, commissioned by SIMC.
Gabriele Galvani (clarinet), Flavia Casari (piano)
2024-11-16 • performance
EstOvest Festival, Sala Mosca, Cuneo (Italy)
Impact for two spatialized violins and custom built metal cello (coauthor with Simone Tessari), commissioned by EstOvest Festival 2024.
Alexander Goldberg, Sara Mazzarotto (violins), Elide Sulsenti (cello)
2024-10-26 • performance
Auditorium Montemezzi, Verona (Italy)
Silenzi-pensari-gibigiane for guitar and harp, commissioned by SIMC.
Matteo Murari (guitar), Martina Roccon (harp)
2024-07-10,11,12,13 • performance
Bastione Maddalene, Verona (Italy)
incidental music for the theatre play Welfare Lear (coauthor with Simone Tessari).
Co-production Casa Shakespeare-Estate Teatrale Veronese
2024-05-25 • performance
Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
Disturbance for bass clarinet and custom built metal contrabass clarinet (coauthor with Simone Tessari).
Andrea Agrati (clarinet), Simone Tessari (contrabass clarinet)
2024-05-18 • performance
IDEA 2024, Fabbrica del vapore, Milano (Italy)
Ethogram for guitar.
Maria Criscione (guitar)
2024-05-15 • performance
Hochschule der Künste Bern (Switzerland)
Ethogram for guitar.
Maria Criscione (guitar)
2024-02-06 • performance
Steinfeld Community Arts Center, Tucson (AZ, USA)
selection from Biome Suite for guitar.
Pedro Lopes Baptista (guitar)
2024-02-08 • performance
Organ Hall, Arizona State University, Phoenix (AZ, USA)
selection from Biome Suite for guitar.
Pedro Lopes Baptista (guitar)
2024-02-04 • performance
Bisbee Woman’s Club, Bisbee (AZ, USA)
selection from Biome Suite for guitar.
Pedro Lopes Baptista (guitar)
2023-12-02 • performance
Teatro Comunale L. Betti, Casalecchio di Reno (Italy)
Planes’ Effects on Birds for flute.
Manuel Zurria (flute)
2023-09-16 • performance
Festival Cristofori, Barco Teatro, Padova (Italy)
Shirakami-Sanchi for guitar and piano, commissioned by Festival Cristofori 2023.
Flavio Nati (guitar), Antonino Fiumara (piano)
2023-07-29 • performance
Corti chiese e cortili, Rocca dei Bentivoglio Valsamoggia (Italy)
Planes’ Effects on Birds for flute.
Manuel Zurria (flute)
2023-06-07 • performance
IDEA 2023, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milano (Italy)
Alpinetum for one percussionist.
Elio Marchesini (percussion)
2023-03-27 • performance
Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
Another Flying Machine for percussion trio.
Pietro Squarzon, Enrico Turetta, Alessandro Cozza (percussion)
2023-03-20 • performance
St. Petersburg College, St. Petersburg (FL, USA)
Stelle for piano.
Eunmi Ko (piano)
2023-03-18 • performance
CAMPGround 2023, The CAMPGround, Tampa (FL, USA)
Stelle for piano.
Eunmi Ko (piano)
2021-10-21 • performance
Festival Padova Danza, Teatro Verdi, Padova (Italy)
Human A(u)thom, acousmatic ballet music.
Chiara Vecchiato (coreography); Anna Cicero (costumes); Matilde Condemi, Alessandro Piuzzo, Anna Schizzarotto, Maria Cristina Sidoti, Ginevra Zaramella (dancers)
2021-09-16 • performance
Festival Cristofori, Barco Teatro, Padova (Italy)
Upail. Un paesaggio d’acque for piano, commissioned by Festival Cristofori 2021.
Emanuele Stracchi (piano)
2021-08-23 • performance
impuls festival, KUG Florentinersaal, Graz (Austria)
So Hard to Tell You for bass flute and double bass.
Elisa Azzarà (flute); Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka (double bass)
2021-07-18 • performance
TM Festival, Piazza Gasparotto, Padova (Italy)
Trio notturno con mongolfiera for percussion trio.
Thauma Trio: Fabio Macchia, Giulio Cintoni, Simone Buttà (percussion)
2021-07-09 • performance
SCHLAG, Piazza Gasparotto, Padova (Italy)
Proclama for one percussionist.
Alberto Anhaus, percussion
2021-05-24 • performance
Orcreiamo, Teatro Diego Fabbri, Forlì (Italy)
Hommage for orchestra.
Orchestra Orcreiamo; Filippo Maria Bressan (conductor)
2021-10-04 • performance
Amici della musica di Padova, Chiesa di Ognissanti, Padova (Italy)
Stelle for piano, commissioned by Amici della musica di Padova.
Luca Chiandotto (piano)
2020-01-25 • performance
Scuola della Carità, Padova (Italy)
A Little Wow!/What?/Mmmh! Machine for harpsichord.
Dario Carpanese, harpsichord
2019-12-01 • performance
Ridotto del Teatro Remondini, Bassano del Grappa (Italy)
Proclama for one percussionist.
Emanuel Bollotto (percussion)
2019-11-30 • performance
Teatro Torresino, Padova (Italy)
Proclama for one percussionist.
Emanuel Bollotto (percussion)
2019-09-28 • performance
Festival organistico di Schio, Convento dei cappuccini, Schio (Italy)
original transcription of J. S. Bach, Triosonata n. 1 BWV 525 for string quartet, commissioned by Festival organistico di Schio.
Quartetto Talea
2019-11-06 • performance
A Magyar Rádió Márvány terme, Budapest (Hungary)
Quartetto del pulsare e dell’affiorare for string quartet.
Central European String Quartet
2019-06-06 • performance
Il mondo che non vedo, Padova (Italy)
Pianto delle vecchie strade for violin.
Zhong Shi Liu (violin)
2019-06-03 • performance
Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
Sadness machine for ensemble.
Alessia Babetto (flute); Andrea Agrati (clarinet); Marina Miola (violin); Rachele Reschiglian (cello); Dario Carpanese (piano); Gianmarco Scalici (conductor)
2019-05-04 • performance
Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
Pianto delle vecchie strade for violin.
Zhong Shi Liu (violin)
2019-04-18 • performance
Solti Terem, Budapest (Hungary)
Quartetto del pulsare e dell’affiorare for string quartet.
Central European String Quartet
2019-02-24 • performance
Óbudai Társaskör, Budapest (Hungary)
Quartetto del pulsare e dell’affiorare for string quartet.
Central European String Quartet
2019-02-20 • performance
impuls festival, Reiterkaserne Graz (Austria)
Love Song for H. K. for five voices and small instruments.
Impuls Vokalensemble; Andreas Fischer (conductor)
2019-02-10 • performance
Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Vicenza (Italy)
original transcription for ensemble of some of Schubert/Prokof’ev Waltzes for two pianos.
Ensemble Musagète
2018-06-14 • performance
Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
Le territoire dans les rouages de l’esprit for piano.
Leonardo Mezzalira (piano)
2018-05-13 • performance
Di canto in canto, Chiesa di S. Antonio Abate, Schio (Italy)
Disciplina II della partenza for spatialized mixed choir.
Caterina Ensemble; Alessandro Kirschner (conductor)
2017-09-03 • performance
Livorno Music Festival, Fortezza Vecchia, Livorno (Italy)
animalium partes for woodwind quintet.
Chiara Novello (flute); Chiara Torbidoni (oboe); Elia Bianucci (clarinet); Paquito Ernesto Chiti (horn); Danilo Squillace (bassoon)
2017-07-04 • performance
Conservatorio di Bolzano, Bolzano (Italy)
mineralia (alia) and Disciplina III for ensemble.
Massimiliano Cova (violin); Martino Olivieri (contrabass clarinet); Gabriele Rossetti (trombone); Massimiliano Chiaretti (electric guitar); Roberto Marchione (percussion); Stefano Ferrario (conductor)
2017-07-03 • performance
Skulpturengarten Sieglinde Tatz, Salorno (Italy)
mineralia (alia) and Disciplina III for ensemble.
Massimiliano Cova (violin); Martino Olivieri (contrabass clarinet); Gabriele Rossetti (trombone); Massimiliano Chiaretti (electric guitar); Roberto Marchione (percussion); Stefano Ferrario (conductor)
2017-06-08 • performance
Festival Musica Nova, Conservatorio di Adria, Adria (Italy)
Qui dalla terra for soprano and cello.
Yuka Kobayashi (soprano); Elisa Lazzarin (cello)
2017-06-03 • performance
Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
I.T.D.I.D. for amplified and non-amplified objects.
Matteo Polato, Pietro Ferreri, Leonardo Mezzalira (performers); Giovanni Salice (amplification)
2017-05-25 • performance
Caffè Caucigh, Udine (Italy)
I.T.D.I.D. for amplified and non-amplified objects.
Matteo Polato, Pietro Ferreri, Leonardo Mezzalira (performers); Giovanni Salice (amplification)
2017-05-18 • performance
Festival Biblico, Basilica palladiana, Vicenza (Italy)
Disciplina II della partenza for spatialized mixed choir. Caterina Ensemble; Alessandro Kirschner (conductor)
2017-05-04 • performance
Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori, Padova (Italy)
Disciplina della salvezza for ensemble.
Yukiko Shimizu (soprano); Sara de Paolis (flute); Martina De Luca (violin); Leonardo Mezzalira (piano and toys)
2016-10-08 • performance
Amici del Gradenigo, Chiesa di S. Giustina e S. Rocco, Piove di Sacco (Italy)
Giochi d’alba for mechanical organ.
Leonardo Mezzalira (organ)
2016-06-11 • performance
Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
Due ballate per gli amori mai nati for soprano, piano and percussion, on fragments by Federico García Lorca.
Andrea Soncina (soprano); Arrigo Axia, Marco Buffetti, Riccardo Nicolin (percussion); Leonardo Mezzalira (piano)
2016-01-27 • performance
HAMU Galerie, Prague (Czech Republic)
Pražský valčík for ensemble.
Agniesxka Ściazko, Cecilie Emtoft, Dikana Opačić (violins), Amelia Tokarska (harp), Manuel Casares (piano), Rachel Hurst (bassoon), Alberto Introini (tuba)
2015-12-14 • performance
HAMU Galerie, Prague (Czech Republic)
Pater noster for soprano and string quintet.
Terezie Švarcová (soprano); Pavel Bořkovec Quartet; Petr Tichý (double bass)
2015-09-13 • performance
Festival Galuppi, Chiesa di S. Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, Venezia (Italy)
Beneditta sia for spatialized mixed choir, on a text readable on frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel of Padova.
Coro di Giavenale; Pierdino Tisato (conductor)
2014-10-16 • performance
SMUG-SAMPL 2014, Auditorium Pollini, Padova (Italy)
Iterum for prepared piano and percussion, freely inspired to Sylvano Bussotti’s Fogli d’album.
Leonardo Mezzalira (prepared piano); Alessio Fraccaroli (percussion)
2014-07-26 • performance
FENIARCO European Seminar of Young Composers, Teatro Splendor, Aosta (Italy)
Le bateau ivre for mixed choir, on a text by Arthur Rimbaud.
Arcova Vocal Ensemble; Davide Benetti (conductor)
2014-05-18 • performance
Di canto in canto, Chiesa di S. Antonio Abate, Schio (Italy)
Beneditta sia for spatialized mixed choir, on a text readable on frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel of Padova.
Coralità scledense; Raffaele Cipriano (conductor)
1. scholarly papers
2026 • journal article
Imitating Nature in in her Manner of Operation. The Compositional Process between Conscious Purpose and Unpredetermined Outcomes, FAMagazine. Ricerche e progetti sull’architettura e la città, Parma (Italy), 2026 [in preparation: +contact me+ for infos]
2026 • conference paper
Mimesis as Interactive Listening: Insights on Ecological Thought through the Use of Natural Models in Composition, in the proceedings of The Global Composition 2026. Connective Resonance for (Post)Humans, Darmstadt/Dieburg 2-6 September 2026, ISBN 9783961870257 [read +here+]
2026 • conference paper
The Ecosystem-Disturbance Dynamic as Source of Musical Forms. Insights on Ecological Thinking through Collaborative Compositional Approaches, in the proceedings of SPaMEC. San Pietro a Majella Electroacoustic Conference 2026, Materiali Elettrici, Napoli 15-16 May 2026, ISBN 9791298664609 [read +here+]
2. interviews
+radio interview+ by Tania Marmai and Paolo Fedrigo/Tandem FVG (2026, in Italian)
+interview+ by Ettore Garzia/Percorsi Musicali (2025, in Italian)
+interview+ by Sergio Scorzillo/Musica361 (2021, in Italian)
+interview+ by Paolo Lazzarini/Blog della musica about Taverna Maderna (2020, in Italian)
+interview+ by Andrea Bedetti/MusicVoice about Taverna Maderna (2019, in Italian)
+video interview+ at TG7 Veneto about Taverna Maderna (2019, in Italian)
3. program notes
+composer’s note+ to Broadcast for violin (2025, in English and Italian)
+composer’s note+ to Countersinging for baritone saxophone and double bass (2025, in English)
+composer’s note+ to Swamps for cello, accordion and percussion (2025, in English)
+composer’s note+ to Sonar for euphonium and a sound-producing sculpture by Simone Tessari (2025, in Italian)
+composers’ note+ to Impact for two spatialized violins and a custom-built metal cello (2024, in English and Italian)
+composer’s note+ to Silenzi-pensari-gibigiane for guitar and harp (2024, in English and Italian)
+composers’ note+ to Disturbance for bass clarinet and a disturbing agent (2024, in English and Italian)
+composer’s note+ to Ethogram for classical guitar (2024, in English)
+composer’s note+ to Biome Suite for classical guitar (2024, in English)
+composer’s note+ to Alpinetum for one percussionist (2023, in Italian)
4. older writings (in Italian)
+review+ of the CD Susu by Duo Dubois (MusicVoice 2020)
+Un nuovo silenzio+ (Musicare.eu 2020)
+Alla divinità, in modo lidico+ (Le cinquanta porte 2020)
+La scrittura e il pensiero del mondo.+ Interview with Giorgio Battistelli (Amadeus Online 2018)
+Un teatro dell’interiorità.+ Interview with Ivo Pogorelić (Amadeus Online 2018)
+Uno strumento, molti suoni.+ Interview with Alessandra Ammara (Amadeus Online 2018)
+L’ascolto del presente.+ Interview with Marco Angius (Amadeus Online 2018)
+review+ of the CD Salvatore Sciarrino – Complete Works for Violin and for Viola by Marco Fusi (MusicVoice 2018)
+Il suono scolpito.+ Interview with Ivan Fedele (Amadeus Online 2017)
+Percorsi di musica e di vita.+ Interview with Salvatore Sciarrino (Amadeus Online 2016)
+La drammatica necessità del comporre.+ Interview with Marco Angius (OPV Magazine 2016)
+program notes+ for a performance of Beethoven’s nine symphonies (2016)