Since winning the prestigious VI. Salzburg International Mozart Composition Competition in 1995, Simone Fontanelli has been considered as one of the most authentic contemporary musical personalities.
As composer and conductor, he has been invited to many international Festivals in Italy, Austria, England, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Kazachistan, Israel, Taiwan, Thailand, USA and other countries. He has always received the highest praise for his works: "I treasure his talent very highly…" (György Kurtág), “Fontanelli's music is poetically beautiful, touching” (Muzsika, Hungarian Music Magazine).
Fontanelli has received commissions from several international institutions, festivals and artists worldwide. In 2011 his children opera Es war ein einmal Stück Holz (Once Upon A Time There was A piece Of Wood) after C. Collodi’s Pinocchio, commissioned by the Cologne Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, was a great success, with performances also in Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Austria. A CD of it has been released in UK.
From 2003-2009 Mr. Fontanelli was the Director of the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music (Brunswick, ME-USA) and a member of the faculty/artist roster of the prestigious Bowdoin Summer Music Festival.
Since 2000 he has been on the faculty of the Salzburg Mozarteum University where he teaches Contemporary Music Performance and currently Director of the Institut fü Neue Musik. He is on the faculty of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena.
