Paolo Coggiola (Milan, 1967) completed his musical studies with Paolo Vaglieri, Bruno Bettinelli, Franco Donatoni, obtaining the diplomas of Choral Music and Composition. At the same time, he graduated in Jurisprudence. He was a winner of national and international composition competitions. In 1994 he was among the winners of the Competition Milan Milhaud organised by I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano. The same institution subsequently commissioned him to write other pieces, including elaborations for orchestra of Mazurkas by Chopin, songs by Garcia Lorca and Christmas classics, performed in concerts of symphonic seasons of the same institution. In 1998, he came second at the '2 August' International Competition in Bologna, with a piece for four solo percussionists and orchestra, performed by the 'A. Toscanini' Orchestra of Parma and broadcast by the RAI's third television network and Radio Tre.
Many commissions from important orchestras, festivals, institutions and ensembles. In 1998 the Arena di Verona Foundation commissioned him to write an opera for children, Looking at the skyperformed in 1999 at the Teatro Nuovo in Verona and at the Teatro Salieri in Legnago. After this commission, the same institution asked him, for two consecutive years, to write pieces for ensembles performed in festivals and concerts by soloists at the Arena di Verona. He has composed music for the European Sinfonietta, the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, the Sentieri selvaggi ensemble from Milan, I solisti napoletani, Gli Armonici from Palermo, and the Nuova Polifonica Ambrosiana. His music has been performed at numerous festivals, including SettembreMusica MITO, Settimane Musicali di Stresa, Festival Skif in St. Petersburg, Festivaletteratura in Mantua, Sagra Musicale Umbra. The Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte in Montepulciano invited him for two consecutive years, commissioning, among other things, a piece for opera choir and ensemble. In 2006, one of his pieces was performed as part of The Bang on a Can Marathon at the World Financial Center in New York. Musicians who have conducted and performed his music include internationally renowned artists such as Othmar Maga, Daniele Callegari, Corrado Rovaris, Carlo Boccadoro, Fabrizio Meloni, Alexander Korsantya and Paolo Vaglieri. Prestigious venues have also performed his music. One of his pieces was performed in 2001 at La Scala in Milan by the Boccadoro-Meloni duo. In 2004, the Sentieri selvaggi ensemble performed one of his pieces at the Cappella Paolina of the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, seat of the Presidency of the Italian Republic, broadcast by Rai Radio Tre. One of his pieces for ensemble appeared on a CD on the New York label Cantaloupe.
He has composed much music for children. He has an extensive catalogue of compositions published by Casa Musicale Sonzogno. His pieces have also been published by RAI Trade, Carrara di Bergamo and Edizioni Prelude.
His musicological activity is also intense. He has written two monographs on Schubert and Debussy for Skira-Corriere della Sera. One of his analysis-essays was published in the volume The musical composition of Bruno Bettinelli. One of his volumes on compositional techniques, The abacus and the rose, was published by Sonzogno. Currently in preparation is an analytical study of Schubert's Waltzes.
He was invited to create sound installations and music for audiovisuals for the Tenth Biennale of Architecture in Venice and the Science Festival in Genoa.
He is currently a tenured lecturer in Composition at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano Claudio Abbado, an accredited AFAM institution, of whose classical music institute he was also teaching coordinator from 2007 to 2010. He also carried out an intense publishing activity, collaborating with Ricordi, Casa Musicale Sonzogno and Suvini-Zerboni, producing, among other things, the scores for voice and piano and the editing of operas by Giorgio Battistelli, Carlo Boccadoro and Carlo Galante.
