Maximiliano Amici, disciple of Luciano Pelosi and Stephen Jaffe, earned his master’s in music composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. He also holds diplomas in electronic music and conducting from the same conservatory, as well as a diploma in piano performance from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples. He joined the doctoral program in composition at Duke University after a period of specialization in avant-garde music at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel with Prof. Erik Oña.
He earned his Ph.D. in music composition in September 2021. His dissertation, available on all the major streaming platforms, is a dramatic cantata for baritone, large chamber ensemble, male choir, and electronics based on The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe, for which he also authored the libretto and conducted the recording sessions.
The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI recorded his orchestral piece Flowing under the baton of Yoichi Sugiyama in 2014. The composition was broadcast on the national radio channel Rai3. His music has since been played and recorded by several prominent chamber groups, such as the Ciompi Quartet, Imani Winds, JACK Quartet, Parco della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Deviant Septet, among others. In April 2025, DaVinci Recordings released his first monographic recording, a CD dedicated to his piano music, played by the Italian pianist Igor Cognolato.
He began teaching at Duke Kunshan University in 2021, where he is currently an Assistant Professor of Music and Composition. In the summer of 2025, he will serve as faculty in the Veneto Art and Music Summit. His music is published by DoNeMus, Curci, and Ars Spoletium. Commercial recordings of his music are also available through DoNeMus and Ars Spoletium.
Maximiliano Amici 