Clara Iannotta

Clara Iannotta, born in Rome in 1983, has gained international recognition for her uncompromisingly original and experimental tonal language. Her work is distinguished by a substantial sensibility for the material of sound, whose physiognomies she differentiates with expanded repertoires of instruments and playing techniques, a variety of preparations and micro-tonalities.

Iannotta studied composition, electronic music and musicology at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan with Allessandro Solbiati. Her education then took her to Paris, to IRCAM and to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse, where she studied with Frédéric Durieux. She continued her studies at Harvard University with Chaya Czernowin. She received other significant input from mastercourses with Helmut Lachenmann, Brian Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas and others.

A key aspect of Iannotta’s work is the physical dimension of sound and a corresponding redefinition and sensitisation of hearing. For Ianotta, instruments are resonant bodies whose hidden inner life becomes part of the musical structure. The thresholds between noise and notes, between form and resolution become prerequisites of a personal style of tone poetry where the instability of sound production is an integral part of the musical effect. Her works often unfold as continuums of internal motion with a great wealth of tone colours. She refrains as far as possible from using electronics.

Clara Iannotta’s works have been performed by leading new music ensembles (Ensemble Intercontemporain, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Quatuor Diotima, Arditti Quartet, Ensemble Nikel) as well as by prestigious orchestras (WDR Sinfonieorchester, SWR Symphonieorchester, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra).

Iannotta has received numerous awards including the Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize (2018), the Hindemith Prize (2018), the Una Vita nella Musica Giovani (2019) and the Premio Abbiati (2021). In 2013 she was a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, and in 2018/19 of the Villa Medici. Clara Iannotta is a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste in Munich. Since 2024 she has been a member of the Curatorium of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Iannotta is also active as a curator. From 2014 to 2024 she was Artistic Director of Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik. In 2022 she was co-Artistic Director of Klangspuren Schwaz and in 2024 of Winter Music at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. She is currently Artistic Director of the music programme at the Festival d’Automne de Paris. From 2023 to 2025 Clara Iannotta was Professor of Composition at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Since September 2025 she has been Professor of Composition at the Conservatoire de Paris.