Ludovico Einaudi

Whether composing for orchestras, ballets, movie soundtracks or even adverts, Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi – born on November 23, 1955, in Turin, Italy – developed a beautifully tense, minimalist style, influenced as much by Mozart and Beethoven as The Beatles and Radiohead, to become as popular with both young and old audiences. The grandson of Luigi Einaudi, Italy's first post-war President, his mother was a pianist who gave him his first lessons, but he also picked up the guitar and absorbed the rebellion and attitude of the great 1960s rock stars in his youth. He later studied at the Conservatory of Milan under the guidance of experimental composer Luciano Berio and attended a workshop with modernist master Karlheinz Stockhausen. Despite the avant-garde and classical influences, Einaudi managed to craft a reputation for simple, accessible, ambient pieces and cut his teeth making music for multimedia projects such as video installations and theatre and dance productions. By the 1990s, he was creating film scores for Italian director Michele Sordillo and his breakthrough album Le Onde (1996), inspired by Virginia Woolf's novel The Waves, was his first piece completely performed on a solo piano. That template was also used on the Africa inspired I Giorni (2001), which later became a favorite of Radio One DJ Greg James. The popularity of the album led Ludovico Einaudi to play a Live Lounge Session in 2015, during which he performed interpretations of Sam Smith and Sia hits for the younger audience. He also crossed over into writing film scores for British drama This Is England and Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar. His work has been heard regularly as incidental music on TV shows including Ricky Gervais' sitcom Derek, cult talking heads series Gogglebox, and talent show the X-Factor. Over the years, he also worked with a diverse range of acts including the Malian musician Ballaké Sissoko on Diario Mali (2003), the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Divenire (2006), and Armenian woodwind expert Djivan Gasparijan on Eden Roc (1999). Because of his mainstream following, he shot to Number 12 in the UK Pop Charts with his album Elements (2015). He began to score more high-profile films including 2020’s award-winning Nomadland and The Father. During the pandemic lockdown in April 2020, he recorded the album 12 Songs from Home, which was released later in the year. In 2021, he released the album Cinema, which collects the best of his music from films such as Nomadland, The Father, Insidious, and others. Standing as one of the few contemporary composers to embrace new technology and actively seek new audiences, he counts Iggy Pop, Nicki Minaj and Mogwai as fans. Ludovico Einaudi is the most popular classical artist on social media with over 400,000 followers and has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2005.