) is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and cellist

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

. He was born into a family of musicians and studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and composition with his father, Eliodoro Sollima, at the Conservatorio di Palermo, where he graduated with highest honors. He later studied with Antonio Janigro

Antonio Janigro

Antonio Janigro was an Italian cellist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Milan, he began studying piano when he was six and cello when he was eight. Initially taught by Giovanni Berti, Janigro enrolled in the Verdi Conservatory of Milan, where he was instructed by Gilberto Crepax...

 and Milko Kelemen

Milko Kelemen

Milko Kelemen is a Croatian composer.- Life :Milko Kelemen studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris and Wolfgang Fortner in Freiburg amongst others....

 at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart and at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg

Universität Mozarteum Salzburg

In Salzburg, the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, the University of Music and Dramatic Arts Mozarteum Salzburg, honours the Austrian city's most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-History:...

.

Sollima's music is influenced by minimalism

Minimalist music

Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....

, with his compositions often featuring modal melodies and repetitive structures. Because his works are characterized by a more diverse and eclectic approach to material than the early American minimalist composers, the American critic Kyle Gann

Kyle Gann

Kyle Eugene Gann is an American professor of music, critic and composer born in Dallas, Texas. As a critic for The Village Voice and other publications he has been a supporter of progressive music including such Downtown movements as postminimalism and totalism.- As composer :As a composer his...

 has called Sollima a postminimalist composer.

Sollima has collaborated with the American poet and musician Patti Smith

Patti Smith

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....

, appearing on her records and performing with her in concert.

Recordings of Sollima's music have been released on the Agorà and Point Music labels. Also The Magic of Wood - From Lutherie to Music with 15 instruments by Roberto Regazzi

Roberto Regazzi

Roberto Regazzi is a notable contemporary violin maker and scholar who received his initiation in the craft from Otello Bignami...

, , published for Dynamic in 2005 includes two world premiere recordings the composer.

Video