Biography
Marco Zàppia
Born in Patti in 1996, he graduated with honors the degree in piano under the guidance of the professor Gaetano Indaco at the "A.Corelli" conservatory in Messina and the degree in Composition with the professors Giovanni D’Aquila and Fabio Correnti at the "A.Scarlatti" conservatory in Palermo. Currently he is perfecting at the master in choir conducting with the professor Mauro Visconti at the conservatoire of Palermo and he is attending the composition course at the Fiesole School of Music with the professor Andrea Portera. For the academic year 2017/18, he won the scholarship offered in the 1st Edition of the Music Tree Award for the best performance among graduates with the highest marks. As a pianist, he attended the "Institut Supérieur de Musique et Pédagogie" (IMEP) in Namur, (Belgium), with the Erasmus project, studying with professor Roberto Giordano. As a composer, he is currently doing an Erasmus post-lauream trainship at the prestigious F.Liszt academy of Budapest with professor Laszlo Tihanyi.
He has participated in several national and international piano and chamber music competitions, winning first prize several times. Among the most recent ones: the national competition "P. Mandanici" in Barcellona P.G., the international competition "L. S. D'Agata" in Acireale, the international competition "Amigdala" in Aci Bonaccorsi, and the national competition "B.Albanese" in Caccamo. He won the regional audition to be part of the Sicilian Youth Orchestra for the biennium 2018-20.
He has performed as a soloist and in ensembles for various prestigious musical associations, festivals, and public institutions including: Accademia Filarmonica of Messina, Vincenzo Bellini of Messina, Amici della musica "G.Mulè" of Termini Imerese, Piano City Palermo.
He perfected his skills in various masterclasses in piano and composition, held by internationally renowned masters such as Gilda Buttà, Gerard Marie Falleur, Pierluigi Camicia, Roberto Cappello, Michele Marvulli, Leslie Howard, Michele Campanella, Benedetto Lupo, Oscar Strasnoy, Salvatore Sciarrino, Francesco Filidei, Simone Fontanelli, Orazio Sciortino, Virginio Zoccatelli, Paolo Buonvino, Marco Betta.
He also attended an annual masterclass in Orchestra Conducting with Maestro Bruno Cinquegrani in the academic year 2017/18 and in Choir Conducting with Maestro Enzo Marino in August 2024. In 2025, he attended the Composition course for early instruments led by Maestro Simone Fontanelli at the Chigiana Academy in Siena.
He has participated in various national and international composition competitions, winning important awards. Among the most important ones: his flute solo piece "Zéphyros”, awarded with honorable mention in 2022 by the composition competition organized by the Flute New Music Consortium, has been performed several times in USA. His bass clarinet solo piece “Uranòs”, awarded with the first prize in 2024 by the 20th edition of the international competition “Don Vincenzo Vitti”, has been performed in Pau (France) during the Unesco Sound Week by Maestro Jean-Jacques Godron. His piano piece “Oltreoceano” has been awarded the third prize in the international musical competition “Classic Pure Vienna”.
He has had prestigious performances of some of his compositions for particular events: on the occasion of the Music Festival on June 21th 2022, his cadenza of the II movement of Mozart's Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra K299 was performed by the soloists of the Youth Orchestra at the Massimo’s theatre in Palermo. "Horcynus Orca”, a piece for large ensemble, was performed in September 2025 at Monte di Pietà in Messina on the occasion of the event dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stefano D’Arrigo’s homonymous novel, organized by the Messina Chamber Orchestra Association. “OrienTao”, for two tenor viola da gamba, was performed at the Accademia Chigiana and at the Mozarteum in Vienna. The trio for bass flute, violin, and piano “InFrangersi” was performed by the renowned Achrome Ensemble at Sala Piatti in Bergamo. The orchestral piece “La Fucina di Efesto” received its world premiere by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo during the 2026 musical season of the foundation.
Some of his compositions have been published by publishers such as Universal Edition, Studiomusicalicata - musical editions, Cinque Linee Editions, Da Vinci publishing, Agenda editore.
In July 2023, his critical-musical essay "I Miroirs and the dualistic poetics of reflection" was published by the Kimerik publishing house.

