Federico Bonacossa | Composer
Federico Bonacossa spent his early teenage years playing punk music and skateboarding before suddenly falling in love with classical music after listening to a recording of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition played on classical guitar. He studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio Statale G. P. da Palestrina in Italy before moving to the U.S. where he pursued a master’s degree at the Peabody Conservatory and a doctorate at the University of Miami in classical guitar performance and music theory. He holds an additional master’s degree in music composition from Florida International University where he studied composition and electronic music. His creative interests range from electronic and computer-assisted composition to purely acoustic and improvisational works. His works have been performed across the US and abroad, most recently by the Sinfonietta MIQ in Guanajuato, Mexico, the Italian Cultural Center in Mexico City, and at the ISSTA Festival in Cork Ireland. Other venues where his work has recently been featured include the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in Germany, Zimmermann Cafe Chamber Music Series, Frost School of Music, Wake Up Miami! Series, Palm Beach Atlantic University Early Music Festival, Aventura Cultural Arts Center, FETA Street Fest at Art Basel, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Miami Theatre Center, Three Rivers Arts Festival (PA), Compositum Musicae Novae Artist Series, New Music Miami Festival, SEAMUS conference, SUBTROPICS Experimental Series, Slippery Rock University (PA), Miami International Guitar Festival, University of Massachusetts Amherst, The Drawing Room (NY), The Open Collective (VT), the University of Oklahoma, Peabody Conservatory (MD), and Kharkov, Ukraine. He has written numerous dance scores for Dance Now Miami and GodoyPradera Creations, many of which can be heard in the album Music for Dance. As a performer he is involved in promoting new music for guitar and especially works that feature electronics and alternative tunings. He is currently Assistant Teaching Professor of Music Theory and Musicology at Florida International University, where he also teaches MIDI Technology.