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Giovanni Piacentini is a composer and classical guitarist of Italian-Mexican heritage based in Los Angeles. A Latin GRAMMY nominee and Carnegie Hall premiérant, his work is released on Navona Records and he serves on the faculty of Pepperdine University.
Giovanni Piacentini was born in Mexico City to an Italian-Mexican family — an origin that would come to define the singular voice threading through his compositions. He grew up immersed in the tonal colors of both cultures, the warmth of Latin folk traditions and the rigor of European classical form, before emigrating to the United States, where a third inheritance would shape him further.
His work has been heard at Carnegie Hall, where multiple world premieres have taken place, and has been recognized by the Latin Recording Academy with a GRAMMY nomination. He is a recording artist on Navona Records, one of North America's leading new-music labels, with multiple releases to his credit spanning solo guitar, chamber, and orchestral works.
Trained at UCLA and shaped by extended study in both Mexico and Italy, Piacentini has developed a compositional language that speaks across traditions without serving any single one. His guitar writing in particular — drawing on flamenco, classical, and Latin American idioms — has been praised by the Los Angeles Times and Forbes for its cross-cultural fluency and emotional immediacy.
He is a faculty member at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where he teaches guitar and composition. A dedicated educator as well as performer, he has given masterclasses and lectures at conservatories and universities across the United States and Latin America. Giovanni Piacentini is based in Los Angeles.
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