Franco Piersanti

Who is Franco Piersanti?

Franco Piersanti is an Italian composer and conductor.

Born in Rome in 1950, he graduated in double bass at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he studied composition under the guidance of Armando Renzi and conducting with Franco Ferrara and Piero Bellugi. He later played bass in the RAI Symphony Orchestra.

During his studies he knew the composer Nino Rota, and he became his assistant between 1975 and 1977. In 1976 he debuted as film composer scoring the Nanni Moretti's first film, Io sono un autarchico and started a long collaboration with him that continued with Moretti's Habemus Papam.

Piersanti is also well known for his long collaboration with the director Gianni Amelio, for who he scored seven movies between 1982 and 2006, including The Stolen Children and Lamerica for which he won two David di Donatello for Best Score.

His soundtracks include The Best Day of My Life, My Brother is an Only Child, The Beast in the Heart,Fort Apache Napoli, Love and Fear, The Second Time and Inspector Montalbano.