Dr Davide Sciacca – Professor of Guitar
Sicilian guitarist, Davide has been a student of guitarist-composer Carlo Ambrosio. Obtained a Diploma with honours in Guitar, followed by a second level Academic Diploma in Music and Guitar Teaching at the IMVB in Caltanissetta. Then went on to achieve a further Diploma with honours in Guitar Interpretation, a Masters in New Technology for Music as well as an additional Academic Diploma in Chamber Music from Bellini Conservatoire in Palermo, and a Masters in Contemporary Music from Santa Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome under the supervision of Arturo Tallini. Finally, he obtained a Ph.D in Music Performance, focussing on guitar works inspired by themes of Bellini, at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, under the supervision of composer David Horne. Davide has won more than thirty 1st prizes in international musical competitions, including Amigdala, Magna Grecia, Benedetto Albanese, AgiMus and AMA Calabria.
He performed at the Tuscia International Guitar Festival, and with the Ersu Orchestra from his hometown of Catania. He lectures regularly at universities in both the UK and Italy. Since 2014 Davide Sciacca has toured England, Scotland and Wales as both soloist and in a duo with violinist Marianatalia Ruscica. In the years 2016 and 2017 they performed in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, HRH the Prince of Wales, and other members of the Royal Family, including the August 2017 world premiere of “Mine eyes unto the hills” by Andrea Amici, a composition Amici had dedicated to the Queen.
In 2018 Davide debuted in the United States, performing for Culture Connection in New York City. Later he performed for the Ealing Guitar Society in London and the Liverpool Guitar Society. At the end of the same year he and countertenor Riccardo Strano released, as part of their Counter Irish Project, a CD based on Irish traditional music. In 2019 he released, a cd as part of the Opus Ludere flute and guitar duo, a CD of tangos written especially for them by four different contemporary Italian composers; then he performed at the famous ‘Cavern Club’ in Liverpool. At the height of the pandemic in 2021 he released ‘Works with Guitar’ spotlighting the American composer Victor Frost, including his Concertino op.17 for Guitar and Orchestra, and ‘LockDowning Street’, featuring music by Amici, Schittino, Serra and others. Recently, he released ‘ScouseLover’ and 2 EPs as part of D’Ito, with Japanese lyric soprano Sachika Ito, ‘Malinconia’ and ‘HarD’Ito’. In July 2023 they debuted in Japan as a duo and soloists, performing in prestigious venues in Tokyo and Toyota. Then, he toured Ireland, England, Hungary and Romania as a soloist and in duo with oboist Angelo Palmeri.
He has collaborated with actors and directors such as Michele Placido and Guia Jelo. Davide’s repertoire isn’t confined to classical music, and he has appeared with rock and pop musicians.
His media appearances include work for Sky, Made in Liverpool Tv, Tele D, Rei Tv, Globus Television, and BBC Radio Merseyside, Rai Radio 1, London One Radio, Radio Classica, Fab Radio.
In 2018, he was appointed culture manager for the Italian Consulate in Liverpool and artistic collaborator of the Istituto Musicale Pietro Vinci in Caltagirone.
He is guitar professor at Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in Caltanissetta. At the same time, he continues to promote the contemporary repertoire for guitar and live electronics written by avant garde Sicilian composers, including Amici and Rosario Tomarchio. The project, called ‘Contemporary Recital – Sicilian Landscape’, was presented throughout Italy and at important foreign institutions such as the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, RNCM, and the Universities of Nottingham and Manchester.
