Born in Pesaro in 1964, he obtained diplomas in Flute, Choral Music and Choral Conducting, and, with top marks, a diploma in Composition from the Rossini Conservatoire in 1988, under the guidance of Matteo D’Amico.
He graduated in Philosophy and studied musical philology with Alberto Zedda, becoming his close collaborator in various musicological projects, beginning with the Neapolitan version of Bellini’s I Puritani, published by Ricordi and performed at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari in 1986, with Katia Ricciarelli in the leading role.
He has edited works by composers ranging from the Baroque period (instrumental transcriptions and adaptations of operas and oratorios by Cavalli, Stradella, Sartorio, Melani) to the nineteenth century (Spontini, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, among others), collaborating with major institutions (Rossini Opera Festival, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Mozart Festival in A Coruña, Pergolesi–Spontini Festival, etc.) and with renowned conductors such as Alberto Zedda, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, and Riccardo Muti.
He is a member of the scientific committee of the National Edition of the Works of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, for which he has edited the three Salve Regina settings and the Concerto for Violin, as well as of the scientific committee for the edition of the works of Gaspare Spontini, of whom he is one of the leading international experts. He has overseen the reconstruction and publication of several works, including I puntigli delle donne, Teseo riconosciuto, La fuga in maschera, Le metamorfosi di Pasquale, I quadri parlanti, La Vestale (reconstruction of the first performance version), Fernand Cortez (reconstruction of the text of the 1809 premiere version), and Olimpie (Paris version, 1826).
He has given lectures at the University of Massachusetts and teaches musical philology in the courses of the Accademia Rossiniana “Alberto Zedda” in Pesaro. His transcription for flute of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Sinfonietta No. 2 for clarinet and strings received public praise from the composer himself.
His specific research field is music theory, particularly from the seventeenth century onwards. He owns a library of over seven hundred original editions, through the study of which he has developed a practical teaching method. This approach, moving beyond outdated nineteenth-century academic categories, is based both on a clear definition of musical elements and principles and on the actual procedures used by composers, aiming to present a coherent and linear understanding of Western music from the sixteenth century to contemporary practice.