BIO
Born on September 8, 1994, in Canicattì (AG), Maria Chiara Casà is an Italian composer, orchestrator, and music educator with extensive experience in both artistic and academic fields. A graduate in Piano, Composition, Orchestral Conducting, and Composition for Applied Music, she has collaborated with prestigious institutions, film production companies, and television networks, earning recognition for the versatility of her compositions and creative works.
In 2024, she composed the score for the film Casa en Flames, directed by Dani De La Orden. The soundtrack was recorded with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Sofia and mixed in Rome. That same year, she created one of the main themes for Mediaset’s Top Crime channel after winning an exclusive composition competition. Additionally, she was selected as a Music Consultant for Rai’s Rome office following a competitive exam but declined the role to focus on her freelance work as a composer and educator. In 2024, Maria Chiara taught Score Reading and Composition for Applied Music at the "Arcangelo Corelli" Conservatory in Messina, while the previous year, she held a teaching position in Elements of Composition for Music Education at the “Luigi Canepa” Conservatory in Sassari.
In March 2024, her symphonic orchestral composition Colori won the Composition Contest of the Palermo Conservatory and premiered at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo on March 5, 2024. Among other notable achievements, she served as music assistant and copyist to Fabio Massimo Capogrosso for the score of Prima la Vita (2024), directed by Francesca Comencini, and worked as an orchestrator for the television series Viola come il mare 2 (2024) and Le indagini di Lolita Lobosco 3 (2024), collaborating with Tommy Caputo and Santi Pulvirenti.
In previous years, Maria Chiara contributed to numerous projects as a music assistant, copyist, and orchestrator, including scores for Marco Bellocchio’s Rapito (2023), Gianluca Jodice’s Le Deluge (2023), the Rai 1 series Brennero (2024), Boris 4 on Disney+ (2022), and Netflix’s La vita che volevi by Ivan Cotroneo. She collaborated with renowned composers such as Giuliano Taviani, Carmelo Travia, Marco Werba, Tommy Caputo, Santi Pulvirenti, Fabio Massimo Colasanti, and others, working in Italy's premier recording studios like Stone Recording Studios, Digital Records, and Forum Studios in Rome. She also supervised music for the television series L’Italia chiamò and composed original scores for several documentaries aired on Rai channels, including Mille in cammino (2023), I fratelli di Campobrun (2024), U ‘mmitu (2024), and Il paese dei Bau (2024).
Her career also features international productions such as the soundtracks for Dig me no grave (2023), Dimension slip (2023), and Deserters (2023). Maria Chiara has received numerous accolades, including the Best Original Score award at the Madonie Film Festival for Biangardi, la creazione più bella and multiple honors at the 48h Film Project Italia: Best Original Score for No Plant B (2022) and Caterina (2024), both directed by Michela Piccardi, as well as the Manfredi Award (2023).
She has collaborated with several orchestras, both in film and classical music, including the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague, and the Italian Cinema Orchestra. Among her theatrical compositions are Una proposta di legge indecente (2023) and The Little Prince (2019), the latter winning First Prize for Best Musical Theater Work in the "Per spartito preso" competition by Amici della Musica in Palermo.
In contemporary music, her Consolazione Mirabile (2015) premiered under her baton in the presence of Sofia Gubaidulina, and her piece Fabaria (2017), inspired by the vocal traditions of her hometown, was performed at Teatro Massimo in Palermo and selected for the “Next Generation” program at Rostrum 2017, later presented at Brussels' Bozar Theater.
Maria Chiara has received commissions from Teatro Massimo in Palermo, including the children’s opera In attesa ti racconto (2017) and Instant Opera (2022), a work for orchestra, children's choir, and reciting voices premiered at Teatro Massimo's Sala Grande. She has also performed as a solo pianist at events such as the 2017 “Chopin Marathon” and participated in contemporary music festivals hosted by the same institution.