At a young age, he was granted admission to the Conservatoire “Vincenzo Bellini” where he pursued his classical music studies for five years while  studying modern music. Afterwards, he pursued an in-depth study of modern music for two years at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London before beginning his composition studies at the University of Chichester, where he also studied theory, analysis, and conducting under Professor Christopher Slater, student of world-renowned Berliner Philharmoniker conductor Herbert von Karajan.

 

In 2015, Riccardo collaborated as a composer with the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the London College of Fashion. During the same year, he  served as the Artistic and Executive Director of The London Experience, facilitating artistic exchanges by bringing London-based artists from different countries and backgrounds to discuss and perform together. The one-week festival featuring London-based musicians was held in Italy and included two masterclasses and two live music concerts.

 

In March 2017, the first movement of Farewell, one of Riccardo’s virtuosic pieces for solo piano, was premiered in England by the University of Chichester’s distinguished faculty Professor and Pianist Terence Allbright, followed by other premieres of his work and performances in various concert halls and festivals in New York City.

 

In 2018, Riccardo served as the Executive and Artistic Director of MusicFest Italia, an Italy-based music festival featuring international artists from Germany, Greece, England, and Italy. As part of the festival's program, Riccardo  performed his  composition for piano, Farewell. During the same year, the first act of Riccardo’s opera The Fairy Queen for chamber orchestra, soprano, and mezzo-soprano and Fallender Himmel for string quartet were performed by the New York City Chamber Orchestra, The Curiosity Cabinet, and the Random Access Music String Quartet in venues such as the Kupferberg Center for the Arts, the LeFrak Concert Hall,  The Secret Theatre, and festivals in New York City such as the Queens New Music Festival and the Queens College Arts Festival. Riccardo was also awarded the prestigious “G. Fontrier” Composition Award by the City University of New York (CUNY) in recognition of his special achievements within the composition field.

 

In 2019, he served as the Artistic and Executive Director of the Moveo International Festival 2019 and the Moveo International Conference 2019. The festival was held at the Opera House of the City of Noto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the participation of the Sicilian Lyric Choir and Orchestra as well as a selection of artists from Europe and the United States. During this occasion, the Sicilian Lyric Choir performed the first movement of Riccardo's choral composition "Oceanum Ex Luci, I. O Luna" which features an original text written in Latin by the composer himself. Riccardo also performed during a recording session at Abbey Road Studios' iconic Studio One in London, England, which has hosted a number of world-renowned artists including Sergei Prokofiev, Sir Edward William Elgar, and The Beatles. In May 2019, Riccardo earned a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Music and concentration in Composition from the University of Chichester in England. 

 

In 2021, two of his compositions, Hier ist kein Warum and Fallender Himmel for Bass Clarinet, were performed during two virtual concerts in New York City. In June 2021, he earned a Master of Arts in Music Composition from CUNY, Queens College. Riccardo has also been active as an independent researcher; his body of publications has been published in multiple languages and includes publications such as Analysis of Bartók: No. 7 from Eight Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, op. 20 (2020), Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672), “Wann unsre Augen schlafen ein” (2020), Analysis of György Ligeti’s "Pour Irina" (2018), and Music Theory and its Value (2017).

 

Riccardo is composing, conducting research, writing, and directing in the British, European, American, and international landscapes.