Francesco Palmieri (born 1996 in Italy) is a Basel-based classical and electric guitarist, whose work intertwines instrumental practice with artistic research in music, exploring innovative approaches to live amplification via spherical loudspeaker arrays.
His dedication to contemporary music has led him to perform at major festivals including Ruhrtriennale (DE), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik (AT) and Darmstädter Ferienkurse (DE). He collaborated with internationally known composers, such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Enno Poppe, Beat Furrer and Simon Steen-Andersen, and ensembles, including Ensemble Musikfabrik, Collegium Novum Zurich and Ensemble Phace, playing under the baton of conductors Emilio Pomarico, Brad Lubman, Clement Power and Nacho de Paz. He is a steady member of the musical collective Opificio Sonoro (IT).
In 2020, Contrasts Records (UK) released his debut album titled Drownwords, featuring Simon Steen-Andersen’s complete works for guitar. He also recorded for Kairos (AT), Brillant Classics (NL) and Liquen Records (ES).
Francesco Palmieri has been awarded grants from several foundations, including Fondation Nicati-de Luze, LYRA Stiftung, and Fondazione Giorgio Cini, and has been artist in residence at GRAME Lyon (FR), La Muse en Circuit (FR), and Mattatoio di Roma (IT). He was also awarded first Prize at two major competitions for interpretation contemporary music; International Competition Valentino Bucchi 2019 and Concours Nicati 2023.
After his studies in Fermo, Seville and Bern, in 2022 he graduated with full marks from the Basel Hochschule für Musik with a MA SP in Contemporary Music Performance. He is currently PhD student in Artistic Research in Music at Malmö Academy of Music (Lund University).