In 1988, when aged only eighteen, he received a Diploma in Piano from the Vincenzo Bellini Music Conservatory in Palermo, magna cum laude.
[1] He studied pianoforte with Jörg Demus, Maria Tipo, Franco Scala, Boris Petrushansky, Aldo Ciccolini, composition with Eliodoro Sollima, analysis with Piero Rattalino.
[5] He also composed piano transcriptions, like La Valse by Maurice Ravel[5] and Scaramouche by Darius Milhaud.
His brilliant concert career took him throughout the world: Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center), New York City;[6] New York University; Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall; Französischer Dom, Berlin; Auditorium S. Cecilia, Rome; Eglise Saint-Merri and Centre Européen des Activités Artistiques, Paris; Tübingen University;[7] Keizersgrachtkerk, Amsterdam; Sofia National Theatre; Zernezer Musikwochen Festival (Switzerland);[8] Internationales KammerMusikFestival am Gendarmenmarkt (Germany).
Among his musical partners, tenor Pietro Ballo, soprano Arpiné Rahdjian, violist Demetrio Comuzzi, cellists Luca Pincini and Giorgio Gasbarro (first cellist at Palermo Teatro Massimo), dancer Oriella Dorella (étoile at Teatro alla Scala, Milan).