Davide Coppola (Trieste, 1992) is an Italian composer, conductor, and pianist.

He received his musical training at the Giuseppe Tartini Conservatory in Trieste, where he studied piano with Maria Rita Verardi and graduated in 2015 (Bachelor’s degree) with a thesis-concert entitled 9 Chorales by Bach/Kurtág for Piano Four Hands and Electronics. Alongside his piano studies, he began studying composition at the same institution in 2008 with Filippo Del Corno, later continuing with Stefano Bellon and Fabio Nieder. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Composition in 2018 with the work La morte e gli orologi for voice and ensemble, based on a text by Edgar Allan Poe.

During his studies at the Tartini Conservatory, he attended numerous international masterclasses in piano (including K. Barth, E. Arciuli, E. Torquati, R. Clini, T. Leopold, M. Karajeva, M. Prause, B. Ambrosini, and R. Yovchev) and in composition (with C. Czernowin, S. Gervasoni, A. Solbiati, G. Tedde, and U. Rojko).

In 2017 he was selected to participate in the summer composition course held by Salvatore Sciarrino at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. On that occasion, his work Sol di Lei for flute and viola was premiered by Matteo Cesari and Massimo Piva. In 2019 he took part in the composition masterclass led by Ivan Fedele at the Accademia Arrigoni in San Vito al Tagliamento, where his piece (Di)vento for flute and string orchestra was premiered by Maruta Staravoitava and the Arrigoni String Orchestra conducted by Pasquale Corrado. Between 2018 and 2019 he also attended a conducting course with Marco Angius.

In 2019 he was admitted to the Master’s program in Composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Kunstuniversität Graz, Austria), where he studied with Clemens Gadenstätter. He graduated in 2021 with top marks under the supervision of Clemens Gadenstätter and Clemens Nachtmann, presenting the thesis Polyphony for Solo Voice. Composition Project for a Single Polyphonic Voice. During his studies in Graz, he attended international masterclasses with Brian Ferneyhough, Frank Bedrossian, Alberto Posadas, Aaron Cassidy, Marton Illés, Jean-Luc Hervé, and the Arditti Quartet. He later completed an additional Master’s degree in Composition at the Kunstuniversität Graz in 2023.

In 2018 he founded the Cassander Ensemble, serving as its artistic director. The ensemble is dedicated to modern and contemporary music and has performed in Italy and Slovenia, including appearances at the Koper Biennale. Since the same year, he has been the musical director and conductor of the Trieste Musical Company (TMC), a semi-professional musical theatre company active in Trieste and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. His compositional work shows a particular focus on stage music and musical theatre, pursued through ongoing collaborations with theatre directors and local companies.

His music has been performed in Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Chile, and Canada. He has received several awards and distinctions, including the Musikförderungspreis der Stadt Graz (2021), the Paolo Bozzi Prize from the University of Trieste (2022), the Second Prize at the Composition Competition of the Valdivia Chamber Orchestra (Chile, 2018), and an Honourable Mention at the Mauricio Kagel Composition Competition (Vienna, 2016).

Alongside his artistic activity, he is actively engaged in music education. He teaches piano, composition, and music theory at several institutions in Trieste, including SISSA Club and the Arcobaleno School of Music.