Paolo Pinamonti (1958) graduated in Philosophy from the University of Venice while completing piano studies at the Conservatory of Padua (1981). He also attended composition courses at the Venice Conservatory (1982).

Since 1992, he has been a professor at the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, where he teaches Film Music and History of Contemporary Music.

From 1992 to 1996, he worked as an assistant in the artistic management of the contemporary music festivals of the Venice Biennale. From 1997 to 2000, he was Artistic Director of La Fenice Theatre in Venice. From 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2007, he was Managing Director and Artistic Director of the Sao Carlos National Theatre in Lisbon. From 1 March 2007 to 31 July 2010, he held the post of Artistic Director of the Mozart-Caixa Galicia Festival in La Coruña. From 11 October 2011 to 31 October 2015, he was Director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. On 2 November 2015, he took up the post of Artistic Director of the San Carlo Theatre Foundation in Naples, where he worked until 31 March 2020. Currently he is Artistic Director of the Macerata Opera Festival in Italy.

He was recently appointed Director of the Manuel de Falla Foundation-Archive in Granada, where he will take up his duties in September 2023.

Apart from his work as artistic director, he has also been active in musicological research. His essays have been published by a number of publishers in Italy (Olschki, Ricordi, Marsilo), France (Avant-Scene, Paris-Sorbonne), Spain (Archivo Falla) and Portugal (Caminho and Babel). He prepared the critical edition of Rossini’s opera Sigismondo. It was published in 2011 by Ricordi-Fondazione Rossini de Pesaro as one of its series of Rossini critical editions.

In 2006, he was named Commander of the Order of Infante Don Enrique by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Jorge Sampaio.

In 2014, he was named Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy by the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.

In 2015, he was named Commander with Plaque of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain.