Giovanni Sollima, born on October 24, 1962, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, is an Italian cellist and composer. He studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and composition with his father, Eliodoro Sollima, at the Conservatorio di Palermo, graduating with highest honors. Sollima furthered his education at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart and the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. Sollima's career included notable collaborations such as performing with American poet and musician Patti Smith on her records and in concert, as well as working with the Silk Road Project. His compositions often featured modal melodies and repetitive structures, influenced by minimalism and various ethnic traditions from the Mediterranean area. Sollima released several albums including Aquilarco (1998) and Sonnets et Rondeaux (2012). His career also included teaching at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and performing on a cello by Francesco Ruggieri made in Cremona in 1679.
