film composer duo

“Praise of 'the good old days' should not deafen us to those who possess a certain talent, maintaining a high artistic level of film scoring following the generation of Rota, Morricone, Piovani and Piersanti. 

The duo Susan DiBona and Salvatore Sangiovanni are an exemplary case of contemporary Italian music for cinema that winks at tradition, quoting and recombining it with casual post-modernism...

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"They are innovators who navigate a path made arduous by inevitability of history, transcending it without denying its existence.” 

-R. Carter, Colonne Sonore , Italy's No.1 Film Music Magazine

Premi David di Donatello

official selection 2021: DiBona&Sangiovanni

best original score "I Liviatani - cattive attitudini"

best original song "The Crimson Waltz"

“The whole thing is held together by an admirable musical score which is so well-suited to the film that we notice it bit by bit, in a crescendo, until it surprises us with the magnitude of its goodness. The original music by Susan DiBona and Salvatore Sangiovanni reminds us of classic giallo movies, of a different era - the one the Liviatani family seeks to keep intact.”

- Cinematographe Magazine

original music

for film and television

artists' biography

Greatly favored by European film music critics and fans, the American-born composer Susan DiBona and her Italian composing partner Salvatore Sangiovanni have worked on over 35 original film and television scores as well as music for commercials, opera, top 40 pop music, musical theater, and ballet since creating The Villa Studios Praia a Mare. 

DiBona&Sangiovanni have won 3 Global Music Awards and various prizes and honors in UK, Italy and USA for their special composing style which unites their love for old-school scoring and artistic risks. The result is a fresh, new hybrid orchestral sound with an abundance of great original melodies as they are seldom heard in today’s TV and cinema.

Susan is a seasoned film composer and has written and produced numerous scores for popular primetime German TV series and features. She acted as both vocal coach and lyricist for the top 3 winners of Star Search Germany under contract with BMG/Universal Music. She has vocal coached and written lyrics for artists under contract with Polydor, Capitol, Sony/BMG, and Echo.
She attended Columbia University as well as the Buddy Baker/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop at NYU and was mentored by Mark Snow. Her first piano and theory teacher at the age of seven was the composer and pianist Leopold Godowksky III, nephew of George Gershwin. 
A poly-instrumentalist as well as multilingual, she has conducted such prestigious orchestras as the Berliner Symphoniker, ensembles including members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera, Babelsberger Filmorchester and the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin, Italy.

Salvatore, born in Italy, is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso concert and jazz pianist whose composing and arranging skills range from classic Italian operatic to American big band and beyond. He holds a post-graduate degree in classical piano performance from The Royal School of London.
He studied film scoring and orchestration under Carlo Crivelli and was mentored by Maestro Ennio Morricone. Sal also studied jazz with Michel Camilo (faculty member of The Juilliard School), be-bop legend Barry Harris, and renowned international performer and session player John Patitucci.

Together, DiBona&Sangiovanni are able to express and execute a virtually unlimited range of musical styles and techniques, whether using MIDI, chamber ensemble or large symphonic orchestra.

The duo were nominated in 2017 by Milan-based Colonne Sonore magazine as Best Italian Composers and for Best Italian Film Music of 2016, finding themselves honored to be among the ranks of Oscar winners John Williams, James Horner, Ennio Morricone and Alexandre Desplat.

They’ve scored independent films from their studio in southern Italy from the world over, from Dubai to India to USA, from Greece to UK; their music for primetime TV movies, series and commercials have been heard by tens of millions of viewers worldwide. 

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DiBona&Sangiovanni's score for "I Liviatani - Cattive attitudini" and their original song "The Crimson Waltz" from its soundtrack are officially selected to compete for the 2021 David di Donatello, the most prestigious cinematic award in Italy.