On July 6 Ennio Morricone, Italian composer, musician, conductor and arranger, passed away. His career includes a wide range of compositional genres that make him one of the most versatile, prolific and influential composers of all time.

Sapienza University had the honour of hosting Ennio Morricone for a meeting-concert, on October 24, 2018, in the Aula Magna of the Rectorate Building. During the event, the Maestro was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Prize as part of the Videocittà event.

Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone has composed more than 100 classic pieces. However, his worldwide fame is linked to the music produced for the Italian western genre, which led him to collaborate with directors such as Sergio Leone, Duccio Tessari and Sergio Corbucci. He also composed the soundtracks for films of all genres directed by the masters of Hollywood such as John Carpenter, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, Mike Nichols, Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino.

Morricone won the Honorary Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 and the Academy Award in 2016 for the best original composition for the soundtrack to Tarantino's The Hateful Eight.