Irma Ravinale (1 October 1937 – 7 April 2013) was an Italian composer and music educator. She taught at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. Ravinale has received many awards for her compositions, and was awarded the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, the silver medal for merit from the School of Art and Culture in Rome, and a Gold Medal for culture and the arts.
Irma Ravinale was born in Naples, Italy in 1937. She studied composition at the Rome Conservatory of Santa Cecilia with Goffredo Petrassi, and continued her studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne, also studying piano, conducting and choral music. After completing her education, she took a position in 1966 teaching composition at the Conservatory Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Ravinale became director of San Pietro a Maijella Conservatory in Naples where she served until 1989 and then Director of the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia where she served until 1999. She is member of the International Honour Committee of the Fondazione Donne in Musica. Her compositions have been performed by leading musicians in Italy and overseas. She is particularly known for her one-act opera Il ritratto di Dorian Gray, based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. The opera had its concert premiere by RAI in Turin in 1975. She has won many prizes for her compositions, including four national composition prizes and an international prize. She was the only woman to win the composition prize at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia, which she was awarded in 1966.
Ravinale died in Rome, Italy, at the age of 75 on 7 April 2013.
Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Rome, 2 June 1992
Silver medal for meritorious school of art and culture, Rome, 2 June 1994
Gold Medal for Culture and the Arts
Ravinale composes works for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles and musical theatre. Selected works include:
1965 Scorpion, for chorus a cappella, from Trilussa
1966 Death meditated, cantata for baritone and string quartet
1967 Concerto for oboe, horn, timpani and strings
1967 Ballad of love and war, for soprano, violin, cello and piano
1970 Night Trio for violin, viola d'amore and cello
1970 The Picture of Dorian Gray, play by Oscar Wilde
1971 Invention concerted, for 13 wind instruments
1972 Sinfonia Concertante for guitar and orchestra
1974 Serenade for guitar, flute and viola
1976 Sequentia, for guitar and string quartet