Mario Ficarelli studied piano with Maria de Freitas Moraes and Alice Philips, and composition with Olivier Toni. He possesses an extensive catalogue of works that includes pieces for almost all musical formations: chamber, vocal, choral, scenic, and symphonic. He has been awarded prizes in composition competitions both in Brazil and abroad, and has several pieces that have been published in Brazil, Europe, and the United States. In 1975, he participated in the International Tribune of Composers in Paris, conducting his Ensaio – 72 at the Theatre de la Ville. Transfigurationis, which was commissioned by the OSESP (Symphonic Orchestra of the State of São Paulo), premiered in 1981 and received the APCA (Paulista Association of Art Critics) Award at the time. This piece was performed by the Tonhalle Symphonic Orchestra of Zurich in 1988, and four years later, the Bruckner Symphonic Orchestra of Linz, Austria, executed it three times.
In 1992, his Symphony No. 2 – Mhatuhabh enjoyed a successful premiere in Zurich with Roberto Duarte conducting the Tonhalle Symphonic Orchestra, which had, in turn, commissioned the piece. In 1995, when the OSESP performed this symphony, it, too, was awarded the APCA Award. That same year, he won the Vitae Grant for the Arts for the composition of his 3rd Symphony, which he composed in Switzerland, where he resided for a year. This symphony enjoyed its world premiere in April, 1998, with Roberto Duarte conducting the OSESP. In 1994, Ficarelli was elected a member of the Brazilian Academy of Music. His commissioned 1996 MissaSolene for choir, child soloists, organ, and percussion debuted in Hungry in July of that same year for the commemorations of the one thousand years of the Pannohalma Abbey.
Once more, in 1997, he was awarded the Vitae Grant for the Arts in a competition for the composition of three quintets: Quintet for Oboe and String Quartet; Quintet for Trumpet and String Quartet (1998), and Quintet for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello (1998). In 1997, he composed the commissioned pieces: Toccata for Violin, Cello, and Piano; Tempestade Óssea – a sextet for 2 xylophones, 2 marimbas, 5 claves, and 5 temple blocks, which was recorded by the Percussion Group of the University of the State of São Paulo; and A Coisa – a cantata for choir and percussion based on a text by Millor Fernandes. His name appears as entries in foreign publications of note, such as Groves Dictionary of Music and Who's Who in the World. He is also dedicated to education and teaches composition and other subjects at the School of Communication and Arts at the University of São Paulo, where he is a professor of composition, and where he was elected head of the Department of Music in 1997.
Web: http://www.abmusica.org.br/site_abm_ingles/index.html (2010)