Emilio Audissino
Professore/ssa Associato/aBiografia
Ho conseguito due dottorati, uno in Storia delle Arti Visive e dello Spettacolo presso l’Università di Pisa e uno in Film Studies in Inghilterra, presso la University of Southampton (parte del Russell Group), con il Professor K. J. Donnelly, uno dei maggiori teorici del suono nei media, approfondendo così gli aspetti legati al suono e alla musica nel cinema e nei media.
Ho pubblicato saggi, articoli in rivista, capitoli di libri e voci di enciclopedia con i principali editori accademici mondiali, e partecipato come relatore e keynote speaker a convegni nazionali, internazionali e intercontinentali. Il mio libro The Film Music of John Williams (2014/2021), è stato la prima monografia accademica dedicata a John Williams, ripubblicata nel 2021 in una seconda edizione ampliata e aggiornata, e distribuita da Amazon anche in veste di audio-libro nel 2022. Come conseguenza della diffusione e impatto di questo libro, ho ricevuto commissioni per studi e contributi, sia su John Williams che sui rapporti tra cinema e musica in generale, dall'orchestra sinfonica di Milano, dalla Filarmonica della Scala, dall’Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, dall'Istituto Musicologico “Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini”, da Decca Records, da Oxford University Press, e dalla Library of the Congress di Washington, D.C. La mia ricerca è stata citata sul New Yorker e sul New York Times. Durante l’edizione 2023 di ‘Music and The Moving Image’ alla New York University – la diciannovesima edizione di quello che è considerato il più importante convegno internazionale su musica e media – sono stato presentato come “the founder of the John Williams Studies”. Il mio libro Film/Music Analysis (2017) tratta l’analisi audiovisiva impiegando la psicologia della Gestalt e il neoformalismo ed è adottato come testo universitario in Europa, Stati Uniti, e Australia; vista l’ampia adozione, una seconda edizione è stata commissionata dall’editore.
Sono stato “Visiting Scholar” presso la University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) e “Visiting Professor” presso l’università di Utrecht (NL). Ho ricevuto il titolo di “Honorary Fellow in Film” presso la University of Southampton, UK, e sono “Affiliated Researcher” presso il centro di ricerca IMS (Intermedial and Multimodal Studies) in Svezia. Ho ottenuto l’abilitazione alla libera docenza in Svezia (“Docentur”), equivalente all’italiana ASN di seconda fascia, e in Italia ho conseguito l’ASN come Professore di prima fascia.
Facoltà
Materia d'insegnamento
In aspettativa durante a.a. 2024/2025
Dipartimento
Docente di riferimento
L3 - Scienze e tecnologie delle arti, dello spettacolo e del cinema
Pubblicazioni
In stampa/in preparazione
SAGGIO PER ENCICLOPEDIA. ‘Film Music in Italy.’ In Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume XIII: Genres, a cura di John Shepherd, David Horn. New York: Bloomsbury (2025, in corso di stampa).
ARTICOLO IN RIVISTA SCIENTIFICA. ‘John Williams: Serendipitous Concert Conductor.’ Émergence·s, Vol. 1, 2025 (2025, in corso di stampa).
SAGGIO IN VOLUME. ‘Sweden's Top Comedians. An Introduction to Hasse&Tage for Non-Swedish Audiences.’ In The Handbook of Nordic Cinema, a cura di Mariah Larsson e Gunnar Iversen. London: Intellect (2025, in corso di stampa).
SAGGIO PER ENCICLOPEDIA. ‘John Williams.’ In DEUMM – Dizionario Enciclopedico Universale della Musica e dei Musicisti (consegnato).
MONOGRAFIA. Film/Music Analysis. A Film Studies Approach. Seconda edizione ampliata commissionata dall’editore Palgrave Macmillan (2025, in corso di stampa).
SAGGIO IN VOLUME. ‘Film Music in Italy.’ In The Cambridge History of Global Film Music, a cura di Mervyn Cooke. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press (sotto contratto, in preparazione).
SAGGIO IN VOLUME. ‘Creepy Telephone Voices. A Psychological Explanation and a Case Study of Black Christmas (1974).’ In Style, Form, and the Slasher Film, a cura di Wickham Clayton (commissionato, in preparazione).
SAGGIO IN VOLUME. ‘John Williams, the Conductor’. In The Cambridge Companion to John Williams, a cura di Frank Lehman. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press (commissionato, in preparazione).
Monografie
2021. The Film Music of John Williams. Reviving Hollywood’s Classical Style, revised and updated edition. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 376 pp. ISBN: 978-0-299-33234-1.
2021. Film Music in Concert. The Pioneering Role of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Cambridge Elements. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021, 85 pp. ISBN: 978-1-009-00909-6.
2017. Film/Music Analysis. A Film Studies Approach. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 255 pp. ISBN: 978-3-319-87135-6.
2014. John Williams's Film Music. 'Jaws,' 'Star Wars,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' and the Return of the Classical Hollywood Music Style. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 346 pp. ISBN: 978-0-299-29734-3.
2010. L'infanzia nel cinema di Steven Spielberg. Imperia: Ennepilibri, 90 pp. ISBN: 978-88-7908-295-2.
Curatela di Volumi
2023 (con Emile Wennekes). The Palgrave Handbook of Music in Comedy Cinema. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 820 pp. ISBN: 978-3-031-33421-4.
2019 (con Emile Wennekes). Cinema Changes: Incorporations of Jazz in the Film Soundtrack. Turnhout: Brepols, 345 pp. ISBN: 978-2-503-58447-8.
2018. John Williams. Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage. Turnhout: Brepols, 464 pp. ISBN: 978-2-503-58034-0.
Articoli in rivista scientifica/Saggi in volume/Voci d’enciclopedia (Peer Reviewed)
2025. 'The Sound of Madness and Horror. Music and Multiple Authorship in Profondo Rosso' In Scoring Italian Cinema. Patterns of Collaboration, a cura di Giorgio Biancorosso e Roberto Calabretto. London/New York: Routledge, 163-178. ISBN: 978-0-367-56926-6.
2024. ‘Canonizing John Williams.’ 19TH-Century Music 48 (1-2): 76–85. https://doi.org/10.1525/ncm.2024.48.1-2.76. ISSN: 0148-2076.
2024. ‘The ReZort (2015): Zombies, Refugees, and B-Protocols’. Cinémas – Journal of Film Studies 30 (3): 99-121 (Fascia A). ISSN: 1181-6945. https://doi.org/10.7202/1111122ar
2024. ‘Inizio e fine della musica “classica” di Hollywood.’ In Il Novecento attraverso lo specchio musicale, vol. II, a cura di Virgilio Bernardoni. Bergamo: Sestante Edizioni/Bergamo University Press, 87-112. ISBN: 978-88-6642-415-4.
2023 (con Chloé Huvet). ‘Irony, Comic, and Humorous Touches. The Comedic Sides of John Williams.’ In The Palgrave Handbook of Music in Comedy Cinema, a cura di Emilio Audissino and Emile Wennekes, 689-706. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 978-3-031-33421-4.
2023. ‘From Dionysia to Hollywood: An Introduction to Comedy’s Long (and Bumpy) Road.’ In The Palgrave Handbook of Music in Comedy Cinema, a cura di Emilio Audissino and Emile Wennekes, 3-23. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 978-3-031-33421-4.
2023. ‘John Williams.’ In Oxford Bibliographies Online, ‘Cinema and Media Studies’, commissionato dal curatore Krin Gabbard. New York: Oxford University Press, 21 febbraio 2023. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0367.xml
2022. ‘From Separation to Integration. Strengths and Weaknesses of Sound-design Film Music.’ In Filigrane - Musique, Aesthetics, Sciences, Société 27, (December), online (rivista scientifica ANVUR). https://revues.mshparisnord.fr/filigrane/index.php?id=1328. ISSN: 2261-7922.
2022. ‘The Ah, Ha, Ha! Moment: A Gestalt Perspective on Audiovisual Humour.’ In Cinéma & Cie. Cinema and Media Studies Journal 22 (38): 97-116 (Fascia A). https://doi.org/10.54103/2036-461X/16912 . ISSN: 2035-5270.
2022. ‘Police Squad!. The Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker Style VS the Substance of Traditional Television’. In Moments in Television. Substance/Style, a cura di Sarah Cardwell, Lucy Donaldson, and Jonathan Bignell, 178-201. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN: 978-1-5261-4878-0.
2021. ‘New Hollywood’s “Zany Godards”: A “Shirley” Serious Assessment of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker.’ In New Wave, New Hollywood: Gender, Reassessment, Recovery and Legacy, a cura di Nathan Abrams and Gregory Frame, 79-100. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN: 978-1-5013-6040-4.
2020. ‘“The Shark Is Not Working” – but the Music Is. Scoring a Hit with Jaws.’ In The Jaws Book: New Perspectives on the Classic Summer Blockbuster, a cura di Ian Hunter and Matthew Melia, 65-78. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN: 978-1-5013-7386-2.
2020. ‘A Matter of Form, Style, and Monsters. A Comparative Analysis of Reazione a catena and Friday the 13th.’ L’avventura. International Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Landscapes 6/1 (January-June): 3-22 (fascia A). https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.17397/97432. ISSN: 2421-6496.
2020. ‘The Function of Mickey-Mousing. A Re-assessment’. In Sound & Image: Audiovisual Aesthetics and Practices, a cura di Andrew Knight-Hill, 145-160. New York: Routledge/Focal Press. ISBN: 978-0-3672-7146-6.
2019. ‘“Behold the Newest Technological Sensation! With Music!”. The Use of Music in the Silent Cinema’. In Music and the Second Industrial Revolution, a cura di Massimiliano Sala, 429-447. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN: 978-2-503-58571-0.
2019. ‘The Multiform Identity of Jazz in Hollywood.’ In Cinema Changes: Incorporations of Jazz in the Film Soundtrack, a cura di Emile Wennekes and Emilio Audissino, 85-97. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN: 978-2-503-58447-8.
2019 (con Emile Wennekes). ‘Prologue. A Reel Jazz Survey.’ In Cinema Changes: Incorporations of Jazz in the Film Soundtrack, a cura di Emile Wennekes and Emilio Audissino, ix-xxvi. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN: 978-2-503-58447-8.
2019. 'The Final Girls (2015) as a Video Essay: A Metalinguistic Play with Genre and Gender Conventions.' In Gender and Contemporary Horror in Film, a cura di Samantha Holland, Steven Gerrard, Robert Shail, 219-235. Bingley: Emerald Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-787-69898-7.
2018. 'Rediscovering a Film; Revisiting a Film; Damaging a Film. A Musical Comparison of Three DVD Editions of Nosferatu.' In Music and Sound in Silent Cinema. From the Nickelodeon to The Artist, a cura di Ruth Barton and Simon Trezise, 174-186. New York/Oxon: Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-1382-4535-8.
2018. ‘“Commutation Tricks” and “Forced Marriages”. The Manipulation of the Soundtrack as a Tool for Film/Music Analysis.’ In Cinergie 13 (July): 37-46 (fascia A). https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2280-9481/7876. ISSN: 2280-9481.
Società scientifiche
Music and Media, International Musicological Society (IMS)
Convegni Scientifici
2025, conference paper, ‘Immersive Atmospheres in Contemporary Hollywood Cinema: The Somatic Function of Film Music.’ Media Atmospheres international symposium, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Svezia, 2 maggio 2025.
2024, conference paper. ‘Scoring in a Wilder Key. Musical Masquerade in Billy Wilder’s Comedies.’ XX MaMI, Music and the Moving Image Conference, New York University, New York, USA, 25 maggio 2024.
2024, partecipazione al panel online organizzato dal “Sound and Music Special Interest Group” della SCMS (Society for Cinema and Media Studies) sul tema ‘Speaking Between the Lines: Telephone Voices in Screen Representation’, 8 maggio 2024.
2023, conference paper. ‘John Williams on the Podium.’ Film Music Between the Movies and the Concert Hall conference, University of Graz, Graz, Austria, 24 novembre 2023.
2023, conference paper. ‘Swan Lake and Dracula. From the 1931 Tod Browning Film to the 1979 John Badham Remake.’ Sound on Screen conference, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK, 6 luglio.
2023. ‘Italianate Sounds for French Actors Passing for Italians Characters. Ennio Morricone’s Timbral Choices for Le clan des Siciliens.’ Music and Media conference ‘Musique et son dans les médias audiovisuels francophones’, Université d'Évry Paris-Saclay, Paris, Francia, 20 giugno. https://mediaserveur.univ-evry.fr/videos/emilio-audissino-italianate-sounds-for-french-actors-passing-for-italian-characters/
2023. Invited Talk. ‘La musica e il film’, conferenza in occasione del sessantesimo Festival Pianistico Internazionale di Bergamo e Brescia, organizzata dall’Università di Bergamo e dalla Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, 5 giugno. https://www.festivalpianistico.it/festival/edizione-2023/progetti-e-iniziative-2023/
2023. ‘From Johnny to John. The Comic and The Humorous in John Williams.’ XIX MaMI, Music and the Moving Image Conference, New York University, New York, USA, 28 maggio.
2022, keynote talk. ‘The Other Side of John Williams: Bringing Film Music to Concert Halls.’ John Williams conference, Evry Paris-Saclay University, Paris, Francia, 7 dicembre. https://mediaserveur.univ-evry.fr/videos/keynote-1-emilio-audissino_77621/
2022, invited talk. ‘John Williams: The Concert Conductor.’ Seminario dottorale, Department of Cultural Sciences, Gothenburgh University, Sweden, 6 ottobre.
2022, conference paper. ‘John Williams, from Comic to Humour: ThePre-Star Wars Period.’ Panel sulla musica nella commedia cinematografica, Music and Media Study Group of the International Musicological Society, 21st Quinquennial IMS Congress (IMS2022), Department of Music Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Grecia, 23 agosto.
2022, conference paper. ‘Bringing Film Music Outside of the Screen: Conductor John Williams.’ XVIII MaMI, Music and the Moving Image Conference, New York University, New York, USA, 28 maggio.
2022, conference paper. ‘Swan Lake and Dracula. From the 1931 Tod Browning Film to the 1979 John Badham Remake.’ Classical Music in Contemporary Media conference, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, 13-15 maggio.
2022, conference paper. ‘Countering Breakdown with Recovery and Reconciliation. The Case of Live-accompanied Multimedia Films.’ Media Breakdown and Recovery Conference, Lund University, Sweden, 16 marzo.
2022, invited talk. ‘Bringing Film Music Outside of the Screen. Conductor John Williams.’ Higher Research Seminar Series, Department of Musicology, Stockholm University, Sweden, 24 febbraio.
2021, keynote talk. ‘Biblical References and Ominous Anticipations in John Williams’s Score for Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ First ‘Sound on Screen’ Conference, Oxford Brookes University, UK, 17 giugno.
2021, keynote talk. ‘The Agency of Music in Audiovisual Artefacts. A Gestalt-based Approach.’ 2021 meeting of the SMEA – Svenska Medieproduktionsakademier, Sweden, 17 maggio.
2020, invited talk. ‘Salvaging a Film and Reviving the Tradition. The Historic Role of John Williams’s Jaws Score.’ Music Seminar Series at Dublin City University, School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ireland, 3 novembre.
2020, invited talk. ‘Teaching Cinema, Music, and Film Music with Star Wars.’ Professional Teaching Institute, City University of London, UK, 2 marzo.
2019, conference paper. ‘2 Broke Girls: Flattening Kat Dennings into Max Black. Screenwriting and Character Complexity in the Sitcom Format.’ Writing for Screens Symposium, University of Portsmouth, UK, 14 giugno.
2019, keynote talk. ‘Sound-logos, Olympics, Presidents, and Other Celebrations. When John Williams Scores for the Mass Media.’ 11th Conference of the Music and Media Group of the International Musicological Society, ‘Sounds of Mass Media: Music in Journalism and Propaganda’, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Svezia, 8 giugno, https://lnu.se/contentassets/89b24b89f8c4453daf3c11d9ec46d806/program-11th-meeting-mam-2019-vaxjo.pdf.
2019, conference paper. ‘The “Spatial Perceptive Function” of Film Music: When Music Tells You What and Where to Look.’ Conference ‘Mapping Spaces, Sounding Places. Geographies of Sound in Audiovisual Media’, Università di Pavia, Cremona, Italia, 19 marzo, https://geographiesofsound2019.wordpress.com/program/
2018, invited talk. ‘The Importance of John Williams.’ Centre for International Film Research, Film Department, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, 29 ottobre.
2018, invited talk. ‘The Importance of John Williams.’ Utrecht Colloquia in the Musicologies 2018/2019, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NL, 17 ottobre.
2018, conference paper. ‘Episodes and Real Rob: Celebrities at Their Worst.’ 4th International Celebrity Studies Conference ‘Desecrating Celebrities’, La Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italia, 28 giugno.
2018, conference paper. ‘The Agency of Music in Audiovisual Artefacts. A Gestalt-based Approach.’ 10th Conference of the International Musicological Society, Study Group ‘Music and Media’, University of Salamanca, Spagna, 14 giugno.
2017, conference paper. 'Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker: New Hollywood's “Zany Godards.”' The American New Wave: A Retrospective, conference at the Bangor University, UK, 4 luglio.
2017, conference paper. 'Bringing The Nanny to the Italian Audience. Dubbing as Adaptation and Assimilation.' Journal for Italian Cinema and Media Studies conference, American University of Roma, Italia, 10 giugno.
2017, keynote talk. 'Jazz, Hollywood Cinema, and John Williams.' When Jazz Meets Cinema conference, Lovere, Italia, 6 maggio.
2016, conference paper. 'Film Music in Concert. The Case of the Boston Pops Orchestra.' Society for American Music 42nd annual conference, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 10 marzo.
2015, conference paper. 'Archival Research and the Study of the Concert Presentations of Film Music.' Audio-Visual Archives conference, the British Library, 18 luglio.
2015, conference paper. 'The "Ancrage" Effect of Film on Music in Film-Music Concert Pieces.' Listening Cinematically conference, Royal Holloway, University of London, 25 giugno.
2014, conference paper. 'When the Score Tells More: Music and Connotations in Raiders of the Lost Ark', 20th SERCIA Conference 'Movies and Music: National and Transnational Approaches'. Radboud University, Nijmegen, Olanda, 18 settembre.
2014, conference paper. 'Building an Emotive Framework: The Macro-Emotive Function of Film Music', conference 'Music for Audio-Visual Media', University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K., 5 settembre.
2014, conference paper. 'Creative Energy without Creative Industry: Mario Bava', NECS (European Network for Cinema and Media Studies) conference, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italia, 21 giugno 2014.
2014, conference paper. 'Orchestrating a Prejudice: European Misunderstanding of the Use of Orchestrators in Hollywood', MaMI (Music and the Moving Image) conference, New York University, Steinhardt School of Music, New York, U.S.A., 31 maggio.
2014, conference paper. 'Film Dubbing as Adaptation and (Forced?) Assimilation', 'The Humanities 7th Annual Postgraduate Conference', University of Southampton, Southampton, U.K, 31 marzo.
2013, conference paper. 'Il cinema è la morte al lavoro', international conference 'Immagini della morte', Università di Pisa, Italia, 19 April.
2013, lezione dottorale. 'Musica per film. Proposta per un'analisi stilistica e formale', giornata di studi 'Il cinema e le arti, Università di Pisa, Italia, 8 marzo.
2011, conference paper. 'Émigrés and Hollywood Film Music: The Cases of Max Steiner's Casablanca and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's The Adventures of Robin Hood', 12th International Conference 'Da Ulisse a... In viaggio verso le terre felici’, Università di Genova, Imperia, Italia, 8 ottobre.
2011, intervento seminariale. 'Émigrés and the Political Connotations of Hollywood Music: Two Case Studies', seminario dottorale 'Migrazioni e Migranti', Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italia, 30 giugno.
2011, conference paper. 'Il cinema: arte e mercificazione. Il caso delle colonne sonore ''pop''', international doctoral Summer School 'Arts and Media 2' organizzata dalla università Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3 a San Servolo (Venezia), 6 June.
2010, conference paper. 'The Meaning of Flight in Steven Spielberg's Films', 11th International Conference 'Da Ulisse a... Il viaggio aereo tra fantasia e realtà', Università di Genova, Imperia, Italia, 9 October 2010.
2010, conference paper. 'John Williams, the Boston Pops Orchestra and Film Music in Concert', 12th International Doctoral Summer School 'Cinema and Contemporary Art 3,' Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3, Paris, Francia, 6 July.
2010, conference paper. 'John Williams, Star Wars, and the Canonization of Hollywood Film Music', 17th International Film Studies Conference 'Film Forum,' Udine, Italia, 17 March.
2009, conference paper. 'Il cinema, l'automobile e la morte al lavoro', 10th International Conference 'Da Ulisse a... Il viaggio in auto: mito e attualità', Università di Genova, Imperia, Italia, 3 ottobre.
Le Principali aree di ricerca in ambito accademico riguardano:
I miei principali ambiti di ricerca e insegnamento sono la storia ed estetica del cinema (in particolare quello Hollywoodiano e italiano), l'analisi stilistico/formalista, la commedia cinematografica e televisiva, il genere horror, la narrazione filmica, le tecniche e forme della sceneggiatura, il doppiaggio come adattamento audiovisivo, il cinema di Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker. Sono in particolare un rinomato esperto di teoria e storia della musica e del suono negli audiovisivi e un riferimento a livello mondiale riguardo la musica per film di John Williams.