Nicola Piovani (born 26 May 1946) is an Italian light-classical musician, theater and film score composer. In 1998, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score for Roberto Benigni's film Life Is Beautiful (1997). After high school, Piovani enrolled at the Sapienza University of Rome, receiving his degree in piano from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1967, and later studied orchestration under the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. In 1971 and 1973 collaborated for the music of t ...