Italian composer; b. Sacco di Rovereto, Trentino, May 30, 1883; d. Pesaro, June 5, 1944. Zandonai was a pupil of Gianferrari at Rovereto from 1893 to 1898, then of PIETRO MASCAGNI at the Liceo Rossini in Pesaro. He graduated in 1902, and for his final examination he composed a symphonic poem for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra, Il ritorno di Odisseo.

Zandonai then turned to opera, which remained his favored genre throughout his career. His first opera was La coppa del re (c.1906), which was never performed. After writing the children's opera L'uccelino d'oro in 1907, he won notable success with his third opera, Il grillo del focolare, after Charles Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth, in 1908. With his next opera, Conchita, after the novel La Femme et le pantin by Pierre LouŸs, in 1911, he established himself as an important Italian composer. The title role was created by the soprano Tarquinia Tarquini, whom Zandonai married in 1917. Conchita received its American premiere in San Francisco in 1912.

Zandonai's reputation was enhanced by subsequent works, notably his 1914 opera Francesca da Rimini, after Gabriele d'Annunzio. During World War I, Zandonai participated in the political agitation for the return of former Italian provinces. He wrote a student hymn calling for the return of Trieste in 1915.