BIOGRAPHY OF MIRKO RIZZELLO

German award-winning film composer Mirko Rizzello AKA MG-Rizzello was born in 1976 in Berlin, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. His parents Romeo and Jozica Rizzello migrated from Italy and Slovenia to West-Germany in 1974. Young Mirko studied Medical Technical Assistance from 1992 to 1995. Today he works at Charité - Humboldt-University Berlin's Clinic.

Mirko Rizzello started his music career as a drummer in several band formations (Minory, Wallsplit, Foreshadowing...) in the early nineties. Picture Palace Music belonged to those bands from 2012 to 2014. One of his band members Thorsten Quaeschning is the main keyboarder and current band leader of the electronic German group Tangerine Dream.

Rizzello’s strongest influences cover a range of styles from punk, grunge, and synth-pop to progressive rock, and include artists such as The Clash, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, The Mission and The Smiths.

Film scores that were inspirational in the development of his later works include Hans Zimmer‘s such as Rain Man (1988), Gladiator (2000), and The Dark Knight (2008). Soundtracks by James Horner, Howard Shore, and Danny Elfman influenced Rizzello to become a film composer in 2009.

Mirko’s passion for his art and love of orchestral music culminated in the release of his debut album "Heroical" in 2010. That same year he met award-winning film director Dave Lojek of APEIRON FILMS to create a soundtrack for a KinoBerlino zombie trailer. The partnership between both artists has flourished and continues to this day. Their successful collaborations have included Psychic Sue (2013), Das sprichwörtliche Glück (2016), I came from the Future (2018), and Occurrences of Questionable Significance (2020), earning both artists many awards, including best original score.

Rizzello uses sequencing software on elaborate computer setups, and hardware synthesizers in his studio to create his music. The genres of these film scores and production music range from experimental ambient electronic over hybrid forms to full orchestral, exemplified in albums such as "Epic Hybridique" (2017), "Sophisticated Cinematique" (2014), and concept album "Tronic" (2012).

As a self-taught musician and technician, he keeps improving and perfecting his styles and approaches, adding new layers of instruments and techniques with each collaboration. Fans of his music mention the epic changeability and emotional grandeur in his popular scores.

Among the film genres Mr. Rizzello's music enriches are comedy, science fiction, parody, action, adventure, drama and romance.

Other compositions for directors such as Ingrid Hübscher, Sören Helbing, Adrián Tejero, and Stefanie Spachmann also entertained festival cinema audiences around the globe.

The series pilot Assana (2019) by Chris Cloud was his first overseas collaboration for a fantasy soundtrack.

In 2020 Rizzello wrote a horror feature film score for the thriller C.L.E.A.N. It was produced by Vjekoslav Katusin and directed by Aurelio Toni Agliata, starring Costas Mandylor and Tom Sizemore. This project enabled Mirko to explore the darker regions of film music and it was met with considerable success in cinemas.

MG-Rizzello has risen to become one of the most popular short film musicians featured at international festivals worldwide today, counting over 555 presentations of Apeiron Films scores in cinemas and screenings. In a way, these cinemas are Mirko’s concert halls.

New albums by Mr. Rizzello are in production and will be released in the future. His music is available at several publishers and can be licensed for all kinds of purposes, including video games.

Thanks to Dave Lojek and Anthony Straeger for helping me formulate this biography.