Born in Palermo, Sicily, in 1947. A self-taught musician, he began composing at the age of twelve, under the guidance of Antonio Titone. The first public performance of his work took place in 1962 during the 4th International New Music Week in Palermo. Sciarrino, however, considers the music written between 1959 and 1965 as belonging to an immature period of apprenticeship.
In later years he studied with Turi Belfiore and benefited from contact with Franco Evangelisti. Having completed his musical studies, he moved to Rome, and then to Milan.
He has won numerous awards at international composers' competitions. He also taught composition at the Conservatories of Milan, Perugia and Florence (1976-1996). Between 1978 and 1980 he was Artistic Director of the Bologna Opera House.
He has composed works for Teatro alla Scala, RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana, 'Maggio Musicale Fiorentino', Biennale of Venice, Teatro La Fenice, Genua Opera House, 'Arena di Verona', 'Festival delle Nazioni', the Festivals of Schwetzingen, Witten, Salzburg, 'Wien Modern', Wiener Festwochen, Berliner Festpiele Musikbiennale, Holland Festival, Concertgebouw, London Symphony Orchestra and many others music institutions in Italy and abroad. He lives in Città di Castello.

Recent works: Soffio e forma for orchestra, I fuochi oltre la ragione for orchestra, Recitativo Oscuro for piano and orchestra, Il Clima dopo Harry Partch for piano and orchestra; music theatre: Luci mie traditrici; Infinito nero; Terribile e spaventosa storia del Principe di Venosa e della Bella Maria; chamber music: Muro d'orizzonte, Cantare con Silenzio, Un fruscio lungo trent'anni, Due risvegli e il vento, Quartetto No. 7; for piano: Sonata No. 5, Quattro notturni; for flute: L'orologio di Bergson, Morte Tamburo; for accordion: Vagabonde blu.
L'addio a Trachis. In this piece Salvatore Sciarrino abandons that very precise, virtuosic character so typical of his solo writing and lets a complementary tendency break through. It consists of moments of silence which appear (taking the listener by surprise) after many vertical figurations, of breaths, repeats, mystery, suspension and counterpoint, with short, rustling sequences of mild repeated deliriums, like 'astral' melodies. The composer's imagination tends to reach a greater lyrical intimacy, the overall result being truly poetic.