Bio

Not a Day without a Note

“With his unique brand of atmospheric piano and minimal electronic compositions, his music reflects the vast expanse and sense of unknown that his interstellar aspirations represent.” – Plastic Mag UK

“The eclectic artist is well known for his unstoppable skills and dedication to what he does and his brand new single is one more stunning example of Leonardo's talent.” – YMX

“Scientific notes – Leonardo Barilaro is behind a ground-breaking concert, which will bring together traditional piano and synthesizer.” – Times of Malta

“Taking his unique blend of piano and synth to the next level is none other than aerospace engineer and pianist Leonardo Barilaro. The Malta-based artist is leading the way in contemporary space music.” – Lovin Malta

“Italian talented pianist Leonardo Barilaro revolutionizes the avant-garde by taking us into space” – European Indie Music Magazine

“Space Pianist Leonardo Barilaro is both a pianist and aerospace engineer with a PhD in space safety. And he is now designing the first piano concert on Mars.” – Malta Today

Dr Leonardo Barilaro is a pianist, composer and aerospace engineer. And he will play the first piano concert on Mars.
His compositions can be described as Contemporary Space Music, where he merges piano solo, prepared piano, synths and embedding a wide range of experimentations.
Born in Venice, Italy, Leonardo Barilaro discovers the piano at the age of 6 and astronomy at 9. At the age of 12, by reading Isaac Asimov, playing Beethoven and Bach, listening to Queen, Steve Vai and Robert Miles, he decided he would travel the Space and play his music outside planet Earth.
So, he became a professional pianist AND an aerospace engineer.
The Journey of Leonardo hit important milestones to reach his Dream. As a pianist he graduated from the Music Conservatory in Italy, studying composition and developing his passion for synths and electronic music. He was mentored by Jordan Rudess, Dream Theater's keyboardist. In the meanwhile, he graduated with a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Padova, researching on hypervelocity impacts and space safety. During those years he did a concert at the ESRANGE Space Center in cold Sweden while taking part in his first space mission with the SCRAT Project. He recorded four studio albums, five EPs and several singles, with always new music in the flow. He played in several countries like Italy, Germany, Malta, France, UK, Netherlands, UAE and Turkey.

Leonardo teamed up with many world-class artists during the years, like Tina Guo and Steve Mazzaro, Yossi Sassi, Mariangela Demurtas, Marco Minnemann, Aliki Chrysochou, Victoria Kryukova and Anna Utopia Giordano.
Currently based in Malta, since 2020 Leonardo Barilaro is a Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), developing research about aeronautical and space structures and materials subjected to high-velocity impacts.
In 2022 Leonardo Barilaro embarked on a yearlong journey with his project “Space Piano Music Everyday”. The Space Pianist was the first artist to release every single day a new track on Spotify and all main music digital distribution platforms, with the related videoclip. The inspiration for this venture originates from his mantra, Nullo Die Sine Nota – Not a day without a note. In Art there are no shortcuts and everyday Leonardo takes a new step forward his Dream, wishing to bring on Mars with him also the people closest to his music.
His first composition "Maleth" premiered from Space was onboard the International Space Station during August 2022.
In March 2023 the new space music composition “ZER0” was flying to the International Space Station, onboard SpaceX CRS27 rocket launch. For the second time the music of the Space Pianist reached orbit around Earth and was broadcast in April 2023. In the same year he became also brand ambassador for the luxury pianos of Zanta Pianoforti.
Leonardo published the book 'Music from Space', presented at the 74th International Astronautical Congress - IAC 2023 in Baku and he is currently the project leader of a new space mission, ASTROBEAT, that will bring new space art onboard the International Space Station towards the end of 2024.
Leonardo, known as the Space Pianist, as next step is planning to go to Space and stream a concert directly from there.