Roberto Paci Dalò
An Italian artist who treats the city as a living instrument, weaving together radio waves, archival whispers, and live performance into immersive soundscapes.
Born 1962 (age 64)·Italian musician·Birthday: January 27·Baby Boomers
Biography
Roberto Paci Dalò is a cartographer of the invisible. His primary medium is sound, but his practice dissolves the boundaries between music, theatre, film, and digital art. As co-founder of the ensemble Giardini Pensili, he creates dense, poetic works where historical research meets technological experimentation. A pioneer of radio art and networked performance, he often uses radio transmission as a physical and metaphorical space, creating compositions that drift through the airwaves and urban environments. His projects frequently delve into forgotten histories or marginalized voices, using field recordings, electronic manipulation, and live instrumentation to build haunting, multi-layered narratives. Based in the mountainous region of Esino Lario, his work is both locally engaged and globally connected, reflecting a mind that finds equal inspiration in avant-garde composition and the communal potential of digital tools like Wikipedia.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Roberto was born in 1962, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Roberto Was Born
The biggest hits of 1962
#1 Movie
Lawrence of Arabia
Best Picture
Lawrence of Arabia
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Roberto's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1962Born
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1967Started school
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1975Became a teenager
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Could drive
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1980Could vote
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Turned 21
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1992Turned 30
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 40
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 50
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 60
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 64 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the prestigious Premio Napoli for his contributions to Italian language and culture in 2015.
- Served as the artistic director for Wikimania 2016 in Esino Lario, integrating the conference with site-specific artistic interventions.
- Created the long-running radio art project 'Radio Lada', exploring the possibilities of the medium as an artistic and communal space.
Did You Know?
He is a trained clarinetist and often incorporates the instrument into his electronic and acoustic compositions.
Paci Dalò created one of the first Italian internet radio stations, Radio Lada, in the early 1990s.
He has collaborated with a wide range of artists, from philosopher Paul Virilio to musician and producer Teho Teardo.
“Sound is a material to build spaces, to make the invisible architecture of a city audible.”
