Born in 1967, Vanni Moretto began piano studies in 1973. In 1981 he enrolled at the Conservatorio "G. Verdi" in Milan, where he completed his secondary studies with double bass, composition (under Irlando Danieli, Niccolò Castiglioni and Azio Corghi), electronic music (under Riccardo Bianchini), and conducting (under Gabriele Bellini, Umberto Cattini and Daniele Gatti). In 1990 he gave his first conference in Brescia on new double bass technique (especially multiple harmonics) in contemporary music.
His compositions received recognition in the Concorso Bucchi of 1989 and 1994, in the 1st Selection of Young Italian Composers 1994 organised by the Civica Scuola in Milan and Radio France, and in the national competition "Oltre l'avanguardia" held in Turin.
His piece "Comme une pierre dans l'eau", for clarinet, harp and cello, won the international competition "Fiumara d'arte" 1992 and was recorded on CD. He also won first prize in consecutive years in the composition competition "Il bambino e il suo strumento", Grugliasco, Italy (1994 and 1995) and first prize in the "Rocco Rodio" competition with "Modus Mutandi" (2004).
He won second prize in the international competition "Suoni di Fiaba", Sàrmede 1994, and in the first national competition "J. Brahms" 1994, both for music for children. His "Quattro Movimenti" won third prize in the national competition "G. Petrassi" in Parma.
Moretto has been concerned with the problem of historical tuning and modal scales, including ancient Greek, medieval and renaissance documents. After studying the work of Alfred Tomatis, in the years 1993-6, he and Laura Bertelé drew up a project for healing based on the experience of the French audiologist with music as its fulcrum. The resulting text was presented and discussed by the author in two conferences at the "Testaccio" cultural centre in Rome (1995, 1996).
His composition "L'Ombra" for solo cello and ten flutes was performed by the Ensemble Moderno in 1994; "Tema" for orchestra was published by Sonzogno and performed by the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI di Milano; "Lune" for harp quartett and "Comme une pierre dans l'eau" for clarinet, harp and cello were edited and recorded on CD by Lyra Records; "Quattro Movimenti" for chamber orchestra has been published by Ricordi. "Il pesciolino grigio" for flute, clarinet, harp and piano has been published by Bèrben. "Flowers" for clarinet and piano, "Cinque piccole fantasie" for piano, "Sette pezzi per Sette scale", "Kangaroo" for cello and piano and "Diario di un bambino italiano in Tibet" have been published by Rugginenti. Moretto's teaching material since 1997 has been published by Sonzogno. "Upon one note" was first performed at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, conductor P. Borgonovo. "Trouble in the jungle" was performed at the Venice festival by the Orchestra della Fenice, conductor P. Borgonovo.
Moretto composed "The silence of Bikini" for the duo Lorenzo and Vittorio Ghielmi and many other pieces for their viola consort.
In 2001, Moretto conducted his opera "Il Principe delle Stelle", based on libretto by the poet Giuseppe Scuto, at the Teatro dei Rozzi in Siena.
"Modus Mutandi" for sax soprano and organ was performed at the Amsterdam Festival Voor de Wind in 2003 and win the 1st Prize at Composition Competition "Rocco Rodio" in 2005.
"Zart" for orchestra was performed by the Orchestra Musica Rara in january 2006.