Giacomo La Vita has taken a top prize in virtually every competition in which he has entered - recent ones being the 9th and 10th Appalachian Guitar Competition, the 2004 Rantucci Competition, and the 2003 C.S.U. Classical Guitar Competition. Also, he is the only instrumentalist in Mannes College's history to win the annual Concerto Competition twice: in 2001 with the Fantasia para un Gentilhombre, and in 2005 with the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo.
	Giacomo La Vita was born in Florence, Italy, in 1976, and grew up in the United States where he took up guitar at the age of ten. When he was 15, he moved to New York City where he won a full-scholarship to study at the Bloomingdale School of Music, being the first guitarist to receive such an award. During this time he studied with guitarist Ricardo Cobo and composer/pianist Ronn Yedidia. He continued his studies at the Mannes College of Music where he received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, graduating with top academic honors, under the tutelage of guitarist Frederic Hand.
	Giacomo La Vita's active performing schedule as a solo recitalist has taken him to many of the major halls in New York City, as well as to many cities across the United States and Europe. Orchestras he has performed with include the Mannes Orchestra and The Metropolitan Opera Company Orchestra. Events at which he has been invited to perform include the La Bella Concert Series, the Birth of Romanticism Concert Series, and the Mediterranean Guitar Festival in Italy. In June 2005, he was profiled for the ABC Television Network and performed live on a news spot for KQTV television.
	In 2004 he formed the La Vita-Williams Guitar Duo with guitarist Bret Williams. Recent concerts were hailed as "Superb duo playing... with virtuosity" and as “a duo of spectacular energy and technical resource” (Nylon Review). Very active in the performance of chamber music, Giacomo regularly performs in various ensembles with violinists, flutists, singers, and guitarists. He has commissioned new works for the guitar and has also composed his own music for solo guitar and guitar trio, which have had perfromances in New York and on Japanese television.
Currently Giacomo La Vita resides in New York City where along with his performing activities he teaches at the State University of New York at Purchase and the New York Piano Academy in Manhattan.