Ennio Porrino was an Italian composer and teacher. He created many compositions, including orchestral works, an oratorio, and several operas and ballets. His most famous piece is the symphonic poem Sardegna, which celebrates his home, Sardinia, and premiered in Florence in 1933.

Born in Cagliari, Porrino studied at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He trained under Ottorino Respighi from 1932 to 1935. Porrino became a supporter of Italian national music, opposing Modernist composers like Alfredo Casella. After Respighi’s death in 1936, Porrino and Respighi’s widow, Elsa, completed the unfinished opera Lucrezia, which premiered at La Scala in 1937.

Throughout his career, Porrino taught in conservatories in Rome, Venice, and Naples. In 1956, he became the director of the Cagliari Conservatory and married painter Malgari Onnis. Their daughter, Stefania, was born in 1957 and later became a playwright. Porrino passed away in Rome in 1959 at the age of 49. In 1980, a piano competition was established in his honour.