In the field of both instrumental and electroacoustic music he has developed theories and methods on the possible relationship between a work and the long-term memory of the listener.
His compositions have been awarded prizes at various international competitions: "Ennio Porrino 1989", Cagliari; "L. Russolo 1992", Varese; "MusicaNova 1993", Prague; "ICMC CD-selection 1993", Tokyo; "Olympia 1993", Athens; "Spectri Sonori ‘93", Tulane (USA); XXV Concours International de musique electroacoustique 1998", Bourges (France); and are published and recorded by Edipan (Rome), RivoAlto-Casier (Treviso), Symposium-CAT (Trento), International Computer Music Association (San Francisco, USA), AIMI-Associazione Italiana d'Informatica Musicale (Gorizia), Unesco CIME-Cultures Electroniques (Bourges, France).
Cifariello Ciardi collaborates regularly with the Department of Psychology of "La Sapienza" University in Rome and is a member of ECONA-Interuniversity Center for Research on Cognitive Processing in Natural and Artificial Systems (). He has published several works dedicated to the psychology of music, to the music of the twentieth century and to Italian music policy. As a musicologist, he has collaborated with the Research Institute for Music Theatre, Rome and with RAI-Radio3.
He teaches composition at Perugia Conservatory and has founded, together with other composers, the Edison Studio for producing and diffusing electroacoustic music.