Born in Verona, he started studying violinat the age of seven, and frequented the local Music Academy. Later he studied at the Milan Conservatory and Bologna Conservatory.He taught composition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Ceciliain Rome, Milan Conservatory, and several other Academies and summer courses such as Darmstädter Ferienkurseand Accademia Musicale Chigianain Siena.His compositions have been conducted by Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna, Salvatore Accardo, Alain Meunier, and many others. At least three generations of composers studied with Donatoni. Among the Italian ones: Matteo D'Amico, Roberto Carnevale, Ivan Fedele, Sandro Gorli, Luigi Manfrin, Giorgio Magnanensi,Luca Mosca, Riccardo Piacentini, Fausto Romitelli,Riccardo Nova, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Alessandro Solbiati, Piero Niro, Giovanni Verrando and among the foreigner ones: Pascal Dusapin, Magnus Lindberg, Pierre Kolp, Javier Torres Maldonado, Katia Tiutiunnik, Juan Trigos. Also the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen studied composition with him. Donatoni dedicated his final work, "Esa (in Cauda V)," to Salonen, after having dictated it to his assistants from his death bed, even using letters from Salonen's first name as part of the musical material. Prior to the work's world premiere with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Salonen briefly discussed the piece from the stage: while at first he was too sad to conduct it, he ultimately found joy and affirmation in the piece, noting, "my old teacher's message to me, something like 'Carry on, son, it will be OK.' "