1925: Born on 24 October at Oneglia, a small town near Imperia (Liguria, Italy)
1930s: Learns the rudiments of music at home from his father Ernesto and grandfather Adolfo, both musicians
from 1946: Studies music in Milan at the Conservatorio di Musica «Giuseppe Verdi», where he attends classes in counterpoint (Giulio Cesare Paribeni) and composition (Giorgio Federico Ghedini)
1950: Marries the singer Cathy Berberian
1951: Diploma in composition from the Conservatorio di Milano
1952: At Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts, attends the composition course taught by Luigi Dallapiccola. On 28 October at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, hears a concert of electronic music including works by Ussachevsky and Luening
1953: Birth of his first child, Cristina. First work as sound engineer [sonorizzatore] for the RAI – Radio Italiana
1954: With Bruno Maderna and Roberto Leydi makes Ritratto di Città, the work that marks the creation of the «Studio di Fonologia di Milano della RAI»
1956-1959: Publication of the journal «Incontri Musicali» with a series of concerts of the same name put on in Milan, Venice and Naples
1960: Moves to the United States. Teaches composition at Tanglewood
1961-1962: Courses in composition at the Dartington Summer School. Composes Passaggio, a mise en scène [«Messa in scena»] with texts by Sanguineti
1962-1964: Teaches at Mills College (California), at the invitation of Darius Milhaud
1963: Passaggio staged at the Piccola Scala, Milan
1965: Laborintus II for voices, instruments and tape, with texts by Sanguineti (Prix Italia 1966)i
1965-1971: Teaches at the Juilliard School (New York), where in 1967 he founds the Juilliard Ensemble, specialised in contemporary music
1966: Marries Susan Oyama, psychologist and philosopher of biology. Birth of his second child, Marina
1968: Birth of his third child, Stefano. Sinfonia for eight voices and orchestra
1969-1970: Opera, in three acts (first performance: Santa Fe, 1970)
1972: Returns to Europe
1974-1980: At the invitation of Pierre Boulez appointed director of the section of electronic music at the IRCAM, Paris
1975: Artistic director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra
1975-1976: Artistic director of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana
1977: Marries the musicologist Talia Pecker
1978: Birth of his fourth child, Daniel
1979-1983: Un re in ascolto, musical action with texts by Calvino, Auden, Gotter, Berio
1980: Birth of his fifth child, Jonathan. Awarded a degree honoris causa by the City University, London
1977-1980: La vera storia, musical action with text by Italo Calvino
1982: Artistic director of the Orchestra Regionale Toscana. La vera storia staged at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan
1984: Guest Artistic Director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Production of Un re in ascolto in Salzburg
1987: Founds the Centro Tempo Reale in Florence, institute for research, production and teaching in the domain of live electronics
1989: Awarded the Ernst von Siemens Prize (Munich)
1991: Awarded the Wolf Foundation Prize (Jerusalem)
1993-1994: Appointed «Distinguished Composer in Residence» (Norton Professor of Poetry) at Harvard, Cambridge, Mass.
1995: Awarded the Leone d’Oro alla carriera by the Biennale di Venezia. Degree honoris causa from the Università di Siena. Guest composer at the Lucerne Festival. Production of Outis at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, with libretto written in collaboration with Dario del Corno
1996: Awarded the Imperial Prize for the Arts by the Emperor of Japan. Monographic festival «Luciano Berio», Milano Musica
1997: Monographic festival «Luciano Berio», Présences, Paris
1998: Monographic festival «Luciano Berio», Schleswig Holstein
1999: Degree honoris causa from the Università di Torino and Edinburgh University. Appointed Artistic Director, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome.
2000: President and Superintendant of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome. Degree honoris causa from the Università di Bologna
2001: Appointed Artistic Director of the European project «The Art of Fugue» (promoted by Spoleto, Den Haag, Lyon and London)
2002: Inauguration in Rome of the Auditorium Parco della Musica, Accademia di Santa Cecilia
2003: Dies in Rome on 27 May, having completed his last work, Stanze