Born in Trieste (Italy) in 1967, he studied piano, composing and conducting; he graduated with highest honors in 1990.

In 1998 he moved to France, where he has been chef de chant and assistant à la direction musicale at the Opéra de Lyon; he also worked with Théâtre du Châtelet and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, and Opéra national de Montpellier. In 2007 he went back to Trieste, where he is appointed direttore musicale di palcoscenico of Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi - Trieste.

Composer of mainly chamber, solo and vocal works that have been awarded in several International composition competitions: Edvard Grieg Competition in Oslo (2003), ANDm Competition in Tarragona (2004), ISCM-Miami (2006), Renée B. Fisher Composer Awards in New Haven (2005), Salvatore Martirano Award in Chicago (2005), Chamber Music Composition Competition in Tokyo (2005), Académie de Lutèce in Paris (2006), Prix Reine Marie José in Geneva (2005), Egidio Carella International Competition in Piacenza (2003), Città di Barletta International Competition (2004), Premio Valentino Bucchi in Rome (2003), Musica Domani Prize in Rochester (2012) and many others.

His music has been regularly performed and broadcast in more than 40 countries in 4 continents. Main performances include: Festival Lille 3000, Gourmandises Musicales in Ecquevilly, Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, Festival Oboe 2012 in Paris, Festival Commixtus in Angoulême (France), Oslo Grieg Festival (Norway), Concerts de midi in Bruxelles, Logos Concert Hall in Gand (Belgium), Festival November Music in Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands), Weimarer Frühjahrstage für zeitgenössische Musik in Weimar, Joseph-Joachim-Konzertsaal in Berlin (Germany), Traiettorie in Parma, Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte in Montepulciano,Piano City, Suono/Immagine, I Pomeriggi Musicali and Festival Rebus in Milano, Festival Antidogma Musica in Torino, Mittelfest in Cividale, Festival delle Nazioni in Rome, Stagioni Sinfoniche dell’Orchestra Haydn in Trento and Bolzano, Bellagio Festival (Italy), New Music – Miami ISCM Festival, Composer's Voice in New York, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana-Champaign, Galapagos Art Space and Firehouse Space in Brooklyn, Spelman College in Atalanta (US), SALT New Music Festival in Victoria (Canada), London New Wind Festival (UK), Soirées musicales d'hiver (Pazardjik, Bulgaria), International Review of Composers (Belgrade, Serbia), Hopetoun Alpha in Auckland, Adam Concert Room in Wellington, The Southern Ballet Theatre in Christchurch (New Zealand), Studio Ernest-Ansermet in Geneva (Switzerland), Nanko Sunset Hall in Osaka, La Forte Hall in Tokyo, Toa Hall in Kobe (Japan), Tehran International Contemporary Music Festival, Roudaki Concert Hall in Tehran (Iran), Jaunais Rigas Teatris in Riga (Latvia), Fundación Eutherpe (León), Universidad de Sevilla, COAM in Madrid, Auditorio de San Francisco in Avila (Spain).

His primary publisher is Sconfinarte (Rovato - Italy), while Symétrie (Lyon - France), Consonarte (London - UK), Wirripang (Wollongong, Australia), La mà de Guido (Barcelona, Spain) and Bèrben (Ancona, Italy) are the publishers of some of his music; his music has been the subject of workshops and stages in Spain, Israel, Iran, Italy and Australia.
Some of his compositions have been the imposed works at several international music competitions.

Among the performers of his music are Sentieri Selvaggi, Mdi Ensemble, Ensemble Suono Giallo, AltreVoci Ensemble, Taukayensemble, 175 East, Ensemble de l’Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, MoEns, Nodus Ensemble, Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Zagreb Saxophone Quartet, Quasar Saxophone Quartet, New York Miniaturist Ensemble, University of Illinois New Music Ensemble, Thelema Trio, Grupo Sax-Ensemble, Nivak Ensemble, Ensemble vocal Séquence, Choeur Britten, KammerChor Saarbrücken, VOLTI chorus, Daniel Blumenthal, Carlo Boccadoro, Nicole Corti, Adele D’Aronzo, Enrico Dindo, Jacopo Francini, Laurent Gay, Massimo Gon, Beth Griffith, Akiko Kozato, Thierry Miroglio, Pierre-Yves Pruvot, Črtomir Šiškovič, Sergio Sorrentino, Anne-Catherine Vinay, and many others.

Paolo Longo is "composer in residence" of ALTREVOCI ENSEMBLE for 2017.

As a conductor, Paolo Longo devoted himself mainly to the XX century and contemporary music repertoire; he has led ensembles and orchestras in Italy, France, Switzerland, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Uzbekistan (among them: Orchestre National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, Opéra de Lyon, Kalamata Symphony Orchestra, Athens Symphony Orchestra, Bolshoy Theatre in Tashkent, Orchestra da camera fiorentina, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, Icarus Ensemble), in chamber, symphonic and opera productions.

He co-founded with Stefano Procaccioli the Taukayensemble in 1996, with which he has given numerous premières and recorded 4 CD's, and has since served as its music director and principal conductor.

He has premiered more than 150 works by composers such as Gilbert Amy, Bruno Bettinelli, Aldo Clementi, Giorgio Colombo Taccani, Azio Corghi, Pascal Dusapin, Hans Werner Henze, Michael Levinas, Robert W. Mann, Giacomo Manzoni, Luca Mosca, Ennio Morricone, Francesco Pennisi, Alessandro Solbiati, Ivan Vandor, etc.

Since 2012 Paolo Longo is artistic director of Festival Risuonanze - incontri di nuove musiche.

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/paololongo