After a year as a postgraduate composer at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he spent 3 years at the National Film and Television School, from which he graduated in 1997.

Dario’s film scores include ‘A Boy Called Christmas’ (2021), ‘The Secret Garden’ (2020), ‘Pinocchio’ (2019), ‘Bumblebee’ (2018), ‘Paddington 2’ (2017), ‘Darkest Hour’ (2017), ‘Kubo and the ‘Two Strings’ (2016) Everest (2015), ‘The Boxtrolls’ (2014), ‘Anna Karenina’ (2012), ‘Jane Eyre’ (2011), ‘Salmon Fishing In The Yemen’ (2011), ‘Eat Pray Love’ (2010), ‘The Soloist’ (2009), ‘Agora’ (2009), ‘Atonement’ (2007), ‘V for Vendetta’ (2006) and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (2005). He has written orchestral music for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the Britten-Pears Orchestra, as well as vocal music for the BBC Singers, incidental music for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and several ballet scores.

Dario won the Oscar, Golden Globe and Ivor Novello Award in the Best Original Score category for the award-winning film ‘Atonement’, for which he also won the World Soundtrack Award and was BAFTA nominated.  He was also nominated for a Classical Brit Award in the Soundtrack of The Year category for ‘Atonement’.

In 2006, Dario was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Score category for his music to Joe Wright’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’. This score won him the Classical Brit Award in the Soundtrack/ Musical Theatre Composer of The Year category and also earned him an Ivor Novello Award nomination.

Dario’s collaboration with Joe Wright on the film ‘Anna Karenina’ led to his nomination for an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Original Score, and in May 2013, he won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score for ‘Anna Karenina’.

In 2014 Dario composed the score for Laika animation ‘The Boxtrolls’, which was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award. In 2016 he composed the score for his second Laika animation, ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’, for which he won an Ivor Novello Award, and also worked on his fifth film collaboration with director Asif Kapadia on live action feature ‘Ali and Nino’.

During 2014 Dario’s ‘Voyager’ Violin Concerto also had its world premiere in Brisbane, Australia, performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra as part of a spectacular event combining science, music, voice, and film titled ‘Journey Through The Cosmos’.  The piece was featured alongside a lecture given by Professor Brian Cox and has since gone on to be performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Harding and featuring highly acclaimed violinist Jack Liebeck.

In 2017, Dario continued his working relationship with Joe Wright on ‘Darkest Hour’ and also scored Paul King’s ‘Paddington 2’.  Dario was commissioned by The Royal Opera House to compose their ballet, ‘The Unknown Soldier’, which premiered in November 2018.  Dario worked again with Travis Knight to compose the score for Transformers film, ‘Bumblebee’. Dario collaborated with Matteo Garrone to score the Italian feature film ‘Pinocchio’.  In late 2021, Dario composed the original score for ‘A Boy Called Christmas’, directed by Gil Kenan.