He initially studied at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, but emigrated to America with his mother after the death of his father, and began study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Fellow students at Curtis included Leonard Bernstein, and Samuel Barber, who became Menotti's partner in life and in work, with Menotti crafting the libretto for Barber's most famous opera, Vanessa, which was commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera. His most successful works were composed in the 1940s and 1950s.

Menotti also had a long intimate relationship with the conductor Thomas Schippers.

His works include: