Massimiliano Ferrati (Chairman)
MASSIMILIANO FERRATI is one of the most impressive Italian musicians of his generation, renowned for his extraordinary musicality, tecnical strengh and charismatic performances. Grand Pirx Winner at “Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition” in Monza and Bronze Medal at “Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition” in Tel Aviv, he obtained prizes also at “UNISA Inter. Piano Comp.” in Pretoria (special prize for the “best performance of the Russian piece”: Musorgskij’s Pictures at an Exhibition), at the “Esther Honens International Piano Competition” in Calgary, at the “Dublin International Piano Competition.”, at the “Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition” in Bolzano, at the “Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition” in Terni.
He has given several recitals in five Continents for the main Seasons and Festivals in prestigious venues, in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Australia. He has performed as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Gli Archi della Scala di Milano, Moscow Symphony, Roma Sinfonietta and collaborated with conductors like Mario Brunello, Mendi Rodan, Anton Nanut, and with chamber groups like St. Lawrence String Quartet, Aviv String Quartet, Quartetto del Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, performing with musicians as David Garrett, Sergey Ostrovsky, Alessandro Carbonare, Fabio Paggioro. His performances have been recorded and broadcasted by TVP (Telewizja Polska S. A.), CBC Radio & Television Canada, RTÉ (Radio Telefís Éireann), Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Radio Allegro Johannesburg, Israel Radio Voice of Music, BBC Radio, RAI, Radio Ljubljana, Radio Classica, Radio Vaticana, Radio Nacional Clasica Argentina. He recorded for RS, Velut Luna (Mozart Piano Sonatas) and Brilliant Classics (Respighi Violin Sonatas and Martucci Complete Music for Cello and Piano). In 2025-26 three more CDs with Prokofiev Piano Music and Violin & Piano Sonatas will be released by Brilliant Classics together with the G.A.Fano Piano Quintet. Graduated with a first-class honours diploma at the “A.Buzzolla” Conservatory in Adria under the guidance of Mila Zamparo, he studied with Kostantin Bogino, Paul Badura-Skoda (at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena) and Sergio Perticaroli (at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and at the “Santa Cecilia” Academy in Rome where he received the first-class honours diploma) and for chamber music with Trio di Trieste (De Rosa, Zanettovich and Baldovino) in Duino. He has given Master Classes in many prestigious Institutes and Festivals like IKIF in New York, the “P. I. Tchiaikovskij” National Academy in Kiev, the Accademia Musicale Pescarese, the Cittadella International Music Festival & Masterclass, the Villa Chiericati Showa Foundation University of Tokyo, the Tbilisi Piano Fest (Georgia), the Wuyishan International Piano Festival (China), ANAM Australian National Academy of Music and he has been invited as jury member in several piano competition like “Alessandro Casagrande” in Terni, “Luciamo Luciani” in Cosenza, Sidney selections in Rome, MacKenzie Scholarship Award in New York, Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition in Monza. He is Piano Professor at the Conservatory “E.F.Dall’Abaco” in Verona and Piano Faculty at International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York, Berlin International Piano Masterclasses, Primavera Pianistica “Aquiles delle Vigne” in Belgium and at Tel-Hai Piano Master Classes in Israel.
Gianmaria Bonino
Gianmaria Bonino graduated from the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan with Lydia Arcuri and at the Lucerne Conservatory Maestro Myeczislaw Horszowski perfected his studies. Later he studied harpsichord, graduating in 1989 from the Conservatory of Genoa with Alda Bellasich and in January 1999 he obtained a diploma in piano at the Conservatory of Winterthur (CH). He has played as a soloist in numerous Italian cities and abroad, including Genoa, Bergamo, Trieste, the Milan Concert Society, the Sydney Conservatory, the Bosendorfer-Saal in Vienna, the Moscow Conservatory, and in the United States, where in 1992 he was 3rd prize in the competition of the Bach Society of Washington DC on the “Goldberg Variations”.
He has played as a soloist and in many international groups and festivals, such as Ljubljana, the Festival Suoni del Mediterraneo, the Floraisons Musicales of Chateauneuf – Du – Pape, the Emilia Romagna Festival, the Ravello Festival, the Nancyphonies … Founder since 2001 of the group “Camerata Mistà” and of the “Musici di Vivaldi”, together with the violinist Glauco Bertagnin, with the group he regularly holds concerts for important institutions; he realizes with the Chant de Linos of Brussels, a CD With the flutist Andrea Oliva (complete sonatas of Handel), and with the Polhymnia house of early music with the verser Luca Ripanti, the complete sonatas of J.S. Bach, in 2017 with Cantus Records the complete of Chopin’s Studies on Pleyel 1839. He has played with orchestras such as the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala and Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano and others, with the flutists Shigenori Kudo, Maxence Larrieu, Andrea Oliva, Davide Formisano and the cellists Enrico Bronzi, Vittorio Ceccanti, Christophe Coin, Massimo Polidori, and with the Atheneum string quartet of the Berliner Philharmoniker, with whom he premiered performances of contemporary music for Radio 3 RAI in February 2005 and at the contemporary music from Cincinnati (USA). With the same composers he also performed for the first time in the season of the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie a composition for harpsichord and string quartet by the American composer Joel Hoffman. In addition, he also plays with the Virtuosen of the Berliner, the Philharmonische Camerata Berlin and the Wiener Klimt Ensemble of the Wiener Philharmoniker, in halls such as Philharmonie Berlin as a soloist, MusikVerein Vienna, KKL Lucerne, La Villette Paris, Sociedad Philharmonica Bilbao, Baden-Baden Festival etc. He regularly holds fortepiano masterclasses. He also regularly holds masterclasses at various institutions, including the Conservatory of S. Cecilia in Rome. On behalf of the Municipality of Saliceto, he supervised the restoration of a Johann Schanz fortepiano in the Castle of the Marquises del Carretto and is subsequently following an initiative to create an exhibition of historical pianos in the castle itself with the subsequent creation of an educational and museum center linked to the performance on historical instruments. Recently released with Urania Records is the recording of L.V. Beethoven’s Sonatas op.2 and op.7 on an ancient Johann Schanz fortepiano 1795.
Silvia Limongelli
After brilliant musical studies in piano and composition Silvia Limongelli graduated at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan, and was awarded as being best student by the “Friends of La Scala Theatre”.
Under the guidance of Piero Rattalino, she developed a great expertise and knowledge in the field of piano history and literature, didactic methodology and interpretation. At the Imola “Incontri col Maestro” she studied with Franco Scala.
Her piano debut took place in 1985 in Milan, with the “Orchestra of Pomeriggi Musicali”, under the direction of Daniele Gatti.
In the 1986 Season of the “Aterforum Festival” in Ferrara she performed the Italian premiere of the Concert Pathètique by Franz Liszt (Darvas version), with the Arturo Toscanini Symphony Orchestra, the concert was being replicated the following year in Milan, with the “RAI Symphony Orchestra”.
She has performed in Europe, United States, Argentina and in some of the most important concert seasons in Italy, as: Società dei Concerti di Milano, Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti di Roma, Teatro Regio di Torino, Fondazione Arena di Verona, Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Accademia Filarmonica di Messina, Amici della Musica di Siracusa, Amici della Musica di Ancona, Società dei Concerti di La Spezia, Philharmonic Association of Rovereto, among others.
Since the mid-nineties, for a number of years, she was also involved in the repertoire of the melologue practice, for reciting voice and piano, under the guidance of the well-known director Cesare Lievi.
She is best known for having written essays and critical reviews in history literature and piano performances, as well as a number of record reviews for leading Music Magazines, as Musica and Piano Time, and also brochure programs for the Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome, the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, CD cover notes for Hermitage, Stradivarius, Decca.
He holds a chair of Piano Practice and repertoire, and courses in Piano Literature, Treatises and Methods at the G. Verdi Conservatory of Milan. In charge of research projects for the G. Verdi Conservatory in Milan, she has been involved in artistic research in music, with awareness-raising initiatives for student and professors for a wide diffusion of the research culture in music.
In fact, in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, the Piccolo Teatro of Milan and the TV2000 television channel, between 2010 and 2011, she conceived and curated the artistic project of the “200th Years Festival Chopin and Schumann”, and a similar project for the “Liszt Mahler Festival” the following year.
Between 2015 and 2016 she created a high level Piano Master Course for advanced professional participants, focused on the Franz Liszt piano repertoire. She has also been in charge and the supervisor of all the piano academic programs of the Milan Conservatory, according to new training standards for teaching and concert professions.
Ilaria Sinicropi
Ilaria Sinicropi, italian pianist, regularly performs concerts as a soloist and in chamber ensembles.
She was guest of numerous Italian and foreign Associations and Institutions including: Amici del loggione del Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Bellagio and Lake Como Festival, Ravello Concert Society, Mozarteum of Salzburg, Concerti al Castello (Trieste), Concerti della sera (Gorizia), Eventi in Abbazia (Avellino), Tropea Musica (Vibo Valentia), Concerti al Museion (Catania), Pomeriggi musicali reggini (Reggio Calabria), Autunno Musicale (Cosenza), Amici della musica (Lecce), Amici della musica (Castrovillari-Cosenza) and others, performing in such venues as the Bratuz Theater (Gorizia), Wiener Saal (Salzburg), Le Ciminiere Theater (Catania), Miramare Castle (Trieste), Keiros Theater (Rome), Pogliaghi House Museum (Varese), University Popular (Milan), Sala Eutherpe (Leon).
Winner of many national and international competitions (First Prize all’VIII Ed. dell’International Moscow Music Competition, Golden Prize al “Beethoven International Music Competition” di Londra, Silver Award and special prize for artistic interpretation at the “Best Classical Musicians” in London), in November 2013, she was guest of Radio 3 Suite broadast with a live interview.
Calabrian by birth, she began studying piano with Salvatore Massimo Tripodi at the Cilea Conservatory of Music in Reggio Calabria, her hometown, where she gradueted with the highest honors. She also partecipated in courses with pianists Anthony and Joseph Paratore at the Musikshule of Iserlohn (Germany) and at the Mozarteum of Salzburg (Austria).
A pianist of great versatility and many interests, she has also studied composition. Her original works are published by “Edizioni Novecento” and deposited at the National Central Library of Florence, including: Six Miniatures for Wind Quintet, Tango for Piano, Harmonium and Double Bass, Barcarolle élégiaque for Flute, Clarinet and Guitar, Revelation for Voice and Piano and also several transcriptions and reworkings for instrumental and choral ensembles for didactic purposes.
In October 2025 she will make her debut on Piano Classics label with a monographic CD dedicated to Giuseppe Martucci’s compositions, recorded for the first time ever.
Claudio Voghera
Versatile and refined pianist finds in chamber music the ideal ground to best express his artistic and musical qualities. Counted among the most brilliant chamber music pianist of his generation, he founded in 1990 the duo with the violinist Francesco Manara, with whom he won the Grand Prix de Duo Violon et Piano of the Academy of Lausanne and performed for the main concert societies.
In 1993, together with Francesco Manara and Massimo Polidori, he created the Trio Johannes with which he embarked on an international career that led him to play in the major concert halls in Italy and abroad.
Born in Turin he studied with Luciano Giarbella at the Conservatory “G. “Verdi” of his city graduating with full marks and honors. As a scholarship holder De Sono follows courses taught by Paul Badura Skoda from the duo Franco Gulli- Enrica Cavallo, by Pierre Amoyal, Alexis Weissemberg and Pavel Gililov
The decisive meetings for his improvement are those with Aldo Ciccolini and with the Trieste Trio, thanks to which he has the opportunity to deepen the solo and chamber repertoire by studying at the Academies of Biella, Rome and at the International School of Chamber Music of the Trio of Trieste.
With the Trio Johannes won the First Prize at the “2001 International Concert Artists Guild Competition” in New York, the II Prize at the “III International Chamber Music Competition Trio Prize in Trieste” and the II Prize at the “3rd International Chamber Music Competition” in Osaka, debuting at the “Weill Recital Hall” of the Carnegie Hall in New York in April 2002 and at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 2014.
He dedicates himself passionately to the teaching activity: he is piano professor at the Conservatory of Turin, of which he was vice director until 2020, and regularly holds summer training courses for the Pinerolo Academy of Music as part of the “Summer Music” project in Bardonecchia.
Among the engravings made we remember the integral of Brahms’ trios and quartets and the recent CD dedicated to Ravel’s chamber music.
Since 2021 he has been artistic director of the concert season of the Pinerolo Academy of Music.