SIMONE PEDRONI

Mr. Pedroni was born in Novara, Italy: he graduated from Milan's Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in 1990 and in 1995 he took his Master degree at Accademia Pianistica "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola-Italy, where he studied with Lazar Berman, Franco Scala and Piero Rattalino.

After being awarded the Second prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel-Aviv, and the First prize at the Queen Sonja Piano Competition in Oslo, on June 6, 1993, at age 24, he was named the Gold Medalist of the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

His international engagements have included the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (with Sir Yehudi Menuhin), the Moscow Virtuosi (with Vladimir Spivakov), the Orchestra of Maggio Musicale - Florence (with Zubin Mehta), the RAI Orchestra - Turin (with Eliahu Inbal), the Oslo Philharmonic (with Pinchas Steinberg), I Musici of Montreal with Yuli Turovsky, the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana (on tour in South America with Roberto Abbado), the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice with legendary Stanislav Skrowaczewski, Prague Chamber Orchestra (on tour in U.S.A. including Avery Fisher Hall, New York), the Orchestra Sinfonica I Pomeriggi Musicali (with Aldo Ceccato), the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, the the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Belgium National Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Orquesta de Valencia and the Orquesta Nacional de España – Madrid,.

As artist in residence at the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano “G. Verdi”, Mr. Pedroni has performed with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin (Brahms Piano Concerto n.2), Riccardo Chailly (the unusual Piano Concerto n.1 of romantic italian composer Giuseppe Martucci), Gianandrea Noseda (Beethoven 5 Piano Concerti), Lous Langrée (Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto n.1) and Lu Ja (Schumann Piano Concerto).

His recital appearances have included the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Herkules Saal in Munich, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Quirinale in Rome, the Filharmonia Narodowa in Warsav, The Settimane Musicali of Stresa, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, The Prague Spring Festival, the Palau de la Musica of Valencia, the Festival de Música de Canarias, the Delft Chamber Music Festival – Holland, the Festival de Menton, Bonn, Berlin, Hannover, Lisbon Athens, Istanbul, Montecarlo, Tel-Aviv and many others in U.S.A. and in Japan.

He performed several times Bach’s Goldberg Variations for the 250th anniversary of the composer death: among them at the Teatro de la Maestranza of Seville, at the Auditorium of Milan.

Recent engagements includes his debut in Beijing – China (Recital and Masterclass), a Japan-tour playing Bach Golberg Variations, several performances Martucci’s Piano Concerto in D minor in Lugano with the Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana with James Gaffigan and on a Spain-tour with Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano with Oleg Caetani, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto n.2 in Trondheim-Norway and Brahms Piano Concerto n.1 in Milan with Aldo Ceccato.

Recently (June 2009) he made his debut with great success at the Parco della Musica in Rome, with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Santa Cecilia Orchestra.

For Philips Classics Mr. Pedroni has issued a live recording with works by Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff and Hindemith, for U.I.O.G.D. the recital “Simone Pedroni Live in Concert” recorded live during his Japan, U.S.A. and Spain tours, Bach’s Goldberg Variations and recently (January 2008) an album with works of Liszt both on www.discantica.it , Pictures at an exhibition by Mussorgsky, works by Arvo Pärt and a recital entirely devoted to Schubert’s last Piano Sonata D.960 and Six Songs arranged for piano by Franz Liszt both on www.lolproductions.it.

Upcoming engagements include performances and a CD with Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano (Respighi Piano Concerto in a minor) and performances of Messiaen Turangalila Symphonie, with Juanjo Mena and of Haydn Piano Concerto in D major with Giuseppe Grazioli.