prizewinners

Trio Eidos

Founded in 2020 by the violinist Ivos Margoni, the cellist Stefano Bruno and the pianist Giulia Loperfido, the Eidos Trio established itself as an emerging formation in the national chamber music scene thanks to the collaboration with prestigious associations such as the Roman Philharmonic Academy, Amici della Musica di Firenze, the «W . Walton» in Ischia, the Pontino Festival in Latina, the Humanitarian Society of Concerts in Milan, the Accademia degli Sfaccendati in Ariccia, the Oratorio del Gonfalone in Rome, the “Classiche Forme” Festival in Lecce, the Viotti Festival in Vercelli.
In 2022 the Trio performed the Quartet op. 60 by Brahms together with Bruno Giuranna as part of the Virtuoso and Belcanto Festival in Lucca and then at the Chigiana International Festival & Summer Academy "From Silence" in Siena.
In 2022 it won the "AMUR competition for new talents", entering the national concert circuit project as an ensemble in residence for the next two years. In 2021 he was the absolute winner of the XXV edition of the «Città di Giussano» competition and of the «Trio Pakosky Scholarship» national competition in Piacenza. He was also selected by the Parma Concert Society as the winner of the «Mu.Vi. 2021".
From 2020 he undertook the two-year specialization course in Chamber Music within the Avos Project, under the guidance of the Avos Quartet. He attended masterclasses with internationally renowned teachers and is currently studying with Bruno Giuranna in Cremona at the «W. Stauffer».
In parallel with the chamber music activity, the three members continue their solo journey, perfecting themselves individually at the Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia in Rome.
 

Alexandra Dovgan

Raised in a family of musicians, Russian-born pianist Alexandra Dovgan (2007) trained at the Central School of the Moscow Conservatory under Mira Marchenko. Winner of five international competitions, in 2018 she won the prestigious Grand Prix of the Moscow Grand Piano Competition. Images of her concert went around the world on Medici.TV and YouTube, thrilling musicians and fans alike. Despite her very young age, her exceptional talent and charismatic presence have captivated great masters such as Trevor Pinnock and Grigory Sokolov, who said of her: 'The definition of enfant prodige does not suit Alexandra Dovgan; her virtuosity is authentic and concentrated, she possesses a maturity that is miraculous; I foresee a great future for her.

Invited to the major European concert halls, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Great Hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Salzburg Festival Theatre, the Théâtre des Champs- Elysées in Paris and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, she has performed at renowned festivals such as the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Festival de La Roque d'Anthéron, Rheingau Musik Festival and Gstaad Menuhin Festival, always gaining unanimous approval from audiences and critics.

In the past two years, he has collaborated as a soloist with important conductors and ensembles such as the Mozarteum Orchestra conducted by Trevor Pinnock in Salzburg, Ton Koopman and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm, Gustavo Dudamel and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Burgos, and the Tonhalle Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi in Zurich. In summer 2023, he will make his recital debut at the Verbier Festival.

An instinctive depth and awareness combined with precision and a particularly beautiful sound characterise Alexandra Dovgan's pianism. In his spare time, he enjoys skiing, ballet, studying mathematics and the organ.

Sofía Salazar Sánchez

Sofía Salazar Sánchez was born in Venezuela and began her musical studies as a child with her country's Sistema Nacional de Orquestas y Coros Juvenilese Infantiles.
She later joined the Experimental University of the Arts (UNEARTE), the Simon Bolivar Conservatory and the Latin American Flute Academy under the guidance of José María Guerrer.
When he was only 13 years old, he was also part of the National Symphony Junior Orquest in the 2013-2014 season representing Venezuela, playing as first flute as part of the Salzburg Festival under Simon Rattle.
In September 2015, he played with Wagner's Chamber Orchestra "Siegfried Idyll" under Gustavo Dudamel at Lincoln Center in New York.
In 2016, she participated in the second edition of the International Flute Competition organised by ONF, winning second prize and the opportunity to play as a soloist with the Caracas Symphony Orchestra.
She was also a flutist with the 'Teresa Carreño' Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2017, she has been studying with Jacques Zoon at the "Reina Sofia" School of Music in Madrid thanks to the support of the Spanish Minister of International Affairs, the European Union, the "Albeniz" Foundation and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation.
In 2019, she was selected by De Sono and the "Renzo Giubergia" Foundation for the award of the "Renzo Giubergia" Prize.

Laura Capretti

Laura Capretti has been a student of Erik Battaglia at the Conservatorio 'G. Verdi' in Turin since 2014.
Under his guidance she has already obtained a three-year diploma in Vocal Chamber Music with top marks, honours and special mention.
At the same Conservatory he is now attending the two-year postgraduate course, for which, in the 2017-2018 academic year, he received a De Sono - Compagnia di San Paolo scholarship.
He is also a scholarship holder of Erga Omnes Onlus.
As part of his concert activity, he has taken part in several concerts of the Unione Musicale's 'Schubertiade' - which Erik Battaglia dedicated to the memory of Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau - , of the 'Schumann project' and takes an active part, not only as a singer, in the Conservatoire's most elaborate and demanding projects.
In May 2017, she took part in the first complete performance in Italy of Brahms' masterpiece Die Schöne Magelone, and this year she made her debut in the role of Frasquita in the first Italian performance of Hugo Wolf's opera Der Corregidor in German in semi-staged form, curating projections, slides, libretto reduction and scenes.
She also performed for OMI Santa Pelagia, FAI, "Musica a Corte" at the Venaria Reale, for the association Amici della Rai, at the Cathedral of Turin, with I virtuosi dell'Accademia di San Giovanni, at the Mantua Chamber Music Festival and in trio (voice, romantic guitar and transverse flute) on Rai5.
In March 2018, she performed in a lieder-operatic concert in Manama (Bahrain) for the 'Spring of culture' festival.
She attended courses at the Deutsche Lied-Akademie 2017 and 2018 in Trossingen with international lecturers such as Axel Bauni, Burkhard Kehring, Anne Le Bozec, Peter Nelson, Jan Philip Schulze and Erik Battaglia and, also in 2018, participated in a study project at the HfMT in Hamburg.

Tjasha Gafner

Tjasha Gafner was born on 2 November 1999.
She began studying the violin at the age of five.
After two years, she became interested in the harp, taking lessons with Julie Sicre and Mahalia Kelz.
Since September 2012, she has been attending Letizia Belmondo's courses at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne.
He won first prize three times (cum laude) at the Swiss Youth Music Competition in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
At the age of 11, he won second prize in the Junior category of the Lily Laskine International Harp Competition in Paris.
In 2012 he received first prize at the Felix Godefroid International Harp Competition in Belgium, and then in 2013 a Special Prize at the Szeged International Harp Competition in Hungary.
In 2014, the jury of the International Harp Competition Suoni d'Arpa in Briosco/Italy unanimously decided to award her a first prize.
In 2017, the 'Renzo Giubergia' Foundation awarded her the fifth 'Renzo Giubergia' Prize.
Tjasha has attended masterclasses by Frédérique Cambreling, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Elisabeth Fontan-Binoche, Mara Galassi, Fabrice Pierre, Judith Liber and Catherine Michel.
He has participated in several festivals in Switzerland and France.
In July 2014, he gave a concert as part of the 'Focus on Youth' during the World Harp Congress in Sydney/Australia.
Since the age of 10, Tjasha has performed as a soloist with several orchestras including: Junge Symphoniker Basel, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Ensemble des Jeunes Virtuoses de New York.
In January 2015, she had the opportunity to tour eight concerts with the Bayerische Philharmonie in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

Maura Marinucci

Maura Marinucci was born in 1993. She started studying the clarinet when she was only 8 years old and graduated with top marks from the Conservatorio 'Luisa D'annunzio' in Pescara in 2010.
In the course of her studies, she attended numerous masterclasses.
She furthered her studies with Alessandro Carbonare and François Benda, obtaining a Master of Arts in Music Performance with distinction at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.
From an early age, she was a prize-winner in numerous national and international competitions.
The ensembles with which she has collaborated include the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Biel Solothurn, the Schweizer Jugend-Sinfonie-Orchester and the Mannheimer Philharmoniker, playing with conductors such as Carlo Rizzari, Philippe Béran, Antoine Rebstein, Vladimir Verbitsky, Tomas Netopil, Kai Bumann, Kevin Griffiths, Arturo Tamayo, Kaspar Zehnder, Boian Videnoff and Simon Gaudenz.
She performed for Ticino Musica Opera Studio (2015), and with the Ensemble Contemporaneo (2016).
She was invited to participate in the 2016 edition of the Lucerne Festival Academy.

Daniil Bulayev

I believe that one of the most remarkable phenomena in life is the combination of talent and youth. Speaking of Daniil Bulayev, first of all one must mention his exceptional and extraordinary musical talent (excellent ear, virtuosity, intuition and solid memory). Moreover, he is a curious, emotional, active, sunny child with a wide range of interests, including the study of dance. In spite of his young age, on stage Daniil is able to attract the audience's attention with virtuosity but also with a great and reckless musical initiative. No one can see into the future, but if Daniil works very seriously I believe he will mature tremendously and become a brilliant, interesting and versatile musician.
Nelli Sarkisyan (lecturer at the 'Emil Darzins' School of Music in Riga)

Marco Scilironi

I met Marco a few years ago in Basel. I met him for the first time when one of my violin students came with him for lessons. Since then I have always urged all my students to rehearse and play with him. For me he is an extraordinary help, being a very serious and thorough musician with all the love and dedication required. I can totally trust him to work with my students in a direction that allows them to understand all the music, not just their part. His knowledge of the repertoire is really vast, and his playing really sensitive and flexible.
Rainer Schmidt (internationally renowned chamber musician, he teaches at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Escuela Superior Reina Sofia in Madrid and the Musik-Akademie in Basel)

I have known Marco Scilironi for eight years. He studied in my class at the Musik-Akademie Basel, first obtaining the Konzertdiplom and then the Solistendiplom, with great success. His artistic career has always been characterised not only by a profound dedication to the more intrinsically musical aspects, but above all by the search for the 'human' dimension, of the voice that 'speaks', contained in the Operas he interprets. This deep respect for what concerns musical representation and its contents make him a special interpreter, a precious vehicle for a profound understanding, balanced between objectivity and subjectivity, the authentic mark of the so-called 'performer' musician. These aspects are not limited to the solo repertoire but infect the partners who have the opportunity to collaborate with him, in a continuous mutual exchange of energy, ideas, new solutions. His tenacious search for the 'meaning' contained in the musical works he performs demonstrates his complete sincerity and authenticity, characteristics that are necessary to return the listener to the hidden meaning hidden between the folds of his written page.
Filippo Gamba (winner of the 'Geza Anda' Prize in 2000, internationally renowned soloist, teaches at the Musik-Akademie in Basel)

Alessio Pianelli

Born in 1989 into a family of musicians, Alessio Pianelli studied in Palermo with Giovanni Sollima and in Basel with Thomas Demenga. His training and development have also been influenced by renowned artists such as M. Brunello and W. Boettcher.

Recently awarded a Borletti Buitoni Trust fellowship, Sicilian cellist and composer Alessio Pianelli brings to the stage the distinctive characteristics of his homeland, where one can still live and breathe the diverse cultures of Sicily. Prizewinner of several international competitions, such as Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, and, with his piece Tanzen Wir!, the first prize at the International Composition Competition In Clausura organized by Ravenna Festival and 100cellos in 2016, Alessio has regularly performed as a soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras such as, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Kazakh State Orchestra, Lviv Philarmonic Orchestra, Philarmonie Baden-Baden and Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI di Torino.

An avid chamber musician, Alessio is frequently invited to international festivals such as Marlboro Festival, Piatigorsky Festival, Davos Festival, bringing his music into prominent halls in Europe, Asia and North America (Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Hajuko Hall Tokyo and Tonhalle Zurich among others).

Since 2014 Alessio has been realising several albums issued by Almendra Music, a Palermo-based think tank, record label and art collective specializing in instigating collaborations among musicians and artists from different backgrounds, which Alessio has contributed to found and grow to stir up the creative environment of his birthland. His piece for two cellos Sulla Quarta eventually became also the title track of the second volume of an ongoing series of albums, in which Alessio turns his exploration of the six solo cello Suites by J.S.Bach into a voyage of discovery and self-discovery, coupling them with less-explored works composed in 20th and 21st century and with his own compositional reactions to the emotional and intellectual challenges which Bach’s writing poses to musicians and listeners alike.

Some of his compositions are published by Casa Musicale Sonzogno and Mueller&Schade.
In 2017 he was invited by Marianne Piketty as a composer in residence at Musique aux 4
Horizons in Ronchamp, France, where he performed in venues surrounded by the architecture of Le Corbusier, Jean Prouvè and Renzo Piano.

Alessio plays a 1921 Evasio Emilio Guerra cello.