After twenty-nine years from its birth, the Sigismund Thalberg International Piano Competition reaches its 15th edition.

In these years the Prize has been awarded to young pianists of great value and some of them have won  soon after other prestigious international piano competitions. Most of all, Michails  Liftis, Third Prize in our 2004 edition and First Prize at the Busoni in 2009, and Sofia Gulyak, Thalberg Prize in 2006 and  First Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition always in 2009, not to mention Dmitri Levkovich (2012), Eugeny Starodubtsev (2016), Giovanni Bertolazzi (2018), Viktoria Baskakova (2021) and Gabriele Laura (2025), young talented pianists who are establishing themselves on the international scene.

I’m sure that also this edition will confirm this magnificent trend and, wishing you all a good time, I take the opportunity to thank the family Ferrara Pignatelli of Strongoli that with its support has made and makes possible the implementation of this extraordinary event.

 

Francesco Nicolosi