Nicolosi Francesco

THE ARTISTS

FRANCESCO NICOLOSI

Piano

After graduating from the Conservatory at a very young age with full marks and honors, he left for Naples where he met Vincenzo Vitale, recognized as one of the best teachers of the Italian piano tradition. He soon became one of the best students, so much so that he is still considered one of the greatest exponents of the Neapolitan piano school. 1980 was an important year with two prizes that would mark his artistic destiny: the one at the Santander International Piano Competition and – above all – the victory at the Geneva International Competition of Musical Performance which began an international career that consecrated him as one of the most interesting pianists of his generation. He has performed in the most important concert halls in the world, from the Kennedy Center in Washington to the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, from the Victoria Hall in Geneva to the Radio Nacional in Madrid, and again the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Teatro alla Scala and the Sala Verdi in Milan, the Teatro dell’Opera and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Brahmssaal in Vienna, the Megaron in Athens, etc. In addition to all over Europe, he has toured Iceland, Russia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Singapore, Japan and China and has been a guest of the most exclusive festivals such as: Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Rossini Opera Festival, Ravenna Festival, Ravello Festival, Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, Sorrento Music Summer, Taormina Teatro Musica, Stresa Music Weeks, Settembre Musica di Torino, Mittelfest, Weimar Kunstfest, Budapest Liszt Festival, Emilia Romagna Festival, Festival Ljubjana, Vilnius Piano Festival and many others. He has been awarded prestigious national and international awards: the ‘Bellini d’oro’ in 1994, the ‘Japan Chubu University Award’ in 1996 and 2001, the ‘Ara di Giove’ Award in 2004, the ‘Aci Castello Riviera dei Ciclopi’ Award in 2008, the ‘Note nell’Olimpo’ Award in Bari in 2012, the ‘Domenico Danzuso’ Lifetime Achievement Award in Catania in 2012, the ‘Cosimo Fanzago’ Award in Naples in 2013, the ‘Sergei Rachmaninov International Award’ in Moscow in 2017 and in June 2021 again in Naples the ‘Pietro Golia’ Award.
He holds the position of President and artistic director of the Sigismund Thalberg International Study Center based in Naples, which since 1996 has been carrying out a recognized research and study activity focused on the revaluation of the figure of the great Austrian pianist Sigismund Thalberg, founder of the Neapolitan Piano School. He is also Artistic Director of the Sigismund Thalberg International Piano Prize, a competition that has been held in Naples since 1998 and is still considered one of the most prestigious international piano prizes in the world; Artistic Director of the Salotti di Thalberg, a concert series that takes place in some of the most prestigious historic buildings in Naples.
He is currently President of the Music Advisory Commission of the Italian Ministry of Culture. He was a guest of the Anton Stadler Association together with Stefano Valanzuolo as part of the Festival I Concerti di Primavera – VII edition 2025.

© photo Cristian Strina