Antonio Tarallo attended Ennio Pastorino’s piano class at the Istituto A. Peri in Reggio Emilia, Italy and graduated under his supervison in 1987. He also studied the harpsichord and partecipated in Emilia Fadini and Vincenzo Balzani’s Masterclasses. In 2010 he was granted the D.S.A. (Master’s Degree in Music) at the Istituto Musicale Franco Vittadini in Pavia (Italy). Tarallo has performed in concerts for Amici della Musica in Arezzo, Società dei Concerti and Serate Musicali in Milan, as well as for Società del Gonfalone in Rome. His recital career has led him to important concert halls as the Manzoni Theatre and the Sala Verdi in Milan, the Romolo Valli Theatre in Reggio Emilia, the Teatro Accademico del Bibiena in Mantua and the Philarmonic Hall in Trento. In the 1991-1992 season he performed as soloist with the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Rumania in Bacau and in Milan. Tarallo has been awarded prizes at important competitions, such as the International Piano Competition of the Chopin Society in Rome, the Camillo Togni Competition in Gussago and the Città di Albenga Competition. In 2004 he has founded a piano duo with Fabio Grasso. His CD recordings include live performances with the Rome’s Gonfalone Orchestra under the direction of Francesco Vizioli, a production of contemporary music with Fabio Grasso and Renato De Grandis’ Preludes in studio complete registration by Wergo. In 2016 he presented this registration in a concert and a Masterclass at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt (Germany). Tarallo has been invited to take part in the jury of the International Competition Città di Cantù, as well as the Piano Talents Competition in Milan for many years. Since 2004, he has been teaching young piano students in dedicated Masterclasses in Varallo Sesia and Lovere, sponsored by the Pianofriends Association. He is currently professor of the piano class at the Conservatorio Nicolini in Piacenza.
curricula
Born in Milan she completed her musical studies at the “G. Nicolini ”of Piacenza where she graduated at age 19 under the guidance of Maestro Vincenzo Balzani. A brilliant pianist with a fluid technique, he has a wide and diversified repertoire that he plays with considerable musical maturity. Since 1985 he has performed in numerous recitals for various and important concert institutions, such as "I Pomeriggi Musicali", the "Società dei Concerti", "ISU Bocconi" and the "Serate Musicali", bringing public and critical acclaim. It has established itself in various national and international piano competitions. Since 1990 he also collaborates, as a soloist, with the Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra of Bacau conducted by Maestro Ovidiu Balan, with whom he performs in Italy and abroad. In addition to the solo activity, since 1992 he has formed a piano - violin duo with his brother Giorgio, who performs in Italy and abroad. Her artistic vitality pushes her not to neglect the participation in other chamber formations. He teaches the main piano at the New Music School of Cantù and holds master classes and piano teaching. Since 1995 she has been collaborating with the artistic director and is constantly on the jury as representative of the New Music School which organizes the competition and of which she is director. In 2015, upon a unanimous decision of the board, he took over the chair of the competition. In 2018 he designed the execution of the 9 Beethoven symphonies for two eight-handed pianos transcribed by Theodor Kirchner in the second half of the 1800s, a complex realization that required the participation of 23 pianists in the project. The 9 Beethoven Symphonies were performed for the first time in Italy.
Born in Brussels, Philippe Raskin devoted himself to music at a very early age. His performances have been illustrated as a “model of radiant authority (...), solar, generous, committed and under control (MDM, La Libre Belgique) and plays “with an impressive confidence” (JK, Mundo Clasico). Philippe began piano lessons with Aleksandr Friedland, a Russian conductor, and continued working with Bernadette Malter and Loredana Clini. He developed his artistry furthermore with Emanuel Krasovksy, Vincenzo Balzani, Ralf Gothóni, and Leon Fleisher on the piano addition with Johannes Meissl and Hatto Beyerle for chamber music. At the age of 16, he began studying at the Royal Conservatorium of Brussels in the class of Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden. In the same year, he obtained his first degree with the highest honours. He then joined the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (still with Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden) and graduated with highest honours, receiving the diploma from H.M. the Queen of Belgium. During the same period he completed his Masters degree at the Royal Conservatorium of Brussels. In 2005 he entered the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid where he worked for four years under the tutelage of Dimitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martínez Mehner. As early as the first year, he received from H.M. the Queen of Spain the Sobresaliente Prize at the Pardo Palace. In 2010, Philippe started studying at the Strasbourg Conservatory with Amy Lin for a “Diplome de Spécialisation” where he graduated with the highest honours. In 2012 & 2013, he worked with Leonel Morales. Philippe has won several national and international competitions, amongst others: the J.S. Bach Competition, the Gretry Rotary Competition, the Paris International Piano Competition, the Lions Club Competition, and the André Dumortier International Piano Competition. In 2012, he became a prizewinner at the Lyon International Piano Competition and won first prize at the “Spanish Composers” International Piano Competition in Madrid. Philippe has performed many recitals, as part of chamber groups and as a soloist with orchestras all over the world - in renowned concert halls such as the Grand Hall of Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Musikverein in Vienna or at the Philharmonie in Berlin. He was also invited by the Chopin Foundation in Warsaw to perform in the birthplace of the composer. Philippe regularly performs with orchestras, notably the Belgian National Orchestra, the Flanders Symphony Orchestra and the Salzburg Chamber Soloists amongst many others. His chamber music partners include artists such as Clemens Hagen, Jérôme Pernoo, Miguel Da Silva etc. Philippe also regularly performs contemporary music and has taken part in several world premieres. Many composers have dedicated works to him, including "Stringent & Tremulation" from Belgian composer Jean-Marie Rens, "Piano Sonata" from Turkish composer Serkan Gürkan and "Sonata Der Hunt" from Austrian composer Christoph Ehrenfellner. Philippe is invited each year to be a member of the jury in several international piano competitions including the International “Piano Talents” Competition Milan, the Lyon International Piano Competition and is the artistic director of the César Franck International Piano Competition and the International Music Festival Paris. He was also a jury member at the “MozArte” competition in Cologne, the “Spanish Composers” competition in Madrid and will be part of the jury in the next edition of “Città di Cantù Competition”, the Scriabin Competition and the Chopin Competition in the United States. In 2009, Philippe opened his piano school and also gives many masterclasses in Belgium and abroad. From 2016, Philippe was also the artistic director of the “Resonances Musique de Chambre” Festival in France and began teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. From 2017, Philippe is also a member of the international piano faculty in Brescia.
He is a music critic for the newspaper “La Provincia” since 1984; he has published essays and research of musicology and musical pedagogy in national magazines and in the territory. He has always been interested in the pedagogical aspects of music knowledge. He graduated in piano at the Piacenza Conservatory with Vincenzo Balzani after classical studies; he teaches in secondary school since 1980, he has been professor in the multidisciplinary course of musical Didactics University of Milan, training supervisor in the second level academic courses for teacher training at the Como Conservatory, music operator of the LAIV project - Laboratory of Interpreting Arts from Cariplo Foundation, at the Festival Giovani Scrittori BIMED in Salerno, holder of seminar for the Master of Theater History and Theater Literature at the Faculty of Science of the University of Insubria. He is part of the team of the AsLiCo Opera Education project. He holds guided listening cycles with the training sessions "Suono & Senso" for Pocket Opera Festival, Auser Canturium and Como. In 1984-1986 he was co-promoter and founder of Nuova Scuola di Musica of Cantù where he taught for more than ten years; he was secretary of the first editions of the International Competition for Piano and Orchestra "Città di Cantù". In 1996 he was among the founders of the association "1612 suoni" for the enhancement of the organ and choral and instrumental music on the territory of Brianza, of which he was president for over 15 years promoting dozens of concerts.