Vincenzo Balzani

He graduated with distinction from the G. Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan, where he studied under Alberto Mozzati. In 1965, he won the Ricordi International Prize. In 1967, he received the Liszt Prize at the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona. In 1971, he became a laureate of several prestigious competitions, including the Pozzoli, Treviso, and G.B. Viotti International Competitions. In 1975, he successfully represented RAI Television at the Ravel Competition in Paris.

He has given 1,200 concerts (recitals, chamber, and symphonic concerts) around the world, including performances in the most prestigious Italian theatres and festivals (La Scala, San Carlo, Regio-Turin, Olimpico-Rome, Festival Michelangeli, Festival dei Due Mondi, Settembre Musica). He records for radio and television and has released several LPs and CDs, including works by Scarlatti, Mozart, Hummel, Beethoven, Chopin, Rossini, and Schubert–Liszt.

Since 1973, he has been a professor of piano at the Conservatory in Piacenza, and since 1996, at the Conservatory in Milan. He has served as a juror for numerous international competitions, including: “Las Rozas Piano Competition” – Madrid, “London International Piano Competition” – London, “G.B. Viotti” – Vercelli, “Rina Sala Gallo” – Monza, “Pozzoli” – Seregno, “Russian Piano Music Competition” – Sanremo, “A. Scriabin” International Piano Competition – Grosseto, “MozArte” International Piano Competition – Germany, “Tchaikovsky Junior” – Kurashiki, “Takamatsu International Piano Competition” – Japan, “Parnassos” – Monterrey, Mexico, “Hummel” International Piano Competition – Slovenia, China Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition – China, “Maria Canals” International Competition – Barcelona, and the International Piano Competition in Lyon, France. He also conducts courses and masterclasses both in Italy and abroad.

He is the artistic director of Città di Cantù, Valsesia Musica, Pianotalents, Pozzolino, Monterosa Kawai, Tadini International, and the Champion’s Keyboard Online Piano Competition.

Between 2010 and 2021, he served as artistic consultant for the prestigious “Pozzoli” Competition in Seregno, and from 2012 to 2020 for Pozzolino. In 2009, he founded the Pianofriends Association in Milan, which organizes festivals, concerts, and stage performances. He is also the president of the PianoIn Association in Varese. Since January 2018, he has been regularly invited to perform concerts, give seminars, and conduct masterclasses in the most important concert halls of the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong, as an ambassador of the Yangtze River Grand Piano. He collaborates with Parsons Limited in Hong Kong on a major educational and musical project for children. Since 2021, he has been a professor at the Ridotto Academy in Stradella.