DEADLINE 19th MAY 2021
"I am very excited to hear such a fabulous pianist and musician. Thanks for your Music!" Martha Argerich, 2013.
"The young Leonardo Colafelice that I heard tonight impressed me for his qualities as a virtuoso of the keyboard. At only 12 years old he is able to deal dangerous reputed technical difficulties with a confounding simplicity. It goes without saying that an element such as Leonardo Colafelice is a born pianist and destined to a brilliant career" Aldo Ciccolini, 2008.
In August 2016 Leonardo Colafelice was the winner of the Second Prize in the prestigious "Cleveland International Piano Competition" and also received 3 special prizes: audience prize, best performance of a Russian author's composition and prize awarded by the jury of young people. In January 2020, Leonardo won the 3rd prize, the bronze medal and the audience prize at the Gurwitz International Piano Competition in San Antonio (Texas, USA). He was also recognized as "Emissary of the Muse" by the Mayor of San Antonio, Ron Rinemberg. In May 2019, Leonardo was one of the 6 finalists during the first edition of the "China International Music Competition" in Beijng. Previously, Leonardo was awarded numerous international prizes: in May 2014, at the age of eighteen, Leonardo Colafelice was one of the six finalists in the 14th edition of the "Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition" in Tel Aviv, where he received 3 special prizes: prize for best interpreter of a classical concert; prize for best interpreter of a Chopin composition; "Advanced Studies Grant" for the most remarkable pianist under the age of 22. Also in October 2014, he was awarded the "A. B. Michelangeli" prize by the city of Appiano, in northern Italy. Between 2012 and 2013, he won several important international awards: Gold Medal at the "Gina Bachauer Young Artists International Piano Competition" in Salt Lake City (USA); First Prize at the "Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition" in Oberlin and Cleveland (USA); Gold Medal at the "Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition" in Rochester (USA); all in 2012. In 2013 he was awarded: First Prize at the "Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition" in Arizona, where Martha Argerich personally presented him with the gold medal; First Prize at the "Aarhus International Piano Competition" in Denmark; and finally, First Prize at the "Hilton Head International Young Artists Competition" in South Carolina (USA). He was also the First Prize winner in many other international piano competitions including: "The Young Pianists of the North International Piano Competition" in Newcastle (UK); "The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Young Artists" in Szafarnia (Poland); "The Concours Musical de France" in Paris; "Il Torneo Internazionale di Musica" (TIM) in Verona (Italy); and "Il Premio Città di Padova" in Padua (Italy). Born in 1995 in Altamura (Bari), Leonardo graduated in 2014 in the class of M° Pasquale Iannone at the Conservatory of Music "Niccolò Piccinni" in Bari. Since 2015 Leonardo has been teaching Piano at the Conservatory of Music "F. Torrefranca" in Vibo Valentia and, from this year, he is teaching Piano at the Conservatory of Music "E. R. Duni" in Matera: at the age of 24 years this makes him the youngest piano teacher in the Italian Conservatories. Colafelice is regularly invited to play in the main Italian cities including Milan, Turin, Rome, Naples, Bologna, Bari, Padua, Venice, Verona, Messina, Palermo, Catania etc., as well as abroad in various places in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Israel, Morocco, Turkey, Norway, Chile and Georgia. He has performed with many prestigious orchestras such as: Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Chile Symphony Orchestra, Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra, Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra, Padova and Veneto Orchestra and many others.