Francesco Piemontesi
© Benjamin Ealovega
About
Francesco Piemontesi appears with major ensembles worldwide: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, DSO and Berlin Radio Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, The Hallé, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Danish National Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Israel Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale, the Cleveland Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has performed with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Afkham, Nicholas Collon, Charles Dutoit, Manfred Honeck, Marek Janowski, Andrew Manze, Zubin Mehta, Sir Roger Norrington, Sakari Oramo, Vasily Petrenko and Robin Ticciati.
Piemontesi is also a natural and keen chamber musician and plays with a variety of partners – the Emerson Quartet, Antoine Tamestit and Jörg Widmann in trio, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Clemens Hagen, Angelika Kirchschlager, Daniel Müller-Schott and during his formative years, Heinrich Schiff.
In solo recital, he has appeared in many prestigious venues including London Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Rotterdam De Doelen, Berlin Philharmonie, Zürich Tonhalle, Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein. In January 2016, Piemontesi launched his complete Mozart Odyssey at the Wigmore Hall, performing the sonatas in a series of recitals over the course of three seasons.
Piemontesi has performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, La Roque d'Anthéron, Mostly Mozart Festiva, Chopin International Music Festival in Warsaw, Lucerne Festival, Schubertiade, Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, and Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein festivals.
Francesco Piemontesi has released a number of recordings, including three recordings for Naïve Classique: the Debussy Préludes, released in autumn 2015, Mozart Piano Works, and Schumann and Dvořák‘s Piano Concerti with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jiří Bělohlávek.
Born in Locarno, Francesco Piemontesi studied with Arie Vardi before working with Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Cécile Ousset and Alexis Weissenberg. He rose to international prominence with prizes at several major competitions, including the 2007 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and between 2009-11 he was chosen as a BBC New Generation Artist.
In 2012, Piemontesi was announced as Artistic Director of the Settimane Musicali di Ascona.