International Piano Soloist Paola Bruni in Concert at Wesleyan

Paola Bruni, internationally acclaimed piano soloist, will perform at Wesleyan College

Monday, April 9, 2012 at 7:30 PM. On Tuesday, April 10th, she will host a Master Class at 10 AM. Both events are free and open to the public.

Paola Bruni began playing the piano at the age of four. She later attended the Conservatory “G. Rossini” in Pesaro, Italy where she studied with Maestro Franco Scala and graduated with First Class Honours. She later perfected her studies with some of the most renowned concert pianists of our time such as Bruno Canino, Jorg Demus, Nikita Magaloff, Aldo Ciccolini, Lazar Berman, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. 

Regarded as one of the up and coming talents of the European concert scene, her performances have included recitals in Italy, the United States, China, South Africa, Rumania, Spain, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Brussels, Cannes, Finland, Germany, and London, where she recorded a CD with the European Community Chamber Orchestra under the label IMP Classics England. She has won numerous national and international piano competitions, including: “Coppa Pianisti d’Italia,” “Esecuzione Musicale in Pescara,” and “Speranza.” In 1986, she won third prize in “Pretoria” in South Africa, and later the same year, first prize at the “A. Casagrande” International Competition in Terni, Italy.

Bruni has performed with such conductors as Emil Tchakarov, Donato Renzetti, Reinhard Schwarz, Enrique Garcia-Asensio, Omri Hadari, Ovidiu Balan, Janos Kulka, and Anton Nanut, and has been a guest artist on several radio and television broadcasts in Italy, Holland, and South Africa.

In addition to her solo career, Bruni is also part of a piano duo with her husband, the Italian pianist Pasquale Iannone. They made their debut in Seoul, South Korea in November 2001. In July 2003 the Duo was awarded first prize in the “Web Concert Hall International Competition” (USA), and Miss Bruni received honorary mention as a solo artist. In 2005 the Bruni-Iannone Duo was invited to perform in the prestigious Fazioli Concert Hall in the same concert series with such names as Ciccolini, Lortie, Brunello, Lucchesini, Swann and Hewitt. In 2008, Bruni was awarded a Gold Medal at the “Foyer des Artistes” International Prize.

Bruni is a highly sought after teacher and jury member for national and international piano competitions, and has held master classes throughout Italy, the United States, China, South Africa, Spain, Finland, Germany, and South Korea. Currently she is professor of piano and faculty member of The Conservatory “Nino Rota” in Monopoli, Italy. 

With a rich heritage of excellence in the fine arts, Wesleyan College’s Music Department provides multi-faceted and extensive opportunities for participation in music for students as well as the entire community. Wesleyan has been an accredited member institution of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) since 1937. NASM is the national accrediting agency for higher education in music and establishes national standards for educational quality and institutional integrity. This year, Wesleyan is celebrating its 175th Anniversary as the world’s first college to grant degrees to women.