Italian/American pianist Giulia Contaldo attracted international attention when she replaced Elisso Virsaladze in a performance (broadcast live on BBC Radio 3) of Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. ‘A dashing account’ — Guardian
Giulia was born in Florence and graduated from Florence’s Luigi Cherubini Conservatory. She went on to study at the International Piano Academy at Imola where she completed her diploma with Jin Ju in 2019. She subsequently won a scholarship to study for the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Piano Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music with Graham Scott and Dina Parakhina, with support of the Helen Mackaness Trust, and graduated with distinction. In 2021/2022 she studied on the International Artist Diploma Course at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Giulia has won numerous prizes including First Prizes at the 28th J.S. Bach Italian National Competition (S. Levante) and the 15th International Maria Giubilei International Piano Competition. She also won prizes at the International Competition Prémio Internacional de Piano Figueira da Foz (Coimbra), the 32nd Concours Européen de Musique de Chambre organized by FNAPEC (Paris), the Massarosa International Piano Competition and the James Mottram International Piano Competition. In 2022, she won Second Prize and the Classical Sonata Special Award at the Verona International Piano Competition. Also in 2022, she won the Concerto Competition and the Piano Duo Prize at the RNCM — and was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal.
As a soloist, Giulia has performed with the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona, RNCM Symphony Orchestra, Young Musicians European Orchestra, Giovane Orchestra di Abruzzo and the Orchestra del Carmine di Firenze.
She has performed at many festivals throughout Europe including the Amici della Musica di Padova, Amici della Musica di Modena, Teatro Verdi (Firenze), Teatro della Pergola (Firenze), Festival dei Due Mondi (Spoleto), Festival delle Nazioni (Città di Castello), Festival Internazionale di Musica da Camera (Asolo), Emilia Romagna Festival, Oratorio del Gonfalone (Roma), Sale Apollinee (Teatro la Fenice), Lucca (Musica a Palazzo Pfanner) – and at venues including Bridgewater Hall, Wigmore Hall, Musica Insieme (Bologna), Teatro Alighieri (Ravenna) and the Teatro Filarmonico (Verona). She is a passionate chamber musician and has collaborated with musicians such as violinist Sara Pastine, violist Bruno Giuranna and cellist Mario Brunello.
Since 2022, Giulia has been continuing her studies at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva (with Ricardo Castro). She is also a Professor at the Conservatorio A. Scontrino in Trapani, Sicily.
