Alfonso Soldano is an Italian concert pianist and teacher, with a solid educational background and stylistic preparation, an international career, as well as attention and extensive experience in charity events with a social background. He is a honorary citizen of the City of Trani, on the initiative and unanimous approval of the administration and the municipal council, with a ceremony and celebratory concert held on July 30,
2020, for proven artistic merits.
Alfonso Soldano, precocious and innate piano talent, wins his first music competition at the age of 7 in Taurisano (LE), and wins numerous other absolute first prizes, or is a finalist, in national and international competitions (Milan Humanitarian Society prize, Formia, Matera, etc.), to then complete an academic training and graduate from the Conservatory with 110 honors and honorable mention (score assigned for the first time since the birth of piano degrees in Italy).
As a teenager he made his debut in Mozart’s Concert K488, directed by Valfrido Ferrari, and immediately after at the Garibaldi Theater in Bisceglie, in Rachmaninov’s Concert No. 2, directed by Ovidiu Balan.
His artistic training proceeds under the high teaching of the legendary Italian-French pianist Aldo Ciccolini, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, from adolescence to youth, and the maestro exclusively grants Alfonso an endorsement to set up a musical academy in favor of talents and culture. Thus, was born in 2015 the Aldo Ciccolini Foundation of Trani, which has promoted numerous events of high artistic standing, in the spirit of social benefit, territorial rebalancing, and support of young talents. Finally, Alfonso Soldano brilliantly obtained the diploma of High Specialization at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, under the guidance of Benedetto Lupo.
In the didactic field, Alfonso Soldano is professor of piano at the “U.Giordano” Conservatory of Foggia, he has already been professor in the Conservatories of Rome – Santa Cecilia, Taranto, Bari, Lecce, Teramo, and is also regularly invited to hold masterclasses in important foreign institutions (China, United States, Ukraine).
Alfonso Soldano was awarded in 2013 as the best young Italian artist with the Gold Medal Maison des Artistes in the great hall of the La Sapienza University of Rome. As a solo pianist he has performed in numerous theaters and festivals in Italy (we underline the
Theaters of Foggia, Lecce, Bisceglie, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Palazzo Barberini, and in Verona, Milan, Bologna, Bari, Teramo, L’ Aquila and many others) and abroad (we underline the Great Hall of the Kiev Philharmonic, the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Kiev, the Kotlyarevsky University of Arts of Kharkiv, the G. Verdi Auditorium of Budapest, the G. Enescu Festival of Bucharest , Ateneu M.Jora Auditorium in Bacau, San Jiang Talents Center for the Arts in Ning Bo/Shanghai, Chateau Louis in Blois-Chambord/Val de Loire, Hindemith Foundation in Vevey
and many others). He collaborated with conductors such as M.Cormio, O.Balan, D.Frandes, V.Zhadko and others.
The 2023 and 2024 seasons include, among other appointments, concerts in Zurich and
Husum/Hamburg (Festival of Piano Rarities), the Grassi Foundation in Martina Franca, the Herbst Musicaux Festival in Verona, a new tour of concerts and masterclasses in China (Beijing, Tianjing, Buzhou) and in the United States (Los Angeles, Athena Foundation).
In the publishing field, Alfonso Soldano has expressed himself as an essayist and writer in the field, with the following texts: Journey into ecstasy – Alexander Skrjabin (2010) – History and analysis of the Russian piano school and teaching (2010) – Liszt’s Totentanz (2010) – Il confine dell’Inganno (2015), the only worldwide biography of the Ukrainian composer Sergej Bortkiewicz, all published by Florestano Edizioni. He has also acted as a transcriptionist and author of printed music for the most important global publishing house, Boosey & Hawkes, and has a long series of publications also with MusePress (Japan).
In the recording field, Alfonso Soldano is one of the most appreciated Italian pianists by English and American music critics, and his solo debut album in 2016 received positive reviews in more than 20 countries, as well as being partially broadcast on Rai Radio Tre (broadcast ” Here It Begins”, 5 February 2023).
His second solo album, dedicated to the composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, containing world premiere recordings, was voted in the top ten music albums in Florida and received 5 stars, maximum critical score, by the US magazine Fanfares; the same album was selected to be played on the civilian air fleet of the Sultanate of Brunei, the only Italian pianist. Alfonso Soldano is Senior Artist of the prestigious Anglo-American record label Divine Art Recordings Group, and his third solo album, dedicated to the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov, was designated Best Critic’s Choice by the
oldest and most selective US music magazine, American Record Guide and Album of the Month January 2021, interview and critical acclaim from International Piano Magazine, the most authoritative English music magazine. Alfonso Soldano is currently the only Italian pianist to have received these results and has signed up for a forthcoming album entirely dedicated to the music of Alexander Skrjabin. In the social sphere, throughout his career, Alfonso Soldano makes music a beneficial instrument, and
is the promoter of events with this thematic aim in the ideal of uniting and rebalancing.