Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Chosen as Official Piano of Città di Cantù Italian Piano Competition
Città di Cantù Piano Competition
The Città di Cantù is an international piano and orchestra competition that was started in 1991, and is held annually in Cantu, Northern Italy. This year (2024) was the 32nd Città di Cantù international piano competition, with competing pianists from around the world participating while accompanied by an international-level symphony orchestra.
The competition is organized by the Nuova Scuola di Musica di Cantù, a music school that has been offering music education, masterclasses, and cultural events since 1986, in collaboration with the Cantù city administration. The competition is also supported by local businesses, the Rotary Foundation, and cultural associations. This unique Italian international piano competition requires all pieces in the competition to be concertos. Winners are selected in both the Classical and Romantic categories. Find more detail by visiting the competition official Facebook and Instagram pages.
2024 Competition and Prize Winners
This year the competition chose the world-renowned Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Concert Grand Piano as the official performance piano for all participants. The competition was also supported by Yoshifumi Sato, one of our most esteemed international Master Piano Artisan (highly specialised Kawai piano technician). Yoshifumi Sato traveled all the way from our Kawai Japan workshop in order to diligently prepare these magnificent instruments for the competition to the highest standard, finely tuning them to maximize the pianists’ performance capabilities.
This Years Prize Winners
Classic Section:
1st Prize to David Khrikuli representing Georgia.
2nd Prize to Nicolas Bourdoncle representing France.
3rd Prize to Alica Müller representing Japan & Germany.
Romantic Section:
1st Prize to David Khrikuli representing Georgia.
2nd Prize to Phoebe Papandrea representing the UK.
3rd Prize to Rei Harada representing Japan.
Special Prize:
Giancarlo Massola Prize to David Khrikuli representing Georgia.
Aldo Arnaboldi Prize to Dalius-Isaac Lungu representing Romania.
Famiglia Molteni Canepa Prize to Emanuele Musuraca representing Italy.
Interview with 2024 Città di Cantù Piano Competition Prize winners
David Khrikuli – Classical 1st prize, Romantic 1st prize, and Giancarlo Massola Prize (Special prize)
How do you feel about winning the prize?
It was my pleasure to be the participant of Cantù competition. Thanks to the jury members for their professional and hard work, it is a honour for me to receive the 1st prize in both categories. And, of course, many thanks to the audience of Cantù for their warm welcome.
What are your impressions of the SK-EX full concert grand piano?
“Dolce” sound, full control over the instrument, variety of possibilities to improvise, that’s what comes to my mind about Kawai pianos. It was a wonderful experience.
Alica Muller – Classical 3rd prize
How do you feel about winning the prize?
All the pianists who passed the preliminary round gave wonderful performances. Therefore, I felt extremely honored when my name was called as a finalist. In the final, I paid attention to the hall’s acoustics, the orchestra’s timing, and the piano’s tone to deliver an authentic Mozart sound to the audience who are accustomed to hearing it.
What are your impressions of the SK-EX full concert grand piano?
I felt very relieved when I found out that the piano at the competition venue was a Shigeru Kawai. Thanks to the adjustments made with the hall’s balance in mind, I was able to produce the Mozart tone I envisioned. While I had various concerns about the Cantù competition, I was able to perform my best on a piano that was perfectly prepared for each round until the finals. I am deeply grateful to the Kawai piano technicians.
Phoebe Papandrea – Romantic 2nd prize
How do you feel about winning the prize?
It was an absolute dream to perform Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini op 43 in the Final of Città di Cantù International Piano and Orchestra Competition 2024! I love performing with orchestra and it was a privilege to work with the wonderful musicians of the Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra of Bacău and Maestro Ovidiu Balan. I am honoured to win my award.
What are your impressions of the SK-EX full concert grand piano?
It was such a wonderful experience to have the opportunity to perform on the stunning Shigeru Kawai at the competition, it is my favourite piano of all time! I love its touch and tone and its infinite colours and that is why I would always choose to perform on a Shigeru Kawai!!
Rei Harada – Romantic 3rd prize
How do you feel about winning the prize?
It was my pleasure to be the participant of Cantù competition. Thanks to the jury members for their professional and hard work, it is a honour for me to receive the 1st prize in both categories. And, of course, many thanks to the audience of Cantù for their warm welcome.
What are your impressions of the SK-EX full concert grand piano?
“Dolce” sound, full control over the instrument, variety of possibilities to improvise, that’s what comes to my mind about Kawai pianos. It was a wonderful experience.
The Shigeru Kawai SK-EX full concert grand piano
Unveiled in 2001 as the flagship instrument of the Shigeru Kawai line, the SK-EX concert grand piano is hand-crafted in limited numbers following a unique ‘prototyping’ creation process. In order to achieve the supreme range of expression required in a concert piano, each instrument utilises a variety of carefully selected materials, with premium aged spruce soundboards. Shigeru Kawai instruments adopt the advanced Millennium III keyboard action, featuring extended wooden keys and advanced ABS Carbon action parts, providing superior speed and responsiveness than conventional wooden action parts, allowing pianists to express a greater range of feeling and emotion in their performance.
