SCHULHOFF: Duo for Violin and Cello, WV 74
JANÁČEK: Sonata for Violin and Piano
SCHUBERT: Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 100, D. 929
A prizewinner at three of the world’s most prestigious violin competitions, the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and the Indianapolis Violin Competition, Marco Rizzi is particularly admired for the quality, power and depth of his interpretations. Recognised as one of the most interesting violinists of his generation, in 1991 he was awarded the Europäischen Musikförderpreis on the recommendation of Claudio Abbado.
His artistic career has made him a regular guest at Teatro alla Scala, Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Lincoln Center in New York, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Musikhalle Hamburg, Tivoli in Copenhagen, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Konzerthaus Berlin. He has performed with conductors including R. Chailly, H. Vonk, A. Ceccato, G. Noseda, V. Jurowski, P. Eötvös, S. Denève and G. Neuhold, and with orchestras including the Staatskapelle Dresden, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta RTVE in Madrid, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
He taught at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold from 1999 and was appointed to the Hochschule für Musik in Mannheim in 2008. Since 2007, he has also been a professor at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.
He plays a 1743 P. Guarneri violin made available by Fondazione Pro Canale Onlus.
At just 22 years old, Ettore Pagano won the prestigious 2025 Premio Abbiati as “Best Soloist”, awarded by the Italian music critics, and in the same year received the prestigious Classeek Award at the ICMA, International Classical Music Awards.
Pagano began studying the cello at the age of nine in Rome. He trained under Antonio Meneses and David Geringas at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and the W. Stauffer Academy in Cremona, graduating from the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome with the highest marks, honours and special distinction. He is currently continuing his studies with Jens Peter Maintz at UDEKA in Berlin.
Since 2013, he has won first prize in more than 40 national and international competitions. In 2017, he received a scholarship from the New York International Artists Association and a prize concert at Carnegie Hall. In 2019, he won First Prize at the “Giovani Musicisti” Competition promoted by the Filarmonica della Scala. In 2020, he won First Prize at the “J. Brahms” Competition in Pörtschach, was the youngest finalist at the “Janigro” Competition in Zagreb and won the “A. Kull Cello Competition” in Graz.
His most recent awards include the XVIII Khachaturian International Competition in 2022, the Enescu International Competition in 2024 and First Prize at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in May 2026.
Ettore Pagano has collaborated with leading conductors including Vitali Alekseenok, Alessandro Bonato, Diego Ceretta, Frédéric Chaslin, Martijn Dendievel, Michele Gamba, Thomas Guggeis, Hartmut Haenchen, Pietari Inkinen, Alevtina Ioffe, Dmitri Jurowski, Michele Mariotti, Giuseppe Mengoli, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, George Pehlivanian, Donato Renzetti, Lee Reynolds, Hubert Soudant, Kazuki Yamada, Erina Yashima and Lorenzo Viotti.
He has already been invited to perform in recital and as a soloist with orchestras on major international stages in Paris, Germany, including Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf, as well as Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Albania, Poland, Lithuania, Finland, Armenia, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman and the United States.
Among his significant recent appearances are his March 2025 debut in the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia season at the Parco della Musica in Rome, filmed by Rai 5, and four invitations as a soloist with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra. He performed twice at the Auditorium Toscanini in Turin, with live broadcasts on Radio 3 and video coverage by Rai Cultura, at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman, and at the Italian Republic Day Concert at the Quirinale, broadcast live on Rai 1 in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic.
Also in 2025, he received the “Una vita nella Musica, Giovani” award from Teatro La Fenice in Venice, while the “A Life in Music” award was presented to Rudolf Buchbinder. He was also invited to the “Stars & Rising Stars” concert series in Munich and “Stars von Morgen” at the Brucknerhaus in Linz.
The President of the Italian Republic awarded him the title of Cavaliere della Repubblica for artistic merit.
Ettore Pagano plays a cello by the brothers Giovanni and Ignazio Ongaro, made in Venice around 1777, entrusted to him through the cultural and philanthropic initiative “Adopt a Musician”, created and funded by MusicMasterpieces SA, Lugano.
Silver Medal winner, Audience Prize winner and Chamber Music Prize winner at the 2024 Concours Musical International de Montréal, Gabriele Strata has been described by critics as “a talent of extraordinary sensitivity and flawless technique” by Il Sole 24 Ore.
He had previously won First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition in 2023, as well as the XXXV Premio Venezia. In 2021, Teatro La Fenice awarded him the historic “Una vita nella musica, giovani” prize for artistic merit.
He is regularly invited to major Italian and international concert seasons, performing at Sala Verdi in Milan for the Società del Quartetto, the Berliner Philharmonie with the Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre and Cadogan Hall in London, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Maison Symphonique de Montréal with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, St. David’s Hall in Cardiff with the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai with the Symphony Orchestra of India. He has collaborated with conductors including Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Xian Zhang, Roberto Tibiriçá, Baldur Brönnimann, Michael Bell and Hans Richter.
With a repertoire ranging from the Baroque to contemporary music, his recent Wigmore Hall debut was described by critics as “a recital of perfect creativity, securing, at just 23, his place in the uncompromising world of the concert hall” by Crepuscular Musings.
The 2024/2025 season included recital tours in China, Brazil, Japan and Italy, as well as chamber music debuts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Laieszhalle in Hamburg.
His performances are frequently broadcast on Rai Radio 3 and Sky Classica HD.
Trained in the piano schools of Boris Berman and Benedetto Lupo, at just 19 he completed both a Master of Music and a Master of Musical Arts at Yale University. In 2023, he earned an Artist Diploma from the Guildhall School of Music in London and a diploma from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, graduating with the highest marks, honours and the special distinction awarded to only one other pianist in the history of the Academy.
Photo credits: Ettore Pagano © Daniele Barraco; Gabriele Strata © Hannah Criswell.
