The idea of establishing an International Piano and Strings Competition, based on the chamber music activity and interpretative approach of the “Trio di Trieste,” originated from an initiative by Professor Fedra Florit, a former student of the Trio who later became a professor of chamber music. Formerly in collaboration with the members of the Trio, and currently independently, she selects the prestigious juries and defines the repertoire to be performed during the three elimination rounds, as stipulated by the Competition Regulation.
Initially, the Jury always included Dario De Rosa, the esteemed pianist of the “Trio di Trieste”, as Honorary President. In 2013, Dario De Rosa passed away at the age of 93.
From the first edition in 1996 to the most recent in 2022, 670 chamber music ensembles participated in the Competition, totaling more than 1750 musicians organized into groups ranging from duos to quintets, representing 29 countries around the world. This means that each edition of the International Trio di Trieste Competition attracts approximately 150 people to Trieste, including competitors, jury members, press, and critics.
Some of the most prestigious names in the international music scene judged the young musicians over the years, including Franco Gulli, Rocco Filippini, Boris Bekhterev, Piero Farulli, Renato Zanettovich, Alexander Lonquich, Aldo Ciccolini, Franco Rossi, Konstantin Bogino, Peter Maag, Viktor Pikayzen, Norbert Brainin, Koichiro Harada, François-Joël Thiollier, Arnaldo Cohen, Elisso Virsaladze, Dmitri Bashkirov, Hatto Beyerle, Marianne Chen, Irwin Gage, Barry Tuckwell, Maria Kliegel, Valentin Gheorghiu, Michael Frischenschlager, Igor Ozim, Homero Francesch, Yasuko Matsuda, Pavel Vernikov, Stephen McIntyre, Maria Tipo, Maureen Jones, Natalia Gutman, Friedemann Weigle, Marcello Abbado, Conrad Muck, Siavush Gadjiev, Oleg Maisenberg, just to name a few.
The International Competition for Chamber Ensembles with Piano, “Premio Trio di Trieste,” aims to spotlight ensembles that embody and reflect the chamber music principles and artistic sensibilities of the world-renowned Trio di Trieste, whose legacy has been built over sixty years of chamber and educational activities. Therefore, we seek stable ensembles with meticulous score interpretation, a harmonious blend between piano and strings, clear phrasing, and a rigorous critical and self-critical approach. These qualities refine their performance over time, defining an ensemble with a unique personality capable of representing our Award on the global stage.
The selection of ensembles, ranging from piano and strings duos to quintets, is aimed at evoking the most cherished and frequently performed repertoire by the Trio di Trieste. Additionally, it aims to focus the evaluations of the annually changing international Jury on the most significant repertoire of chamber music.
The “Premio Trio di Trieste” has internationally established its reputation and prestige to such an extent that it is now considered by both the specialized press and experts in the field to be one of the leading international competitions and among the top 5 in the world in the chamber music scene.
Winning the Trio di Trieste Award, which includes not only a cash prize but also over 20 prestigious concerts in Italy and abroad, as well as the recording of a CD/DVD, represents a significant milestone that can propel a promising concert career forward.
All the winners of past editions, namely Trio Debussy (Italy, 1997), Duo Triendl-Berg (Germany, 1998), Duo Almonte-Tsunoda (Australia-Japan, 1999), Duo Downes (United States, 2000), Ars Trio (Italy, 2001), Tal Trio (Israel, 2002), Duo Giun-Haruka (Japan, 2005), Trio Mondrian (Israel, 2007), Duo Sitkovetsky (Great Britain, 2011), Josef Suk Piano Quartet (Czech Republic, 2013), Duo Lavrynenko-Guliei (Ukraine, 2015), Trio Gaon (South Korea-Germany, 2017), and Trio Pantoum (France, 2022), have gone on to achieve remarkable success, establishing themselves as some of the most sought-after chamber ensembles on the international stage.
Since 2017, the Memorandum of Understanding with the “Accademia Chigiana di Siena” has facilitated an exchange of young ensembles between the two concert institutions and a collaboration in selecting Jury members for the competition.
Since 2012, alongside the biennial PERFORMANCE Competition, a COMPOSITION Competition has been introduced for three editions, dedicated to the composer Giampaolo Coral, from Trieste, who passed away prematurely in 2011. The aim of this competition is to encourage composition for small chamber ensembles. 99 composers from 16 countries participated and the winners were all Italian: Rocco De Cia, Maurilio Cacciatore, Walter Mobilio, Francesco Ciurlo, Simone Corti, and Gabriele Cosmi. Their compositions were selected as the compulsory pieces for the Performance Competition in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. The best performances were awarded the “Generali Prize”, thanks to a long-standing collaboration with the Generali Group.
To be admitted to the Competition since 2013, participants must submit a live recording (either on DVD or via a direct link), in line with the requirements of the most prestigious competitions worldwide. This is followed by two more live elimination rounds in Trieste. The director Davide Del Degan produced an outstanding short movie about one of the latest editions of the “Premio Trio di Trieste”, providing an excellent portrayal of the event and showcasing the city of Trieste as its setting. Access to the short movie is available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQkFN71mk6w&t=205s
The prizes are in line with those of equivalent international competitions: €16,000 for the First Prize, of which €10,000 are offered by Samer & Co. Shipping in memory of Dario Samer and €6,000 offered as the Special Prize “Anna Maria and Giorgio Ribotta”. This prize also includes a series of at least 15 concerts in Italy and abroad (primarily in Austria and Slovenia) and the recording of a CD; €6,000 for the Second Prize; €4,000 for the Third Prize. The “Dario De Rosa” Special Prize of €3,000, generously offered by his daughter Nicoletta, is awarded for the best performance of a Brahms composition, while the “Fernanda Selvaggio” Special Prize of €3,000 is given to the best finalist Trio. Additional special prizes amount to €7,000. The final evening, featuring a concert by the winners, is recorded by Rai FVG and broadcast nationwide.
The Competition is honored with the Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic. It receives support from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and the Municipality of Trieste, as well as sponsorship from Assicurazioni Generali, Fondazione CRTrieste, Fondazione Casali, Beneficentia Stiftung, Samer Shipping, and Suono Vivo – Padova. It is worth mentioning the established collaboration with the Central European Initiative. In 2014, this partnership brought the Josef Suk Piano Quartet from Prague to perform in Vienna for the 25th anniversary of the In.C.E./CEI.
In 2024, the International Competition will be held from September 7th to 11th at two different venues: at the Conservatory of Trieste and at “Teatro Miela”. The preselection round will take place at RAI studios on June 29th. The Competition Rules and Regulations, already published online in multiple languages, include three live selection rounds judged by a Jury composed of 7 members of the highest international profile:
• Bruno Giuranna – viola, Italy – President (in agreement with the “Accademia Chigiana di Siena”)
• Valentin Erben – cello, Austria
• Amiram Ganz – violin, Uruguay-France
• Eckart Heiligers – piano, Germany
• Ula Ulijona Zebriunaite – viola, Lithuania
• Antonio Valentino – piano, Italy
• Krzysztof Wegrzyn – violin, Poland-Germany (in agreement with the Conservatory of Trieste)
The final concert will be recorded by RAI Radio3 Suite and broadcast nationwide. All rounds are open to the public and the press. The Final Round will be attended by journalists from specialized publications and will be commented on in sector magazines such as Archi Magazine, Musica, Classic Voice, and Suonare News.
Prof.ssa Fedra Florit
Direttore artistico ACM
