Music
Chiara Bertoglio began playing the piano at age three; she graduated at sixteen with honours and distinction, and obtained a postgraduate diploma with distinction at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.
She performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and with orchestras and conductors of international standing.
She recorded several CDs published by Brilliant, Da Vinci Classics, Velut Luna and others.
In this page you may find references about Chiara Bertoglio's performing activity and her complete artistic bio.
About Chiara Bertoglio
Giya Kancheli, composer
Chiara Bertoglio is a very talented young pianist. Since her childhood she played in many great concert halls and festivals (Mozarteum in Salzburg, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Auditorium of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Festival Settembre Musica in Turin etc.), performing with worldwide celebrated conductors, like Ferdinand Leitner.
Having had a very intensive full-time education in music with most serious teachers (graduating at Turin Conservatory, Rome Academy of Santa Cecilia, Trinity College London and Swiss Concert Diploma) she developed a very interesting and original musical personality: that's why she is continuously interested on innovative projects, both in contemporary music and solo piano repertoire, as well as chamber music. In all these fields she has a very wide repertoire, with interesting programs and concert projects.
She is a sensitive performer, interested on musicology (she often introduces the pieces she plays in concerts and recitals), and on the philosophical sides of performance: her strong technique allows her to express her personal points of view and feelings on the music she plays, in the respect and musicological knowledge of style and of performance practice.
Paul Badura Skoda, concert pianist
The excellent young pianist Chiara Bertoglio is an exceptional talent.
Lady Susanna Walton, Gr. Uff., MBE, DMus, FRWCMD
Young pianist Chiara Bertoglio has repeatedly shown, during our concert seasons, her valid interpretive gifts, performing complex piano works. She always revealed an excellent pianistic accomplishment and real ability in expressive rigour and musical sensitivity. I therefore hope that such ability will find the recognition it deserves in the most important circles of international concert life, and I highly recommend her participation to the most important seasons.
Carlo Galante, composer
Chiara Bertoglio is a young pianist with a great talent. She has a very solid technique and a poignant and fascinating sensitivity. I listened to her in concert in many occasions, and I always got pleasure and satisfaction for the intelligence of her musical choices and the interpretive consistency.
Her repertoire is huge for her age: she is perfectly at ease both with the great Romantics (I can recall a breathtaking Chopin during her recent recital at the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano) and with the masterworks of the musical Impressionism (Debussy and Ravel); one should not forget, moreover, her curious and creative approach with the most recent musical output of our days.
An important trait of Chiara Bertoglio’s artistic personality is precisely her intellectual eagerness to know: this allows her first to have a critical and original approach with the music score she is asked to perform; and second, it suggests her to make with pleasure – different from many of her colleagues – musical choices which are different and stimulating both for herself and for her audience.
Pavel Vernikov, violinist, teacher and artistic director
I heard Chiara Bertoglio in many occasions, and in August 2007 she took part with violinist Marco Rizzi to the international festival "Il Violino Magico", of which I am the Artistic Director. She is an accomplished and very experienced concert pianist, having great virtuosity, sensitivity, expression, together with a solid culture in musicology.
She is a very interesting musician, and I heartily recommend her as an excellent pianist, asking concert organisers, artistic directors and managers to give her the necessary assistance and support for the further development of her career.
Elena Denisova, violinist
It was an exceptionally great joy to play with Chiara Bertoglio! Beautiful nuances, ability to breathe together, flawless mastery of the piano, all of this makes the musical partnership with her a great spiritual treat.
Susan Starr, pianist and teacher
Ms Bertoglio is a highly accomplished and well-trained performer. She has a most remarkable facility and plays effortlessly and immaculately. A fine musician, she instatnly understood and employed my few suggestions. In addition, she is a charming woman with an engaging personality. Her English is excellent. I wish her all the success which her talent deserves.
Lior Shambadal, Chief Conductor of Berliner Symphoniker
I had the pleasure to hear Ms. Chiara Bertoglio during her stay in San Gemini in Summer 2005. I listened to her as a concert pianist playing a piano concerto with orchestra and in piano recital. I was very impressed by her musicality, maturity and very clear concept in the musical form. She is a real artist with emotions and a very good technique. I'm sure she will make a fine career. And I ask everybody to give her the necessary assistance concerning her future plans. I am wishing her a fantastic musical future.
Bio
Education
Chiara Bertoglio was born in Turin in 1983, and began her piano education in 1986. She studied with Maria Rezzo, Ilonka Deckers, Emmy Henz-Diémand, Paul Badura Skoda, Sergio Perticaroli, Eugenio Bagnoli and Konstantin Bogino.
In 1999 she graduated at Turin Conservatory with the highest score, with distinction and with honours. At the age of 17 she obtained the Swiss Diploma of “Virtuosité” with honours, followed in 2003 by the highest Italian degree (Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome), with distinction. She was the youngest woman ever to obtain this degree. In 2004 she was awarded the Fellowship at Trinity College London and a Master’s degree in 20th-century Musicology at the University of Rome. In 2006 she obtained an MPhil in Musicology at the University of Venice with distinction. In 2012 she obtained a PhD in Music Performance Practice at the University of Birmingham (UK). She also obtained a Master’s Degree in Theology at the University of Rome, with distinction, in 2008, and an MA in Systematic Theology (University of Nottingham, 2016), with distinction.
She took part to piano and chamber music master classes given by A. Lonquich, E. Henz-Diémand, K. Bogino, A. Ciccolini, C. Zacharias, M. Voskressenskij, L. Fleisher and P. Badura-Skoda.
Concerts
Following her first piano recital, at the age of 8, Chiara Bertoglio performed extensively in Europe, USA and Middle East, in venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London’s Royal Academy (Messiaen Festival 2008) and the Royal College of Music, Salzburg (Mozarteum), Warsaw (Chopin Institute), Rome (Academy of S. Cecilia, Rome Philharmonic, Vatican City etc.), Florence (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), Montepulciano (“Cantiere”), Perugia (Sagra Musicale Umbra), Mantova (Trame Sonore), Cervo (Festival), Palermo (Politeama), Turin (including MITO Settembre Musica, Unione Musicale, Polincontri Classica), Milan (Società dei Concerti, Conservatory etc.), and festivals including “Festival Mozart” in Rovereto, “Opera Barga”, “Imago Sloveniae”, “Wörthersee Classics” etc.
In 2005 her performance of a Mozart Piano Concerto at Carnegie Hall, with Leon Fleisher and the Curtis Chamber Orchestra, was greeted by The New York Times with words of appraisal. She performed in Italy, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Israel, Denmark, Norway. The Netherlands, Slovenia, Montenegro, with live and recorded broadcasts on radio and TV (including RAI, Canale 5, Radio3, Radio Vaticana, ORF, AVRO Klassiek, Polish and Slovenian Radio and TV, Sat2000 etc.).
Following her debut as a soloist with orchestra, at the age of eight and with Ferdinand Leitner, she performed solo concertos in Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Austria and Switzerland, with, among the others, Rome Symphony Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Curtis Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, Aargauer Symphonie Orchester, GAMS Ensemble, Ensemble Le Musiche, Orchestra Sinfonica Giovanile del Piemonte and many others, with conductors such as Francesco La Vecchia, Claudio Maria Micheli , Andrea Oddone etc.
Competitions and recordings
She was awarded the First Prize at numerous competitions, including Muzio Clementi – Kawai, Franz Schubert, Schenk-Stiftung 2000, Forum pianistico internazionale di Chioggia 2003, XIII Concorso Pianistico Internazionale “Vanna Spadafora” and many others, including the “2000 Best Italian Graduate of the Year”. She was also awarded the “Orpheus” and “Bruson” medals for her artistic accomplishment; in 2016, she was awarded the Prize of the Pontifical Academies (Holy See) for her artistic merits.
She recorded many CDs; one of them was published by Panorama (two Mozart Piano Concertos for the 2006 celebrations with the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra), and anotherby Brilliant Classics (Respighi’s Toccata for solo piano and orchestra with Rome Symphony Orchestra). Further two albums were published by “Velut Luna” (Schubert’s complete Impromptus, and “Mors&Vita”, with works by Mussorgskij and Messiaen, both issued in 2012). Upcoming projects include a multi-CD set on Bach and Italy, for Da Vinci Osaka Records, the first volume of which has been issued in 2018.
She is an appreciated chamber music partner; among the others, she played with Konstantin Bogino, Marco Rizzi, Claudio Ronco, Elena Denisova, Cristiano Gualco, Giovanni Ricciardi, The Gustav Mahler Ensemble etc.
Writings and teaching
Following her first book on musicology, about Mozart’s piano and opera music (Voi suonate, amici cari, Marco Valerio, 2005), other volumes appeared for Effatà, including Musica, maschere e viandanti (2008, about Schubert and Schumann’s philosophy), Logos e Musica (2009, about the Christ in selected musical works), Per Sorella Musica (2009, about the Canticle of the Sun in 20th-century music), Through Music to Truth (2016); her most recent monograph, a 800-page book on music and the sixteenth-century Reformations (Reforming Music) has been published in 2017 by De Gruyter and won the 2018 RefoRC Book Award.
She wrote musicology articles that were published by “Early Music”, “Musica e Storia”, “AAA-TAC”, “Atti dell’Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti”, “Divus Thomas”, “British Postgraduate Musicology”, “TRANS”, “Archivio Teologico Torinese”, “Quaderni del Centro di Richerche Storiche di Rovigno”, “Reportata”, “Logoi”, “Tolkien Studies”. An essay by her was included in the Schnittke Anniversary Collection (“Schnittke-Studien”). She authored several lemmas for the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (De Gruyter).
She presented papers at many international conferences of musicology, including the “Purcell, Haendel, Haydn and Mendelssohn” conference in Oxford, the Messiaen festival at the Royal Academy of London and many others. She lectured for the University of Turin, at the University of Birmingham, and for other higher education institutes in Italy and abroad.
She was invited as a Guest Professor of piano at the International Festival of Maribor (Slovenia, 2006-08). Since 2007 she regularly lectures at the Summer School of the “Studio Filosofico Domenicano” University. She teaches at several State Conservatories in Italy (Turin, Milan, Bologna, Perugia, Novara, Lucca).
