Leonardo Colafelice

Leonardo Colafelice, 24, is a Italian pianist of international repute and acclaim. Legendary pianist Martha Agerich has remarked of Colafelice as a “fabulous pianist and musician.”

 In August 2016, he was awarded Second Prize in the prestigious Cleveland International Piano Competition. He also received 3 special awards: Audience Prize, Best Performance of a Russian Piece, and The Junior Jury Prize. In May 2019, Leonardo was one of the 6 finalists during the first edition of the China International Music Competition in Beijing. In May 2014, he was one of six finalists during the Tel Aviv Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. Between 2012 and 2013, he won the Gold Medal at the Gina Bachauer Young Artists International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City (USA); First Prize at the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition in Oberlin and Cleveland (USA); Gold Medal at the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition in Rochester (USA); Gold Medal at the Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition in Arizona; First Prize at the Aarhus Competition in Denmark; and finally, First Prize at the Hilton Head Competition in South Carolina (USA).

Colafelice was born in 1995 in Altamura (Bari), Southern Italy and became a pupil of Pasquale Iannone at Bari’s renowned Niccolò Piccinni Conservatory of Music, where he later graduated. Leonardo currently teaches Piano Performance at the F. Torrefranca Conservatory of Music in Vibo Valentia, currently making him the youngest conservatory teacher in all of Italy. He has also performed in Italy and abroad, with orchestras including: The Cleveland Orchestra and The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.