2026 State Conference
FEATURED ARTIST
Antonio Pompa-Baldi
ADVANCED MASTER CLASS
LECTURE RECITAL:
Photo by Tat-Keng Tey
Born and raised in Foggia, Italy, Antonio Pompa-Baldi won the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1999 and embarked on a multifaceted career that continues to extend across five continents. A top prize winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition of Paris, France, Antonio Pompa-Baldi also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van CliburnInternational Piano Competition. With a concerto repertoire including more than 60 works, Mr. Pompa-Baldi performed cycles of all the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos, the five Beethoven Piano Concertos, and both Brahms Concertos with various orchestras. He has played recitals in most major venues over the world.Pompa-Baldi studied with the great Italian pedagogue Annamaria Pennella, whom he credits ashis biggest musical influence. He also studied with another great exponent of the Neapolitanschool, legendary pianist Aldo Ciccolini. Among other important mentors and musicalinfluences, Pompa-Baldi names Paul Badura-Skoda and Jörg Demus.Mr.Pompa-Baldi appears at the world’s major concert venues including New York’s CarnegieHall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Milan’s Sala Verdi, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Shanghai’sGrand Theatre, and Paris’ Salle Pleyel, to name a few.He has collaborated with leading conductors including Hans Graf, Krzysztof Urbánski, JamesConlon, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Theodore Kuchar, Benjamin Zander, Louis Lane, and KeithLockhart. He has performed with ensembles and colleagues such as Takacs String Quartet, trumpeter Alison Balsom, cellist Sharon Robinson, violinists Ivan Zenaty and Ilya Kaler, and principals of the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Juilliard Quartet, amongothers.Pompa-Baldi is a regular guest at the Lang Lang Festivals in Shenzhen and Hangzhou, China.Recent appearances also include Vienna (Austria), London (UK), Paris (France), New York(USA), Auckland (New Zealand), Jerusalem (Israel), Cape Town (South Africa), China (Beijing,Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou), as well as Poland, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Spain, and many other places around the globe.Mr. Pompa-Baldi has recorded 35 CDs to date, for various labels including Centaur Records, Harmonia Mundi, Steinway, Two Pianists, Azica, and Brilliant Classics. Among them, thecomplete piano and chamber music works of Grieg, the Josef Rheinberger Piano Sonatas, thecomplete Hummel Piano Sonatas, and CDs dedicated to Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Respighi,and Rachmaninoff. For the Steinway label, Pompa-Baldi recorded songs by Francis Poulencand Edith Piaf, arranged for solo piano, as well as a CD titled “Napoli”, which features newpiano versions of famous Neapolitan songs, elaborated by Roberto Piana.Among Pompa-Baldi’s latest releases are his transcription for solo piano of the Respighi Bminor Violin Sonata and the Chopin Four Scherzos for the Steinway & Sons label, as well as adouble CD set of the complete Sonatas for violin and piano by Nikolai Meitner, for the BrilliantClassics label, recorded with violinist Fabrizio Falasca.Antonio Pompa-Baldi is a Steinway Artist. He is also a Steinway Recording Artist, as well asone of the most prominently featured artists in the Spirio recording catalogue.Pompa-Baldi is Distinguished Professor of Piano and Artist Ambassador at the ClevelandInstitute of Music, where he also serves as Head of the Keyboard and Guitar PerformanceDepartment. His students have been prizewinners in important competitions such asMarguerite Long, Hilton Head, Isang Yun, and Gina Bachauer. He is regularly invited by the most prestigious competitions as jury member, and is in high demand as a master class professor the world over.In 2015, Pompa-Baldi founded the Todi International Music Masters Festival, where he serves as faculty and Artistic Director. Pompa-Baldi is Vice Director for Education at the Lang Lang Art World institution in Hangzhou, China, and is on the advisory board of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation of NewYork.In addition to honorary professorships at the Beijing China Conservatory, ShenyangConservatory, and various other institutions, in 2025 he was appointed to the “International Chair in Piano” at the “F.A. Bonporti’ Conservatory of Music in Riva del Garda, Italy
Advanced Master Class details to follow….