Premio Paganini Violin Competition Appoints New Artistic Director

35-year-old Italian violinist Nicola Bruzzo will step into the role

The 57th edition of the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition is set to take place in Genoa, Italy from October 16-27, 2023. It will commence with a new Artistic Director, Italian violinist Nicola Bruzzo.

Bruzzo initially studied at the Conservatory of Bologna, before moving to Germany for further study with Friedemann Eichhorn in Weimar and Natalia Prischepenko and the Artemis Quartet in Berlin. He has appeared with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and in 2022, he became joint artistic director of Ferrara Musica alongside Enzo Restagno.

Bruzzo will succeed Nazzareno Carusi in the position.

At the 2024 edition, the competition jury will comprise Salvatore Accardo (President), Ilya Grubert, Michael Guttman, Régis Pasquier, Christopher Reuning, Maxim Vengerov, Reiko Watanabe, and Silvia Colasanti.

"In addition to the very high quality that has crowned winners such as Leonidas Kavakos, Ilya Gringolts, Natalia Prischepenko, Isabelle Faust, and Giuseppe Gibboni, the Paganini competition is known for being a very well-oiled machine right from the pre-selection of the candidates — who are listened to live by the jury in their city," Bruzzo said.

"What I would like is for those young talents to also know how to interact with the public. The classical audience is thinning because music education is lacking in Italy. The generation between 40 and 60 has gotten lost in the depths of Youtube and Spotify, but twenty-year-olds are more flexible. If instead of throwing them into listening without a net, you tell them what they are going to hear, there is hope that they will become curious."