2026 Edition

Francesco De Angelis

He is the solo violinist and Konzertmeister of the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and the Filarmonica della Scala. He has established himself as one of the most talented musicians on the international scene, earning widespread critical acclaim. His performances are characterized by an unmistakable romantic sound that expresses the cult of bel canto, combined with the rigor of the great Central European instrumental tradition.

Francesco De Angelis began studying the violin at the age of six with Giovanni Leone, an heir to the great school of Pablo Sarasate. At a very young age, he participated in one of Italy’s most important musical events, the “Città di Vittorio Veneto” Youth Violin Review, winning first prize three times in 1982, 1984, and 1985.

At the suggestion of soloist Jean-Jacques Kantorow, he entered the “Académie de Musique Tibor Varga” in Sion (Switzerland), where he began his advanced studies under the guidance of Maestro Tibor Varga. At nineteen, he won the international competition for the position of Co-Leader (Principal Second Violin) in the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra.

In 1993, he won the 1st prize, awarded unanimously, at the 21st “Città di Vittorio Veneto” National Violin Competition. In 1995, he won the audition for the role of Concertmaster of the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice in Venice. In 1998, following an international competition for the position of Concertmaster at Teatro alla Scala, he was chosen by Riccardo Muti to serve as Konzertmeister for both the Opera Orchestra and the Filarmonica della Scala.

Francesco De Angelis has collaborated with the greatest conductors, including: Daniel Barenboim, Gary Bertini, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, Colin Davis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Valery Gergiev, Carlo Maria Giulini, Paavo Järvi, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Georges Prêtre, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Georg Solti, Jeffrey Tate, and Yuri Temirkanov.

He participated in the peace support project “Paths of Friendship” organized by the Ravenna Festival, performing with the Filarmonica della Scala under Riccardo Muti in symbolic cities: Sarajevo (July 1997), Beirut (July 1998), Jerusalem (July 1999), Ground Zero in New York on the first anniversary of the fall of the Twin Towers (September 2002), and Damascus (July 2004).

As a soloist, he has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Gasteig in Munich, the Bachzaal in Amsterdam, the Paris Conservatory, Rockefeller Center and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim. He has performed with the Euskadi Orchestra, the Tibor Varga Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto.

In 1999, with the Filarmonica della Scala under Riccardo Muti, he performed Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante as a soloist at Teatro alla Scala. In 2003, he was personally invited by Valery Gergiev to St. Petersburg and Moscow as the sole Italian representative in the “World Orchestra for Peace.” He has been invited as Guest Concertmaster by the Teatro La Fenice Orchestra, the San Sebastian Euskadi Orchestra, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. During the 2005-2006 season of the Filarmonica della Scala, he performed Glazunov’s Concerto in A minor Op. 82 at Teatro alla Scala under Semyon Bychkov, achieving extraordinary public and critical success.

Equally intense is his chamber music activity with prestigious soloists, including Daniel Barenboim, Enrico Dindo, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Tibor Varga, Marcio Carneiro, François Guye, Madeleine Carruzzo, and the Soloists of the Wiener Philharmoniker. On March 7, 2011, he performed a trio concert at La Scala with Alfredo Persichilli (cello) and Lang Lang (piano): «(…) it is a true trio: blended yet distinct in style. It finds its voice in the most lyrical passages, thanks to De Angelis’s burning cavata, so linear in Mendelssohn’s song, and in Tchaikovsky so granular as to seem, at times, like a cello himself» (Corriere della Sera, March 9, 2011).

In the recording field, his two latest recordings for Decca (London) are of particular note. Accompanied by the Filarmonica della Scala conducted by Maestro Riccardo Chailly, he recorded the Solo from G. Verdi’s I Lombardi alla prima crociata and O. Respighi’s Leggenda.

Francesco De Angelis teaches violin at the Lausanne University of Music (HEMU), Sion site, and holds masterclasses in France, China, the United States, Brazil, Japan, Italy, and Switzerland. He is regularly invited as a jury member or president in major international violin competitions, such as the Tibor Varga in Sion or the Postacchini in Fermo.

He plays a G.B. Vuillaume (Paris, 1864) violin and an A. Poggi (Bologna, 1969) violin.

Stefano Da Ros

He earned diplomas in Piano, Choral Music and Choral Conducting, and Composition at the Conservatories of Trieste and Castelfranco Veneto; furthermore, he attended numerous seminars and masterclasses held by world-renowned musicians.

He has received awards in various national and international competitions for composition (Cagliari, Trieste, Belveglio, Verona, Como, Messina, Rome, Pavia, Trento), choral arrangement (Venice, Trieste, Trento), and polyphony (Stresa, Adria, Treviso). He has received numerous commissions from festivals, institutions, associations, and solo performers.

His compositions are largely published (Bèrben, Suvini-Zerboni, Pizzicato, Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia, Pro Musica Studium, E.M.E., Rugginenti, Carrara), and some have been broadcast by RAI (Italian National Broadcasting) and recorded on CD (Rivo Alto, Colloquia, Velut Luna).

For 15 years, he served as the Artistic Coordinator of the “Trofei Città di Vittorio Veneto” National Choral Competition (and was a member of the Artistic Committee from 1994 to 2024). He is also the creator and Artistic Director of the Permanent Choral Arrangement Workshop in Vittorio Veneto and the “Suoni di fiaba” International Composition Competition for Children in Sarmede/Vittorio Veneto.

After serving for several editions (from 2006 to 2014) as the Artistic Coordinator of the “Premio Città di Vittorio Veneto” Biennial National Violin Competition and the collateral “Mario Benvenuti” National String Reviews, he was reappointed to this role for the first three European editions of the prestigious violin competition (2021, 2023, and 2026).

He was a member of the Executive Artistic Commission of A.S.A.C. (Association for the Development of Choral Activities in Veneto) and collaborates with various entities and associations in organizing competitions, concerts, lectures, and music appreciation guides. He has also collaborated with newspapers and specialized magazines as a music critic.

A music education teacher in middle schools since 1980 and a school principal from 2004 to 2024, he served for six years as the Regional Representative for musical activities at the Regional School Office (USR) for Veneto. For approximately a decade, he was a member of the “Cabina di regia” (National Steering Committee) for Music and Dance High Schools established in 2011 by the Ministry of Education, University, and Research.

During his final eleven years of service, he headed the “Marconi” State High School in Conegliano, where he established a dedicated music high school section (liceo musicale). Since March 2024, he has been the Musical and Artistic Director of the CTG Polyphonic Choir in Belluno.

To be updated

Monica Cattarossi resides in Milan and works in the fields of chamber music and accompaniment as a performer, chamber musician, and professor. Invited to perform at the most important international festivals, she has given concerts in many prestigious venues both as a soloist and in duos with Julius Berger, Umberto Clerici, Rocco Filippini, Antonio Meneses, and Dora Schwarzberg, among others. She established a professional partnership with cellist Enrico Dindo, which was consolidated through her collaboration with the Pavia Cello Academy and the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, where Monica is a staff accompanist. Following many significant experiences as a collaborative pianist—most notably at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and the Paganini, Janigro, and Viotti International Competitions—she is currently an official pianist at the prestigious Accademia Chigiana in Siena and the Stauffer Academy in Cremona. From her vast repertoire, she has recorded the complete works for two pianos by André Jolivet for the Brilliant Classics label together with Filippo Farinelli, and a CD dedicated to a century of female composers with violinist Agnese Ferraro for OnClassical. A Professor of Chamber Music at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, she has held masterclasses at Sapporo Music University, the Seoul Chamber Orchestra, and the Academy of Music in Gdańsk. She holds a degree in Musicology.

Alexandra Pavlova is a pianist with international training across Kazakhstan, Russia, and Germany. After her studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, she developed an intensive career as a collaborative pianist in the string and wind repertoire, as well as in vocal accompaniment. She regularly performs chamber music with violinists, violists, and cellists, tackling the great Romantic and contemporary repertoire for instrument and piano. She collaborates steadily in a duo with the principal viola of the Teatro La Fenice and has worked with internationally renowned musicians such as Gustav Rivinius, Anna Serova, Vincenzo Pace, and Vikram Sedona, participating in concert projects, masterclasses, and international competitions. Since 2024, she has been the piano accompanist for the Viola class at the Accademia Perosi in Biella and regularly takes part in competitions dedicated to the repertoire for strings and piano. She is currently completing a specialized academic program in Chamber Music under the guidance of Maestro Filippo Faes, further deepening her study of the chamber repertoire for strings and piano. She is highly regarded for her reliability, her speed in repertoire preparation, and her sensitivity in musical dialogue.

The Jury shall award the following prizes and scholarships:

1st PRIZE: € 8,000.00

2nd PRIZE: € 5,000.00

3rd PRIZE: € 2,000.00

€ 750.00 Scholarship to the candidate with the best performance of Bach in the First Round.

€ 750.00 Scholarship to the candidate with the best performance of a Sonata in the Second Round.

€ 750.00 Scholarship to the candidate with the best performance of Respiri for solo violin by Fabio Vacchi in the Second Round.

€ 750.00 Scholarship to the youngest semi-finalist.

€ 750.00 Scholarship to the best duo performing in the Second Round (candidate with their own pianist).

“Mario Benvenuti” Scholarship of € 750.00, offered by the Benvenuti Family – in memory of the Maestro, founder of the Vittorio Veneto National Violin Competition and the collateral National String Reviews – to the youngest finalist.

All the aforementioned amounts are gross of statutory tax withholdings.

The 1st Prize winner will also be awarded performance prizes (concert engagements) offered by the following Foundations, Institutions, and Associations:

• Fondazione Teatro alla Scala, Milan

• Fondazione Teatro La Fenice, Venice

• Teatro Comunale “Mario Del Monaco”, Treviso

• I Solisti Veneti

• Theater Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany) *

• North Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, Miskolc (Hungary) *

• Nuova Orchestra da Camera “Ferruccio Busoni”, Trieste

• “A. Pedrollo” Conservatory of Music, Vicenza

• Circolo Culturale Bellunese, Belluno

• Accademia Musicale Romana

• I Solisti Lucani

* The performance prize will be awarded to one of the finalists at the discretion of the artistic directors of both institutions (Aachen and Miskolc).

The fee, schedule, venue, and inclusion in the concert season will be at the discretion of the awarding institution, in agreement with the winner.