In just a few days, the final challenge launched by the 2025 Premio Bonporti (30th Edition, 11th for Baroque violin) will begin. The response has been impressive: twelve violinists, all of the highest calibre, have put themselves to the test. Coming from around the world (Cuba, Germany, Poland, the United States, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, and the Czech Republic), these young musicians have studied at top international schools, including the Juilliard School in New York, the Amsterdam Conservatorium, the Royal Conservatories of The Hague and Brussels, the Conservatoire national supérieur musique et danse in Lyon, the Schola Cantorum in Basel, the University of Music in Dresden, and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz.
The Jury, chaired by Emilio Moreno (Spain) and composed of Odile Edouard (France), François Fernandez (France) and Romano Vettori (Italy), used audio visual material to select the four finalists we will see and hear in Rovereto:
Ela Kodžas (United States)
Lorenzo Molinetti (Italy)
Maria de Lourdes Pomares Lima (Cuba)
Armand Thomas (France)
There are several new features in this 2025 edition of the Premio Bonporti.
Sight-reading with improvisation – a new challenge. The aim is to encourage musicians to play as similarly as possible to their Baroque-era colleagues, embellishing a piece at first sight by adding additional notes, much as jazz musicians do today. In the last edition, the contestants had their violins with them whilst they looked at the music for a few minutes, before performing for the jury and audience, so they were able to try out their ideas in private. This year it will be even more difficult, because they will look at the piece, without their violins, and then play, improvising Baroque-style embellishments.
A second exciting new feature for the audience will be the “cadenze” composed and played by the contestants. In the Baroque era (but also in the Classical-Romantic era), composers left a particular moment, the “cadenza,” where violinists could invent their own music. This year at the Premio Bonporti, the finalists will be asked to play their own “cadenza” in the style of the concerto being performed. This will happen in particular in Vivaldi’s Concerto RV 212 written “for the Solemnity of the Holy Tongue of St. Anthony in Padua” in 1712. It will be very interesting because each time the concerto will be different! Fireworks for the Final of the Premio Bonporti!
The 2025 Premio Bonporti Calendar
Friday, October 17th at 8:30 pm – “Da Camera” at Palazzo Alberti Poja, where we will hear the sight-reading with improvisation, as well as music by Bonporti, Corelli, Fontana, Farina, and Uccellini.
Sunday, October 19th at 5:00 pm – “In Concerto” at Palazzo Piamarta (University Aula Magna), where we will hear the Concerto, Op. XI, No. 9 in D major, by F.A. Bonporti and the Concerto RV 212 “for the Solemnity of the Holy Tongue of St. Anthony in Padua” (1712) by A. Vivaldi, along with the contestants’ cadenzas.
Monday, October 20th at 11:00 am – Prize Giving Ceremony: the winner will be revealed at the Palazzo del Bene of the Caritro Foundation. He or she will play for us, and then we will celebrate together.
Free entry for all events
The Premio Bonporti online
Those unable to travel to Rovereto on those days can follow the event on the Bonporti Prize website—both live and pre-recorded. It will then be available on the Premio Bonporti YouTube channel.
Reservations
To ensure you hear these amazing musicians live, it is highly recommended that you book by :
Telephone +39 333 4813958
OR
Online with Evenbrite October 17 AND/OR Evenbrite October 19.
