ANTONIO CONSALES
ANTONIO CONSALES
pianist
Referent Advisor for Italy
Professor of Piano at “S. Giacomantonio” State Conservatory in Cosenza
“Beautiful sound, surprising technique, refined interpretative choices and an
incredible communicative energy are the qualities that place Antonio Consales
among the most interesting pianists of his generation”
New York Post
“The Italian pianist Antonio Consales plays with the class of a true virtuoso, as well
as the constant search for sound and phrasing typical of a great artist”.
Los Angeles Times
“Consales shows a powerful technique and an elegant style in the art of “cantato”
that brings us back to the great performers of the past.”
Il Messaggero
Born in Cosenza, Antonio Consales started to study piano at the age of seven and
trained at the “S. Giacomantonio ” graduating very young with special mention.
Decisive for his artistic training was the meeting with the prestigious piano school of
Annamaria Pennella (concert artist and teacher already a student of Arturo
Benedetti Michelangeli and Marguerite Long) with whom he perfected in Naples as
well as in the international piano specialization courses held. from the same in Italy
and abroad. Furthermore, the meetings with famous musicians and teachers such
as: C. Zecchi, R. Caporali, J. Demus, A. Neri, BL Gelber, P. Badura-Skoda, Marcello
Abbado, Bruno Canino and others were fundamental for his training. still.
Demonstrating a strong artistic personality already at an early age, (at just eleven he
held his first Recital), Antonio Consales embarked on a brilliant career marked by
various prizes and awards.
Winner of numerous national and international piano competitions, in 1992 he was
First Prize Winner at the “Ferenc Liszt” Competition in Rome.
He was also awarded the “F. Ferrara” at the Senate of the Republic – Rome ’96, Gold
Medal – Columbus Day – New York ’90, Gold Medal -” FD Roosevelt Foundation “-
Bologna ’92, in 2000 he was awarded the prestigious italian “Pericle D’Oro Prize for
Music ” in Bovalino – Reggio Calabria and in ’09 he was awarded at the “Yamaha
Awards ” – Yamaha Concert Hall in New York.
Antonio Consales is also: Gold Medal of the State Carabinieri (on the occasion of the
Bicentenary of the Arma 2014), Gold Medal of the Vatican (concert in honor of Pope
John Paul II – Castel Gandolfo 2011) , Honorary Guest Artist – Armenia, Gyumri ’19.
Regularly invited to major Italian and foreign musical institutions and institutions, as
well as prestigious festivals, he has to his credit an intense concert activity both as a
soloist and in various chamber ensembles with artists of international caliber
including flutists Maxence Larrieu and Angelo Persichilli.
He has held tours and solo concerts with prestigious orchestras: the Symphony
Orchestra of the Slovak Republic, the European Jeunesse Orchestra, the
Mediterranean Philarmonia, the Krakow Symphony Orchestra, the da Camera “F.
Ferrara”, the Symphony Orchestra of the Euromediterranean Festival, the Pergolesi
Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic of Calabria, the Symphony Orchestra of the
Opera Theater of Yerevan, the Gyumry State Symphony Orchestra, and others.
He often records for Italian State RAI-Radio and Television.
The artist’s repertoire ranges from J. S. Bach and the main classical authors, to the
most representative piano works of Romanticism and Late Romanticism with
particular attention to the Russian school, without neglecting the impressionistic
vein. He has several integrals to his credit, including the complete Etudes of F.
Chopin, upcoming CD album for PWA-Productions.
In 1996 he founded the “Franco Ferrara” Academy of Altomonte together with
Annamaria Pennella and Marcello Abbado within which he was Director of the high-
level piano specialization school that hosted some of the most important concert
players and teachers on the international scene.
He was Artistic-Musical Director of the Euromediterranean Festival of Altomonte
from 1996 to 2015.
He is regularly invited as a member of the jury of national and international piano
competitions both in Italy and abroad.
Antonio Consales has to his credit numerous concert tours that have led him to
perform on four continents.
In 1999 he toured the USA (California and Hawaiian Islands) where he enjoyed
considerable success with audiences and critics and, subsequently, he was invited by
the University of Minnesota to hold a seminar and a series of concerts at the “World
Conference – Music and the Heart: An Integral Chord ”.
On the occasion of the New Year 2000 he held the “Concerto per il Terzo Millennio,
soloist with the Philarmonia Mediterranea orchestra, broadcast worldwide by RAI
International.
In April 2002 he gave a concert tour in Germany, at the invitation of the Italian
Cultural Institute, recorded by the German State Radio.
In 2009 he held a second tour (concerts and master classes) in the United States
(New York and Ohio) at: the Yamaha Concert Hall in New York, the Huntington
Recital Hall, the Graves Hall, the Mees Auditorium and the Capital University of
Columbus; he also held a masterclass of piano specialization at the Capital University
of Columbus (OH).
Always convinced that music first of all fulfills a social function, Antonio Consales
regularly dedicates events (concerts, seminars, conferences, etc.) in support of
charities, voluntary work and projects of social utility at an international level,
including : Telethon (the Italian campaign against muscular dystrophy and genetic
diseases), the “Polio Plus Fund” of Rotary International (Rotary International Fund to
eradicate polio), the ASIT (Italian Transplant Association), “Bambi” – l ‘Association of
Friends of Children of Pediatric Surgery of which he is Honorary Member, and many
others.
In October 2010 he held a subsequent tour in the USA (Oregon, California,
Waschington DC and Ohio) with great success with audiences and critics; for the
occasion Antonio Consales gave a series of concerts and held master classes at: the
Bosendorfer Recital Hall in Portland (Oregon), the Bach Hall at the San Francisco
Festival (California), the Steinway – Graves Recital Hall and the Mees Auditorium at
the Capital University in Columbus (Ohio), the Performing Arts Center in
Pickerington (Ohio), the seat of the Italian embassy in Waschington DC.
In 2013 Antonio Consales went to Greece where he gave a masterclass and a
concert in Thessaloniki at the Municipal Theater.
In the same year he was Artistic Director, on behalf of the “F. Torrefranca ”together
with the” Scientia et Ars “Polytechnic of Vibo Valentia, of the International Piano
Festival“ Vibo Piano Master ”in which it brought together the most representative
piano schools of Calabria in memory of the great Crotone teacher Vincenzo
Scaramuzza.
In June 2014 he was invited by the Italian State Arma dei Carabinieri to hold the
concert for the solemn official ceremony commemorating the bicentenary of the
foundation of the same broadcast on RAI Italian Television, in the presence of the
highest military, institutional and religious officials. .
In August of the same year he held the inaugural Gala Concert of the
Euromediterraneo Festival, soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Calabria in
the Piano Concerto n.2 of S. Rachmaninov, which met with considerable success
with audiences and critics.
Again in 2014 he held a solo concert and an international piano interpretation
masterclass at Yasar University in Izmir in Turkey.
In February 2015 he held a tour in Armenia, concert soloist at the Yerevan Opera
House (Rachmaninov Gala – Piano Concerto n.2), solo recitals and master class at
the Tachaikovsky Special Music School.
His last tour of Armenia in 1919 proved to be a resounding national success. Among
other things, he gave a concert for the President of the Republic Sarkissian, soloist
with the Gyumri State Symphony, and for the occasion Antonio Consales was
awarded the title of Honorary Guest Artist of Armenia.
Former teacher at the Conservatories “E. R. Duni” of Matera, “F. Cilea” of Reggio
Calabria and “F. Torrefranca ”in Vibo Valentia, Antonio Consales is Professor of
Piano at the” S. Giacomantonio “Conservatory in Cosenza and regularly holds Piano
Masters in Italy and abroad.