Ruben Xhaferi, piano (Albania)

Ruben Xhaferi (2005) began taking piano lessons at the age of five and, from the age of eight, studied under Sandro Baldì at the Giovan Battista Martini Conservatory in Bologna. Since 2015, he has been winning absolute first prizes at national and international competitions, including the Andrea Baldi International Competition in Bologna, the Crescendo Prize in Florence, the Roma International Piano Competition, the International PianoTalents Competition in Milan, the Zucchelli Prize in Bologna and the Radovljica International Piano Competition. In 2024 he was awarded first prize at the XVII. edition of Italy’s National Art Prize competition. He has performed at many prestigious venues across Italy and given solo recitals for a variety of renowned music societies and festivals, such as the PianoFortissimo, the Emilia-Romagna Festival, the Bartolomeo Cristofori International Piano Festival in Padua, the Tempietto Concerts in Rome and the Olivar de Castillejo Foundation in Madrid. As a soloist, he has performed with I Musici dell’Accademia of Bologna, the symphony orchestras of the Antonio Buzzollo Conservatory of Music in Adria, Giovan Battista Martini Conservatory in Bologna and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Conservatory in Cagliari, and with the Senzaspine Orchestra in Bologna. Since 2023, he has been taking advanced courses at the Academy of Music Chigiana with Lilya Zilberstein and at the Amadeus International Academy with Alberto Nosè, and since 2024 he has also been refining his skills at the Pinerolo and Turin Academy of Music with Benedetto Lupo. During the 2024 Chigiana Summer Academy he was awarded a scholarship. His interviews and performances have been broadcast on Italy’s national Rai Radio 3.

In collaboration with Radovljica International Piano Competition.