ANTONIO FORMARO
pianist
THE STORY OF MY CAREER
Antonio Formaro, winner of the prestigious 2009-2019 Konex Prize in the Best Pianist category and recently awarded as Best Argentinian Soloist by the Argentinian Music Critics Association, is considered "one of the best Argentine pianists" (Buenos Aires Herald - P.Bardin) and a "pianist of extraordinary talent" (Lazar Berman). He has consolidated his career both for his technical brilliance and interpretative depth, as for his extraordinary musical training, which earned him the title "Doctor of Music" by the Argentine Catholic University (UCA) in the specialty of musicology and interpretation for his doctoral thesis on Mendelssohn's piano work, which uniquely positions him among Latin American pianists. His authority over the work of this composer was recognized by the Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft in Berlin, of which he was appointed member in 2017.
Since his debut at the worldwide famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires at the age 17 and his first international tour in 1999, Maestro Formaro has become the soloist of the most important orchestras of Argentina, Latin America and several European, playing recitals in the most prestigious theatres and venues with outstanding reviews that led him to debut at the legendary Gewandhaus in Leipzig (Germany) at the end of 2015. From there his presentations in that theatre, the Pianistic Festival of Bologna, The Mendelssohn-Saal in Berlin, the Philarmionie Hradec Kralove de República Czech and the Academy Saint Martin in the Fields of London, among others, led to his debut at the Konzerthaus in Vienna on July 2018, as well as the opportunity to play with the Berliner Synphoniker, and at the Clara Schumann Festival at Zwikau (Germany) and the Festival delle Nazioni in Rome, among many others.
The beginning of 2020 marked his debut as a concert pianist in the United States at the Westminister Hall of Princeton University (New Jersey) and in Canada, where he was also able to serve as a guest teacher to speak on the interpretation of music from the Romantic period, having already been called to repeat the cycles in 2025.
Since 2016 Formaro travels through Argentina for his own personal project "The piano footprints" which was declared of interest by the Ministry of Culture, and includes the filming of a documentary on the pianos scattered around the country and the history of the many international concerts that happened in the farthest areas of the county.
Born in Wilde, province of Buenos Aires, Maestro Formaro trained with Perla Brúgola and Manuel Rego, this teacher being the one who left a profound influence on his training. Master Formaro completed his training in Europe with master Lazar Berman (Russia), after which he was awarded at the XI Pazailiz Competition in Lithuania.
His academic endorsements also include the titles of Senior Piano Professor from the “López Buchardo” National Conservatory and Graduate in Composition from the Faculty of Musical Arts and Sciences of the UCA, where he created and directed the Piano soloist degree, in addition to teaching classes for 25 years. He is part of the teaching staff of the Master's Degree in Chamber Music at the National University of Rosario, and its Seminars and Master Classes which are given annually inside and outside the country, including the Universities of Talca (Chile), Princeton (USA ), New Brunswick (Canada) and Cuenca (Ecuador)
He has recorded several CDs for different labels that reflect his “expertise” in Mendelssohn, his predilection for the Classical-Romantic repertoire, and the dissemination of the Argentine repertoire, premiering works written especially for him by Marta Lambertini, Thomas Parente and the Tango Concerto for piano and orchestra by Martin Palmeri.
During 2023 Formaro performed in the three most important theaters in Buenos Aires City, and gave concerts throughout Argentina, as well as Brazil, Paraguay and Chile, where he has been called upon again by the University of Talca to give one of his renowned seminars. Meanwhile he prepares his 2024 tour for USA and Canada.