Facebook Youtube Instagram

23rd International Vocal Chamber Music Competition “C. A. Seghizzi” for solo voice and piano
 23rd Edition

The 23rd Edition of the International Vocal Chamber Music Competition “Seghizzi” for solo voice and piano took place in Gorizia from July 3 to 5, 2026, in the Association’s renovated premises.

The competition confirmed its position as a benchmark on the national and international chamber music scene, with outstanding quality displayed by both singers and pianists.

The international jury was composed of:

  • Christoph Prégardien (Germany), internationally renowned tenor and Lieder specialist.
  • Vivica Genaux (USA), mezzo-soprano specialized in baroque and chamber repertoire.
  • Zita Varadi (Hungary), soprano and professor at the “Franz Liszt” Academy in Budapest.
  • Federico Pupo (Italia), artistic director of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.

The artistic direction was led by M° Eddi De Nadai.

Chamber singing

1st PRIZE VOICE AND PIANO DUO
 Maria Olimpia Renna and Caterina Dionisi
(Italia)

1.

Maria Olimpia Renna (soprano, Italy) and Caterina Dionisi (pianist, Italy).

The prize consists of the Seghizzi Trophy 2026, increased by €1,000.00 for the duo formation, for a total prize of €4,000.00, a plaque, and a diploma. The following were also awarded:

  • A prize concert offered by the “Seghizzi” Association within the “Quinta Giusta” circuit (a network of concerts featuring winners of international competitions organized in Friuli Venezia Giulia);
  • A prize concert offered by the Storica Società Operaia di Pordenone as part of the 2026/27 cultural programming, with a €1,000.00 study grant;
  • A concert offered by the Piccolo Opera Festival del FVG Association in the 2027 program billboard, with a €1,000.00 study grant.

    • 2.

    Sora Ehi (voice, Japan) and Iarina Stefania Mărgărit (pianist, Romania)

    It consists of a prize of € 2,000.00, a plaque, a diploma, and a prize concert within the “Quinta Giusta” circuit.

    3.

    Laura Krisztina Gögh (voice, Hungary)

    Accompanied by M° Gábor Alszászy
    It consists of a prize of €1,000.00, a plaque, a diploma, and a prize concert within the “Quinta Giusta” circuit.

    4th Voice and Piano Duo Prize

    Awarded to Elsa Biscari (voice, Italy) and Dario Falcone (pianist, Italy).

    5th Voice Prize

    Awarded to Yikai Xu (voice, China), accompanied by Maestro Daniele Bonini.

    6th Voice and Piano Duo Prize

    Awarded to Julia Valero (voice, Spain) and Johannes Pierre Bettac (pianist, Germany).

    Photogallery

    Discover the event
     Programme

    Below is the schedule for the 23rd International Vocal Chamber Music Competition for solo voice and piano.

    Friday, July 3rd, 2026

    14.00 Elimination Stage

    📍 Venue: Seghizzi Association Headquarters, Corso Verdi 85, Gorizia

    14.00 Semi-Finals

    📍 Venue: Seghizzi Association Headquarters, Corso Verdi 85, Gorizia

    14.00 Finals
    📍 Venue: Seghizzi Association Headquarters, Corso Verdi 85, Gorizia


    21.00 Award Ceremony and Gala Winners’ concert
    📍 Venue: Seghizzi Association Headquarters, Corso Verdi 85, Gorizia

    Competition
    Jury

    The international jury was composed of:

    Christoph Prégardien

    (Germany) Internationally renowned tenor, former professor at the Zurich University of Music and the Cologne Academy of Music.

    Curriculum

    Vivica Genaux

    (USA) Internationally renowned mezzo-soprano, specialist in Baroque and Lieder repertoire.

    Curriculum

    Zita Varadi

    (Hungary) Internationally renowned soprano, professor at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest.

    Curriculum

    Federico Pupo

    Artistic director of Opera Theater Carlo Felice – Genova.

    Curriculum

    Eddi De Nadai

    Pianist and conductor, specialist in the Lieder repertoire, artistic director of the International Chamber Singing Competition “Seghizzi” in Gorizia

    Curriculum

    Competition
     Admission Requirements

    Admissions to the competition are possible under the following conditions:

    • As a voice and piano duo, where both members are under 35 years old.
    • As a solo singer under 35 years old, with an accompanist pianist of any age. In this case, the singer competes as a soloist.
    • As a solo singer without an accompanist pianist. In this case, the organization will provide a specialist pianist, and the singer competes as a soloist.

    Archive
     Regulations and Scores

    In this section, you can download the necessary materials regarding the competition.

    Regulations

    View and download the complete announcement and regulations of the 23rd edition of the International Chamber Singing Competition "Seghizzi".

    Download ENG Version .pdf
    Scarica versione ITA .pdf

    Application Form

    Download the application form for the 23rd edition of the International Chamber Singing Competition "Seghizzi".

    Download

    Category 3 - Scores

    Download the musical scores for the Category 3 of the 23rd edition of the International Chamber Singing Competition "Seghizzi".

    Download all

    Awarded the Medal of the
     Presidency of the Republic

    In 2025, the international activities promoted by the Associazione Corale Goriziana C. A. Seghizzi were awarded the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic, granted to initiatives of particular cultural significance.

    Under the
     Patronage of:

    The Association is pleased to announce that the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Milan has granted its patronage for the Seghizzi 2024 International Events.

    Under the
     Support of:

    Logo_MIC-300x98
    Logo-regione-autonoma-Friuli
    GORIZIA
    Logo_Fondazione_Carigo_Web-300x170

    Christoph Prégardien

    Christoph Prégardien is considered one of the most important lyric tenors in the world. Particularly acclaimed as a Lieder performer, he opens the 2025/26 season alongside Julius Drake at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg/Hohenems, before performing, among other works, Die schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days by Johannes Maria Staud: an extraordinary project that combines Schubert's cycle in a new orchestrated version with seven new songs based on texts by Emily Dickinson.

    Christoph Prégardien performs regularly with world-renowned orchestras. He has collaborated with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, as well as the Boston and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, alongside conductors of the caliber of Barenboim, Metzmacher, and Thielemann. His vast orchestral repertoire includes the great Baroque, Classical, and Romantic oratorios and passions, as well as works from the 17th and 20th centuries. In the operatic field, he has performed roles such as Tamino, Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Fenton (Falstaff), Don Ottavio, Tito, Ulisse, and Idomeneo.

    His extensive experience as a singer in the roles of the Evangelists, combined with close collaboration with conductors such as Nagano, Chailly, Herreweghe, Harnoncourt, Luisi, and Gardiner, has provided the ideal foundation for his increasing dedication to conducting the works of Bach. Following his successful conducting debut in 2012 leading Le Concert Lorrain and the Nederlands Kammerkoor, he regularly conducts internationally renowned ensembles such as the Balthasar Neumann Choir, the Dresdner Kammerchor, Collegium Vocale Gent, and the RIAS Kammerchor. In the spring of 2024, he conducted Bach's St Matthew Passion with Vespres d’Arnadí and the Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir in Barcelona. In December 2025, he will conduct Bach's Christmas Oratorio on tour with the Belgian ensemble Il Gardellino and the Palau de la Música Catalana chamber choir.

    He has recorded much of his repertoire in a discography of over 150 albums, which have received prestigious awards such as the Orphée d’Or from the Académie du Disque Lyrique, the Edison Award, the Cannes Classical Award, and the Diapason d’Or. For the Challenge Classics label, he recorded Schubert's Schwanengesang with Andreas Staier and Die schöne Müllerin with Michael Gees, the latter selected as Editor's Choice by Gramophone magazine and awarded the MIDEM Record of the Year. Shortly after followed recordings of Hugo Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch with Julia Kleiter, "Between Life and Death", "Wanderer", and the Grammy-nominated Winterreise disc, all with Michael Gees, as well as "Father and Son" with his son Julian Prégardien. His Schubert CD "Poetisches Tagebuch", with Julius Drake, won the German Record Critics' Award in 2016. In 2023, the Etcetera label released an album of Bach cantatas recorded with Stephan Schultz and Le Concert Lorrain, featuring Christoph Prégardien as a baritone.

    Teaching remains an important part of Christoph Prégardien's musical life. After many years at the Zurich University of the Arts and a professorship at the Cologne Academy of Music, he continues to lead masterclasses for young singers worldwide.

    Vivica Genaux

    Acclaimed as one of the most authoritative interpreters of Baroque, bel canto, and Lied repertoire, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux has been honored with awards such as the ARIA, the International Opera Awards, and the International Classical Music Awards, in addition to the Christopher Keene Award from New York City Opera, the Hasse-Preis from the Johann-Adolf-Hasse-Stiftung (in recognition of her commitment to promoting Hasse's music), and the 2017 Händel-Preis from the Stiftung Händel-Haus.

    Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, she has performed not only as a singer but also as a teacher and juror in some of the world's most prestigious theaters, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opernhaus Zürich.

    Since her professional debut as Isabella in Rossini's L’italiana in Algeri at the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, Vivica has garnered public and critical acclaim for her vivid interpretations of a wide operatic and oratorio repertoire, including numerous "en travesti" roles ranging from biblical heroes to legendary warriors. The works of Vivaldi, Handel, and Rossini form the core of her career; her most frequently performed role is Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, the part with which she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1997.

    In recent seasons, she has taken part in high-profile projects, such as the first modern staged performance of Riccardo Broschi's Idaspe (a collaboration between Quantum Theatre and Chatham Baroque) and the concert programs Capriccio: temi e variazioni and Lucifera: Illuminating the Darkness. She has expanded her repertoire with important debuts in works by Francesca Caccini, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vivaldi, and Handel. Her first approach to the works of Verdi, in the role of Giulietta di Kelbar in Un giorno di regno, saw her collaborate once again with Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi.

    Her extensive discography includes complete recordings of operas by Vivaldi, Handel, Hasse, Bertoni, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer, and Verdi. Her recital albums, including Bel Canto Arias, Arias for Farinelli, A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni, and Rival Queens (with Simone Kermes), are among the best-selling and have earned her four GRAMMY® nominations.

    Committed to passing on her experience to new generations, Vivica founded the V/vox Academy, dedicated to training young singers in the fundamental principles of the Baroque and bel canto repertoire. She also serves as a juror at the Cesti Competition in Innsbruck and holds masterclasses at prestigious institutions such as the Associazione Musicale Tito Gobbi and the Fondazione Paolo Grassi.

    The rediscovery of unjustly forgotten music is a pillar of her artistic activity. In September 2025, her commitment to the promotion of Hasse's vocal works was recognized with her appointment as an honorary member of the Hasse Gesellschaft Bergedorf.

    Projects for 2026 include teaching activities, jury participations, and recitals. In April 2026, she has been called to Berlin to reprise the role of Cyrus in Handel's Belshazzar at the Komische Oper Berlin and will return to the Farnese Festival in June for Corselli's oratorio Santa Clotilde.

    Zita Váradi

    Zita Váradi graduated from the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest in 1996, where she studied under Professor Erika Sziklay. Shortly thereafter, she made her debut at the Csokonai Theatre in Debrecen in the role of Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

    During her university studies and frequently thereafter, she won numerous awards in international competitions and festivals, including the C. A. Seghizzi Chamber Singing Competition in Gorizia in 2000, first prize at the Franz Lehár competition in Komárno in 1995, second prize at the Katia Ricciarelli singing competition in Mantua in 1994, the Primadonna award at the Budapest Spring Festival in 2000 for her performance as Madeleine in Paul Abraham's Ball at the Savoy, and the Grand Prix in 2001 for her performance as Adele in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus (where she also received the audience award), the Foto-Art award in 1998, and the Vilmos Rubányi award in 1997 for her work at the Csokonai Theatre.

    Over the last 25 years, she has collaborated with numerous orchestras and conductors in Hungary and abroad, both as a soloist and an opera singer. Her most significant operatic appearances include: Susanna, Norina, Adina, Musetta, Pamina, Michaela, Nedda, Zdenka, Liù, Madame Lidoine, Najád, Frasquita, Marzelline, Zerlina, Clorinda, Lauretta, and the French Princess.

    Since 2001, she has been a soloist at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, which named her Singer of the Year in 2012.

    Since 2022, Zita Váradi has been teaching singing at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.

    Federico Pupo

    Violinist, has performed chamber music, especially in the Baroque repertoire, with leading instrumental ensembles (Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, Concerto Palatino, Clavier Ensemble, Orchestra Barocca di Venezia, Accademia Strumentale Italiana) and for major musical institutions and in prestigious halls and theaters both in Italy and abroad (Radio della Svizzera Italiana, Innsbruck and Regensburg Festivals, Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Settimane Musicali in Ascona, Sala Verdi in Milan, Semperoper in Dresden).

    He cooperated for several years with the Solisti Veneti on the artistic organization of recording productions and concert activities.

    Since its founding in 1986, he has been a member of the Promotion Committee of the International Organ Festival "Città di Treviso e della Marca Trevigiana," an organization that promotes organ literature on historical instruments of the Venetian School, which abounds in the province of Treviso and the entire region.

    From 1995 to 1996, he was Head of Musical Services at the Teatro Comunale di Treviso.

    From December 1995 to the present, he has been Artistic Director of Asolo Musica - Veneto Musica, an association that organizes over 150 musical events throughout the region in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Veneto Region. In particular, he curates the program of the prestigious International Chamber Music Festival "Incontri Asolani," which, now in its thirtieth year, annually hosts the most important and acclaimed chamber music performers.

    In 1997, he served as Head of Programming and Artistic Organization at the Ente Lirico Arena di Verona; the same organization appointed him Artistic Director of the 76th Arena Festival the following year.

    From 2000 to 2018, he was the Organizational Director of Teatri S.p.A., an instrumental company of the Cassamarca Foundation of Treviso, whose activity is focused on the planning and management of cultural initiatives to be held at the facilities entrusted to its management, particularly the Teatro Comunale and the Teatro Eden in Treviso.

    He has held the role of Artistic Director for various opera and musical institutions: from 2005 to 2008 at the Pergolesi Spontini Foundation in Jesi; from 2011 to 2020 at the Antonio Salieri Foundation in Legnago; and from 2017 to 2023, he was Artistic Director of the Concert Season at the Teatro Comunale in Monfalcone.

    Since 2011, he has taught Entertainment Industry at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and has taught Entertainment Organization and Production at the conservatories of Venice, Padua, and Ferrara.

    From 2020 to 2025, he was President of the Settimane Musicali association at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.

    He represents the Veneto Region on the Board of Directors of the Arena di Verona Foundation and as a member of the Board of Directors of Arteven, a regional association for the promotion and dissemination of theater and culture in the Veneto communities.

    In March 2024, the Ministry of Culture appointed him to the National Committee for the Puccini Celebrations.

    Since June 2025, he has been Artistic Director of the Carlo Felice Foundation in Genoa.

    Eddi De Nadai

    Eddi De Nadai, for a long time Solorepetitor and vocal coach at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Staatsoper in Hannover, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Teatro Lirico Sperimentale in Spoleto, and Teatro Sociale in Trento, holds diplomas in piano and harpsichord from the Venice Conservatory of Music. He studied Orchestral Conducting with Romolo Gessi, Donato Renzetti, Lior Shambadal, and Deyan Pavlov.

    A passionate lover and scholar of Lied and vocal chamber music, as a pianist he studied with Erik Werba, Elly Ameling, and Rudolph Jansen.

    Having previously served as guest conductor and Italian repertoire coach at the State Opera in Izmir for several years, since 2009 he has been regularly invited to the Bolshoi Theater in Tashkent as a guest conductor and coach for the Italian opera repertoire. He maintains an intense artistic activity, collaborating with prestigious orchestras (Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Città di Ferrara, Mitteleuropa Orchestra, Radiotelevisione Slovena, Sinfonica di Cordoba, Orpheus Kammerorchester Wien, Filarmonica di Bacau, Filarmonica di Odessa, Kiev String’s Orchestra, Radiotelevisione Albanese, Opera di Belgrado e Lubiana, Astana Opera) and renowned soloists such as Bruno Canino, Rocco Filippini, Enrico Pieranunzi, Luciana D’Intino, and Katia Ricciarelli, conducting a vast symphonic and operatic repertoire both in Italy and abroad. His conducting credits include Nabucco and Aida at Taormina Opera Stars, Madama Butterfly at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Britten's The little sweep at the Teatro Verdi di Pisa, Piccinni's La Cecchina, and Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires at the Teatro Comunale di Treviso. He opened MittelFest 2016 in Cividale with the world premiere of Menocchio by R. Miani. He also conducted the world premiere of Still Requies by Mauro Montalbetti at the Triennale di Milano and the Teatro Grande di Brescia.

    He is also the creator and artistic director of the educational program “All’Opera, ragazzi!” for the dissemination of contemporary opera repertoire for children, now in its 18th edition. In recent years, he has produced and conducted, among others, Il Vestito nuovo dell’Imperatore by Paolo Furlani, Arcibaldo Sonivari by Mario Pagotto, The little sweep by Benjamin Britten, La Fuggitiva by Lucio Gregoretti, La notte di San Silvestro by Renato Miani, Il Mago di Oz, Il Piccolo Principe, and Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie by Pierangelo Valtinoni, Racconto di Natale by Carlo Galante, and Cenerentola by Cristian Carrara.

    For over thirty years, he has served as musical consultant for the Casa Zanussi Cultural Center of Pordenone, for which he has programmed over 30 editions of the International Festival of Sacred Music and at least 25 chamber music festivals.

    As a pianist and collaborator with internationally renowned singers, he has performed in concerts for prestigious institutions and major festivals throughout Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Argentina, Mexico, and the United States.

    From 2002 to 2010, he was the official pianist at the Concorso Internazionale di Musica Vocale da Camera di Gorizia.

    He has taught piano at several Italian State Conservatories of Music, most recently at the Milan Conservatory.

    Christoph Prégardien

    Christoph Prégardien is considered one of the most important lyric tenors in the world. Particularly acclaimed as a Lieder performer, he opens the 2025/26 season alongside Julius Drake at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg/Hohenems, before performing, among other works, Die schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days by Johannes Maria Staud: an extraordinary project that combines Schubert's cycle in a new orchestrated version with seven new songs based on texts by Emily Dickinson.

    Christoph Prégardien performs regularly with world-renowned orchestras. He has collaborated with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, as well as the Boston and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, alongside conductors of the caliber of Barenboim, Metzmacher, and Thielemann. His vast orchestral repertoire includes the great Baroque, Classical, and Romantic oratorios and passions, as well as works from the 17th and 20th centuries. In the operatic field, he has performed roles such as Tamino, Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Fenton (Falstaff), Don Ottavio, Tito, Ulisse, and Idomeneo.

    His extensive experience as a singer in the roles of the Evangelists, combined with close collaboration with conductors such as Nagano, Chailly, Herreweghe, Harnoncourt, Luisi, and Gardiner, has provided the ideal foundation for his increasing dedication to conducting the works of Bach. Following his successful conducting debut in 2012 leading Le Concert Lorrain and the Nederlands Kammerkoor, he regularly conducts internationally renowned ensembles such as the Balthasar Neumann Choir, the Dresdner Kammerchor, Collegium Vocale Gent, and the RIAS Kammerchor. In the spring of 2024, he conducted Bach's St Matthew Passion with Vespres d’Arnadí and the Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir in Barcelona. In December 2025, he will conduct Bach's Christmas Oratorio on tour with the Belgian ensemble Il Gardellino and the Palau de la Música Catalana chamber choir.

    He has recorded much of his repertoire in a discography of over 150 albums, which have received prestigious awards such as the Orphée d’Or from the Académie du Disque Lyrique, the Edison Award, the Cannes Classical Award, and the Diapason d’Or. For the Challenge Classics label, he recorded Schubert's Schwanengesang with Andreas Staier and Die schöne Müllerin with Michael Gees, the latter selected as Editor's Choice by Gramophone magazine and awarded the MIDEM Record of the Year. Shortly after followed recordings of Hugo Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch with Julia Kleiter, "Between Life and Death", "Wanderer", and the Grammy-nominated Winterreise disc, all with Michael Gees, as well as "Father and Son" with his son Julian Prégardien. His Schubert CD "Poetisches Tagebuch", with Julius Drake, won the German Record Critics' Award in 2016. In 2023, the Etcetera label released an album of Bach cantatas recorded with Stephan Schultz and Le Concert Lorrain, featuring Christoph Prégardien as a baritone.

    Teaching remains an important part of Christoph Prégardien's musical life. After many years at the Zurich University of the Arts and a professorship at the Cologne Academy of Music, he continues to lead masterclasses for young singers worldwide.

    Vivica Genaux

    Acclaimed as one of the most authoritative interpreters of Baroque, bel canto, and Lied repertoire, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux has been honored with awards such as the ARIA, the International Opera Awards, and the International Classical Music Awards, in addition to the Christopher Keene Award from New York City Opera, the Hasse-Preis from the Johann-Adolf-Hasse-Stiftung (in recognition of her commitment to promoting Hasse's music), and the 2017 Händel-Preis from the Stiftung Händel-Haus.

    Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, she has performed not only as a singer but also as a teacher and juror in some of the world's most prestigious theaters, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opernhaus Zürich.

    Since her professional debut as Isabella in Rossini's L’italiana in Algeri at the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, Vivica has garnered public and critical acclaim for her vivid interpretations of a wide operatic and oratorio repertoire, including numerous "en travesti" roles ranging from biblical heroes to legendary warriors. The works of Vivaldi, Handel, and Rossini form the core of her career; her most frequently performed role is Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, the part with which she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1997.

    In recent seasons, she has taken part in high-profile projects, such as the first modern staged performance of Riccardo Broschi's Idaspe (a collaboration between Quantum Theatre and Chatham Baroque) and the concert programs Capriccio: temi e variazioni and Lucifera: Illuminating the Darkness. She has expanded her repertoire with important debuts in works by Francesca Caccini, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vivaldi, and Handel. Her first approach to the works of Verdi, in the role of Giulietta di Kelbar in Un giorno di regno, saw her collaborate once again with Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi.

    Her extensive discography includes complete recordings of operas by Vivaldi, Handel, Hasse, Bertoni, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer, and Verdi. Her recital albums, including Bel Canto Arias, Arias for Farinelli, A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni, and Rival Queens (with Simone Kermes), are among the best-selling and have earned her four GRAMMY® nominations.

    Committed to passing on her experience to new generations, Vivica founded the V/vox Academy, dedicated to training young singers in the fundamental principles of the Baroque and bel canto repertoire. She also serves as a juror at the Cesti Competition in Innsbruck and holds masterclasses at prestigious institutions such as the Associazione Musicale Tito Gobbi and the Fondazione Paolo Grassi.

    The rediscovery of unjustly forgotten music is a pillar of her artistic activity. In September 2025, her commitment to the promotion of Hasse's vocal works was recognized with her appointment as an honorary member of the Hasse Gesellschaft Bergedorf.

    Projects for 2026 include teaching activities, jury participations, and recitals. In April 2026, she has been called to Berlin to reprise the role of Cyrus in Handel's Belshazzar at the Komische Oper Berlin and will return to the Farnese Festival in June for Corselli's oratorio Santa Clotilde.

    Zita Váradi

    Zita Váradi graduated from the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest in 1996, where she studied under Professor Erika Sziklay. Shortly thereafter, she made her debut at the Csokonai Theatre in Debrecen in the role of Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

    During her university studies and frequently thereafter, she won numerous awards in international competitions and festivals, including the C. A. Seghizzi Chamber Singing Competition in Gorizia in 2000, first prize at the Franz Lehár competition in Komárno in 1995, second prize at the Katia Ricciarelli singing competition in Mantua in 1994, the Primadonna award at the Budapest Spring Festival in 2000 for her performance as Madeleine in Paul Abraham's Ball at the Savoy, and the Grand Prix in 2001 for her performance as Adele in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus (where she also received the audience award), the Foto-Art award in 1998, and the Vilmos Rubányi award in 1997 for her work at the Csokonai Theatre.

    Over the last 25 years, she has collaborated with numerous orchestras and conductors in Hungary and abroad, both as a soloist and an opera singer. Her most significant operatic appearances include: Susanna, Norina, Adina, Musetta, Pamina, Michaela, Nedda, Zdenka, Liù, Madame Lidoine, Najád, Frasquita, Marzelline, Zerlina, Clorinda, Lauretta, and the French Princess.

    Since 2001, she has been a soloist at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, which named her Singer of the Year in 2012.

    Since 2022, Zita Váradi has been teaching singing at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.

    Federico Pupo

    Violinist, has performed chamber music, especially in the Baroque repertoire, with leading instrumental ensembles (Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, Concerto Palatino, Clavier Ensemble, Orchestra Barocca di Venezia, Accademia Strumentale Italiana) and for major musical institutions and in prestigious halls and theaters both in Italy and abroad (Radio della Svizzera Italiana, Innsbruck and Regensburg Festivals, Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Settimane Musicali in Ascona, Sala Verdi in Milan, Semperoper in Dresden).

    He cooperated for several years with the Solisti Veneti on the artistic organization of recording productions and concert activities.

    Since its founding in 1986, he has been a member of the Promotion Committee of the International Organ Festival "Città di Treviso e della Marca Trevigiana," an organization that promotes organ literature on historical instruments of the Venetian School, which abounds in the province of Treviso and the entire region.

    From 1995 to 1996, he was Head of Musical Services at the Teatro Comunale di Treviso.

    From December 1995 to the present, he has been Artistic Director of Asolo Musica - Veneto Musica, an association that organizes over 150 musical events throughout the region in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Veneto Region. In particular, he curates the program of the prestigious International Chamber Music Festival "Incontri Asolani," which, now in its thirtieth year, annually hosts the most important and acclaimed chamber music performers.

    In 1997, he served as Head of Programming and Artistic Organization at the Ente Lirico Arena di Verona; the same organization appointed him Artistic Director of the 76th Arena Festival the following year.

    From 2000 to 2018, he was the Organizational Director of Teatri S.p.A., an instrumental company of the Cassamarca Foundation of Treviso, whose activity is focused on the planning and management of cultural initiatives to be held at the facilities entrusted to its management, particularly the Teatro Comunale and the Teatro Eden in Treviso.

    He has held the role of Artistic Director for various opera and musical institutions: from 2005 to 2008 at the Pergolesi Spontini Foundation in Jesi; from 2011 to 2020 at the Antonio Salieri Foundation in Legnago; and from 2017 to 2023, he was Artistic Director of the Concert Season at the Teatro Comunale in Monfalcone.

    Since 2011, he has taught Entertainment Industry at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and has taught Entertainment Organization and Production at the conservatories of Venice, Padua, and Ferrara.

    From 2020 to 2025, he was President of the Settimane Musicali association at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.

    He represents the Veneto Region on the Board of Directors of the Arena di Verona Foundation and as a member of the Board of Directors of Arteven, a regional association for the promotion and dissemination of theater and culture in the Veneto communities.

    In March 2024, the Ministry of Culture appointed him to the National Committee for the Puccini Celebrations.

    Since June 2025, he has been Artistic Director of the Carlo Felice Foundation in Genoa.

    Eddi De Nadai

    Eddi De Nadai, for a long time Solorepetitor and vocal coach at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Staatsoper in Hannover, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Teatro Lirico Sperimentale in Spoleto, and Teatro Sociale in Trento, holds diplomas in piano and harpsichord from the Venice Conservatory of Music. He studied Orchestral Conducting with Romolo Gessi, Donato Renzetti, Lior Shambadal, and Deyan Pavlov.

    A passionate lover and scholar of Lied and vocal chamber music, as a pianist he studied with Erik Werba, Elly Ameling, and Rudolph Jansen.

    Having previously served as guest conductor and Italian repertoire coach at the State Opera in Izmir for several years, since 2009 he has been regularly invited to the Bolshoi Theater in Tashkent as a guest conductor and coach for the Italian opera repertoire. He maintains an intense artistic activity, collaborating with prestigious orchestras (Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Città di Ferrara, Mitteleuropa Orchestra, Radiotelevisione Slovena, Sinfonica di Cordoba, Orpheus Kammerorchester Wien, Filarmonica di Bacau, Filarmonica di Odessa, Kiev String’s Orchestra, Radiotelevisione Albanese, Opera di Belgrado e Lubiana, Astana Opera) and renowned soloists such as Bruno Canino, Rocco Filippini, Enrico Pieranunzi, Luciana D’Intino, and Katia Ricciarelli, conducting a vast symphonic and operatic repertoire both in Italy and abroad. His conducting credits include Nabucco and Aida at Taormina Opera Stars, Madama Butterfly at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Britten's The little sweep at the Teatro Verdi di Pisa, Piccinni's La Cecchina, and Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires at the Teatro Comunale di Treviso. He opened MittelFest 2016 in Cividale with the world premiere of Menocchio by R. Miani. He also conducted the world premiere of Still Requies by Mauro Montalbetti at the Triennale di Milano and the Teatro Grande di Brescia.

    He is also the creator and artistic director of the educational program “All’Opera, ragazzi!” for the dissemination of contemporary opera repertoire for children, now in its 18th edition. In recent years, he has produced and conducted, among others, Il Vestito nuovo dell’Imperatore by Paolo Furlani, Arcibaldo Sonivari by Mario Pagotto, The little sweep by Benjamin Britten, La Fuggitiva by Lucio Gregoretti, La notte di San Silvestro by Renato Miani, Il Mago di Oz, Il Piccolo Principe, and Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie by Pierangelo Valtinoni, Racconto di Natale by Carlo Galante, and Cenerentola by Cristian Carrara.

    For over thirty years, he has served as musical consultant for the Casa Zanussi Cultural Center of Pordenone, for which he has programmed over 30 editions of the International Festival of Sacred Music and at least 25 chamber music festivals.

    As a pianist and collaborator with internationally renowned singers, he has performed in concerts for prestigious institutions and major festivals throughout Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Argentina, Mexico, and the United States.

    From 2002 to 2010, he was the official pianist at the Concorso Internazionale di Musica Vocale da Camera di Gorizia.

    He has taught piano at several Italian State Conservatories of Music, most recently at the Milan Conservatory.