Competitors in alphabetical order
Francesco Botti (Italy)
Francesco Botti has recently completed, maxima cum laude, his master’s degree in organ at the Conservatory of Verona with Massimiliano Raschietti. He is currently taking a master’s degree in harpsichord at the Conservatory of Verona with Marco Vincenzi, and a bachelor’s degree in Musicology at the University of Pavia. In 2021, he completed, also maxima cum laude, a bachelor’s degree in organ at the Conservatory of Brescia with Giorgio Benati and Giorgio Parolini.
Ilaria Centorrino (Italy)
Ilaria Centorrino was born in Messina. She graduated in organ with magna cum laude at the ‘S. Giacomantonio’ Music Conservatory of Cosenza with professor Emanuele Cardi. In 2022 she carried out a traineeship at the ‘University of Kansas’ (U.S.) with James Higdon and Olivier Latry.
Ilaria has performed organ concerts in Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, England, France, Germany, Sweden and Turkey. Among the most important prizes she earned, are the 1st prize at the 8th Concours International ‘Pierre de Manchicourt’ in Saint-Omer, the 3rd prize at the Miami International Organ Competition, and the 3rd prize at the 7th Sweelinck International Organ Competition in Amsterdam.
Samuel Giddy (Australia)
Sydney-based organist Samuel Giddy enjoys a varied career as a recitalist, liturgical organist and educator. From 2016 – 2019 he gained a bachelor of music from Sydney Conservatorium, studying organ with Philip Swanton and graduating with first-class honours and the Frank Hutchens Student of the Year Award.
As a recitalist, Samuel has performed at major venues including Brisbane City Hall, Sydney Town Hall, and in the UK the Cathedrals of Chester, Guildford and Blackburn and St George’s Hanover Square (London). He was a two-time winner of the Sydney Organ Competition (2018 & 2022), finalist in the Silbermann Competition (Freiberg, 2019), and semi-finalist in the International Organ Competition of Korea (Seoul, 2023).
Himawari Honda (Japan)
Himawari Honda is a student at the Conservatory of Strasbourg, France, where she is now studying historical keyboards with Benjamin-Joseph Steens and Aline Zylberajch. She began her organ studies at Tokyo University of the Arts (Japan) which is where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in organ performance. From 2019 to 2022 she studied organ performance at the Conservatory of Strasbourg with Johann Vexo. Her teachers also include Francis Jacob, Martin Gester and Daniel Maurer.
Wibren Jonkers (Netherlands)
Wibren Jonkers is a concert organist, church musicia, and music teacher. He studies organ at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Pieter van Dijk and Matthias Havinga, and follows lessons basso continuo and improvisation with Miklós Spányi, harpsichord and clavichord with Menno van Delft and piano with Jaap Kooi. At Codarts Rotterdam he studied church music. In addition to his musical activities he is also a student of theology at the Theological University of Apeldoorn.
Frederik Kranemann (Germany)
Frederik Kranemann studied organ, harpsichord and music theory in Freiburg and Basel. His teachers were Martin Schmeding, Wolfgang Zerer, Tobias Lindner, Robert Hill and Ludwig Holtmeier. In 2012 he was awarded the prestigious Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.
He participated in several international organ competitions: he was a finalist at the organ competition ‘Prix-Joseph-Bossard’ 2012 in Bellelay, Switzerland, de International Organ Competition 2015 in Breda (Netherlands), the Organ Competition of Basso Friuli 2018 (Italy) and the Buxtehude-Competition 2022 in Hamburg/Lübeck (Germany).
Kamilla Lévai (Hungary)
Kamilla Lévai was born in Győr, Hungary. At the age of 19 she commenced her music studies with harpsichord at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Miklós Spányi, gaining her bachelor’s degree in 2021. While studying harpsichord Kamilla also took organ lessons with Attila Vadász, who helped her to audition for the Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland. There she studied organ under the guidance of professor Marcin Szelest, gaining her master’s degree in 2023. She is currently studying at the Academy of Music in Łódź, Poland, with Professor Krzysztof Urbaniak.
Luca Maresca (Italy)
Luca Maresca began his music studies in Lugano where he studied piano with Mauro Harsch at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana; this is also where he started his organ studies with Stefano Molardi. Currently Luca is in his second year of a master in organ performance, while also continuing his piano studies with Galina Vracheva.
Luca attended masterclasses with musicians like Paolo Vergari, Anna Kravtchenko, Stefano Molardi, Maurizio Croci and Wolfgang Zerer.
Giulia Ricci (Italy)
Giulia Ricci studied harpsichord, organ and piano in Pesaro and Florence (piano with Giovanni Valentini and Andrea Lucchesini, harpsichord with Maria Luisa Baldassari and Alfonso Fedi, organ with Giovanni Clavorà Braulin). She continued her studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, in 2021, receiving a master’s degree, with distinction, in organ and harpsichord, studying with Andrea Marcon, Tobias Lindner and Jörg-Andreas Bötticher.
In 2023 she completed further studies in Basel in organ, harpsichord and also fortepiano (with Edoardo Torbianelli), receiving an award for her outstanding final recital.
Riccardo Ricci (Italy)
Riccardo Ricci, an Italian-born organist, discovered his musical passion early, initially through piano and violin. His pivotal encounter with the organ occurred with the boys’ choir at Fermo Cathedral, leading him to study with Alessandro Buffone and Roberto Marini in Rome. Throughout his years in grammar school, he attended courses with renowned organists like Jean Guillou, Ben Van Oosten, Ludger Lohmann, and Michel Bouvard.
Adriano Spampanato (USA)
The French-Italian-American musician Adriano Spampanato is a graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist program with the Washington National Opera. He has performed all over Europe, Canada, Russia, Japan, and India, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, The Kennedy Center and the Paris Philharmonic.
Adriano studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in piano, organ, choreographic accompanying and musicology, as well as a master’s degree with academic honors in collaborative piano. In 2019, he won the Special prize of the Art-Assembly and Tavricheskaya Chapel, for the best rendition of baroque music at the Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition. His collaboration with soprano Axelle Fanyo earned them the Grand Prix Prince Rainier III of Monaco at Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Voice-Piano duet competition.
Mitsune Uchida (Japan)
Mitsune Uchida received his musical education at Tokyo University of the Arts. From 2019 to 2021, he studied for his organ master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with a DAAD scholarship, under the guidance of Professor Bernhard Haas.
He won prizes at the 14th Gottfried Silbermann Organ Competition and the 24th International Organ Competition for the Wiesbaden Bach-Prize and he also received both the Ataka Award and AKANTHAS Music Award. In Tokyo, he was nominated to play in the Graduate Concert of the Japanese Organist Society.
