Roberta Pili was born in

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

as the first child of a musical family. Her father gave her first piano lesson at age five. At age eight, she was awarded first prize at national youth piano competitions in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. She continued her musical education at the Conservatorio G.P. da Palestrina at her hometown and completed her studies with the highest degree and honours. Masterclasses at the renowned Accademia Musicale Chigiana in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

led her to further piano studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. She was influenced by the Welsch

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and pianist Dafydd Llywelyn in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. He was her most important mentoring figure regarding her musical and pianistic development. He introduced her to the piano tradition of polyphonic playing of the old masters, for example, Shura Cherkassky. 2009 she performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

the last five piano sonatas by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

in a single concert evening. This event was realized in cooperation with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation founded by

Evelyn Lauder Evelyn Lauder (née Hausner; August 12, 1936 – November 12, 2011) was an Austrian American businesswoman, socialite and philanthropist who has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon as a symbol for awareness of ...

. In 2011 she performed the same concert programme in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

at Sogakudo Concert Hall, starting a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

concert tour. Also, in 2011 she gave a guest performance at Lisztfestival Raiding presenting a high philosophical and dramaturgic concert programme titled '' Totentanz''. In the same year she was also invited for a guest performance with the ''Concerto en Ré'' by

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...

at Vienna State Opera for the premiere of the ballet school of the venue. She is the founder and president of The Charles-Valentin Alkan Society of Vienna – Institute for polyphonic piano playing and sound aesthetics. Roberta Pili lives in Vienna.

Awards

* International Piano Competition "Alessandro Casagrande"

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

: 2nd prize (1st prize not awarded) and the special award "M.Ravel" (1988) * ''Elena-Rombro-Stepanow'' Piano Competition of the Musikhochschule Wien: 1st prize (1988) * ''L.Bösendorfer'' Piano Competition in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

: 1st prize (1991) * International Mozart Competition

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

: 2nd prize (1995) * Premio Navicella Sardegna in

Castelsardo Castelsardo ( sdc, Castheddu; sc, Casteddu Sardu) is a town and ''comune'' in Sardinia, Italy, located in the northwest of the island within the Province of Sassari, at the east end of the Gulf of Asinara. History Archaeological excavations have ...

: The most renowned award for outstanding personalities from Sardinia who have distinguished themselves at international level (2010).Premio Navicella Sardegna
- Award to Roberta Pili 2010

Discography

* Album ''Mirrors'' released on her own record label RPPR Roberta Pili Piano Records® - (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pili, Roberta Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Italian classical pianists People from Cagliari University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Italian women pianists 21st-century women pianists