FOUR FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE XIV EDITION OF THE GUIDO CANTELLI INTERNATIONAL CONDUCTING COMPETITION

Giovanni Fanizza (Italy), Feifan Jiang (China), Yuta Kobayashi (Japan) and Mauro Mariani (Italy) are the four finalists of the XIV edition of the “Guido Cantelli” International Conducting Competition. Having advanced through the preliminary rounds and semi-finals in Milan, the four young conductors will compete in the final round on Sunday, 4 October at 6:00 pm at the Teatro Coccia in Novara. The final will take place in the form of a concert open to the public.

For the final, each of the four candidates will conduct a different programme with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano. Giovanni Fanizza will conduct the Overture from Norma by Vincenzo Bellini and 4 città invisibili by Andrei Octavian Popescu, the winning work of the 2026 Call for Composers launched as part of the Premio Cantelli. Yuta Kobayashi will conduct Don Juan, tone poem for large orchestra, Op. 20 by Richard Strauss. Mauro Mariani will conduct the first and second movements of Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World, Op. 95 by Antonín Dvořák, while Feifan Jiang will conduct the third and fourth movements of the same symphony.

The First Prize is €12,000, the Second Prize €8,000 and the Third Prize €5,000. The four finalists were selected by a distinguished Jury chaired by Donato Renzetti and comprising representatives of leading international music institutions: Didier de Cottignies (Artistic Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo), Patrick Fournillier (Music Director of the Polish National Opera – Teatr Wielki in Warsaw), Riccardo Frizza (Artistic Consultant of the Premio Cantelli, Music Director and Artistic Director of Donizetti Opera in Bergamo, and Honorary Conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir), Roanna Gibson (Concerts & Planning Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra), Cristina Rocca (Vice President, Artistic Planning, Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Corrado Rovaris (Music Director of Opera Philadelphia) and Ryuichiro Sonoda (Artistic Director of Fujisawa City Opera and Principal Conductor of Pacific Philharmonia Tokyo). At the end of the final concert on Sunday, 4 October, a total of nine awards will be presented. In addition to the First, Second and Third Prizes, one award each will be presented by the Critics’ Jury, the Management and Agencies Jury, the City of Novara Jury, the Teatro Coccia Friends’ Jury and the Youth Jury – Empathy. The Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano will also select the candidate it considers most deserving.

Main Sponsor of the XIV edition of the Premio Cantelli is Intesa Sanpaolo.

Tickets for the final concert https://www.fondazioneteatrococcia.it/stagione-26-concerto-finale-cantelli.html