27-year old José Valente awarded 1st prize

27-year old José Valente was awarded 1st prize of the 41st PiF Castelfidardo competition in Italy. The PiF Castelfidardo is considered one of the most important competitions for solo accordion, and consists of 3 rounds finishing with the final round as soloist with orchestra. This year a concerto by the Italian composer Fabrizio de Rossi Re was premiered.

In addition to José Valente, the two RDAM ensembles won 1st and 2nd prize: MiScha Duo won 1st prize in the category "chamber music with additional instruments", and the íTrio won 2nd prize in the category "chamber music for accordions".

The competition takes place in a large scale festival, with participants from all over the world. Accordion students from The Royal Danish Academy of Music performed as well as last year's winner Hanzhi Wang who played a solo concerto. Both José Valente and Hanzhi Wang are studying under Professor Geir Draugsvoll.

Read more about PiF Castelfidardo 2016