“Sara Costa perfectly serves the sweet as well as the more agile passages and convinces with wonderfully pensive and subtly shaded music.”
Remy Franck – Pizzicato magazine
With flair and passion, italian pianist Sara Costa walks on international stages, playing as soloist and chamber musician.
She brings with her the Italian piano school combined with Russian piano tradition of Heinrich Neuhaus.
Her first solo album “Correspondences” edited by Da Vinci Classics, is winner of Silver Medal at Global Music Awards and has received many enthusiastic reviews from Pizzicato Magazine (review by Remy Franck) and Musica (4 Stars and review by Piero Rattalino).
She has also received appreciations in specialized magazines such as Pizzicato Magazine and MusicWeb International.
It was also presented by Luca Ciammarughi in the “Classicomania” program on Radio Classica.
Her vast repertoire spans from Bach to Kurtag, with a particular predilection for Romantic and Twentieth century repertoire.
In Italy she’s a regular guest artists in the main Festivals and Concert Institutions of the country. She performed in Rome for “I Concerti del Quirinale” live on Radio3 and at Auditorium Parco della Musica, in Sala Puccini (Milan) for “Società dei Concerti”, at Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, at Teatro Donizetti and Sala Piatti in Bergamo, just to name a few.
Abroad, Sara has performed in Europe, China, Japan and Israel. Among the others, in Europe Sara has played at Royal Albert Hall and Saint Martin-in-the-fields in London, at Hr Sendesaal in Frankfurt, at Grunewaldsalen in Stockolm, at Huqyaldy Festival (Czech Republic), at Zagreb Concert Hall (Croatia), at Ptuj Festival (Slovenia). Outside Europe, recent highlights include China (Beijing National Library Arts Centre, Tianjin Grand Theatre, Chengdu Concert Hall, Yangzhou Grand Theatre and Harbin Concert Hall), Japan (Phoenix Hall and Opus Hall in Osaka) and Israel (Eilat Festival).
As a soloist, she’s worked with Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, Roma Tre Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica of Chioggia, Orchestra “Il Clavicembalo Verde”, “Musica Festival Donizetti” Orchestra in Bergamo, with italian conductors such as Stefano Ligoratti, Pietro Perini, Giovanni Pelliccia and Paolo Belloli.
Sara’s charismatic musicianship and devotion for chamber music has created numerous human and artistic collaborations across the globe with artists such as Pavel Vernikov, Igor Volochine, Alexander Zemtsov, soloits of the prestigious Berliner Philarmoniker, and in Italy with violinist Christian Saccon.
Her predilection for chamber music led Sara to found a stable piano duo with the pianist Fabiano Casanova.
The duo has achieved numerous awards in a short time: in 2019 they obtained a II level Master in Piano and Chamber Music with full marks and honors at the “C. Pollini” Conservatory of Padua.
In September 2019 their first four hands album, “Russian Music for piano four hands”, was released for Da Vinci Classics and dedicated to Russian music. The recording won the prestigious Golden Music Award in California in the categories of “Best album” and “Best duo”.
Some chamber music collaborations have given rise to important recording projects: in 2011 a duo album with violinist Christian Saccon was released for Wide Classique label and in June 2018 a CD dedicated to Carl Nielsen with violinist Germana Porcu for Da Vinci Classics , reviewed with 4 stars by Musica magazine.
From 2016 to 2018 Sara was the pianist of the Trio Carducci, winner of the Virtuoso Grand Prize in London and with whom she recorded an album dedicated to the Trios by A. Arensky, published in December 2018 for Brilliant Classics.
In the field of contemporary music, some works have been dedicated to Sara. In 2015 she premiered the third book of “Près” for piano by composer Stefano Gervasoni, a collection that includes a piece dedicated to her. In 2009 he performed in front of the famous Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin his First Piano Sonata.
Born in Bergamo in 1984, Sara began studying the piano at the age of 8 under the guidance of her father and grew up in a family of music lovers.
Her training has benefited from the best international piano schools.
After graduating with full marks and honors at the “G. Donizetti” Conservatory of Bergamo as a pupil of Maria Grazia Bellocchio, from 2007 she moved to the Russian piano school following the teachings of the pianist and teacher Konstantin Bogino at the Accademia Santa Cecilia of Bergamo.
In 2011 he obtained the Master Degree in Chamber Music with full marks and mention at the Piano Academy “Incontri col maestro” in Imola, in the class of the Tchaikovsky Trio.
Sara has also been selected to participate in many prestigious masterclasses at important institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris with Norma Fisher, Martin Roscoe, Sergei Dorensky, Vasilly Lobanov, Pavel Gililov, Mats Widlund, Alexei Kornienko, Marian Rybicki and Andrzej Jasinski.
She is the winner of numerous awards: Mayr Prize, Edoardo Gavasso Prize, First Prize at the International Piano Forum in Chioggia, Third Prize at the Open Piano Competition in London (2013). He has also received scholarships from the Perosi Academy of Biella (2008) and from the Royal Academy of London (2011).
Her concerts are often broadcast by Italian radio stations such as Rai, Classic Radio and Vatican Radio.
Sara’s interest in synaesthetic experiences in music led her to create an association with other friends and fellow musicians, with the aim of promoting music and projects of contamination between the arts.
The Cluster Association also aims to promote young talents, giving them the opportunity to perform in concert. Together with her partner Fabiano Casanova, she is the artistic director of the concert season “Il Castello Armonico”, which takes place in prestigious historic homes in Bergamo area.
Believing in the healing power of music, she has often performed in hospitals, retirement homes and prisons for the Soldano Association of Brescia and, more recently, for Donors of Music.
Sara is also a passionate and appreciated teacher and Piano Professor.
She has taught at different Conservatories in Italy: “G.Donizetti” Conservatory in Bergamo, “L. Perosi” Conservatory in Campobasso.
“U. Giordano” Conservatory in Foggia, “J.Tomadini” Conservatory in Udine.
She currently teaches Piano at the “Luca Marenzio” Conservatory in Brescia – Darfo Boario Terme section.
Her love for sharing emotions and music experience have established Sara among the finest and versatile italian concert pianists of new generation.