Roberto Maddalena

Roberto Maddalena was born in Milan, Italy. He graduated in piano at the Conservatory "San Pietro a Majella" of Naples. After his graduation, he continued to improve his mastery, studying under Maestro Boris Bekhterev. He attended masterclasses at Accademia Chigiana of Siena, Mozarteum of Salzburg, F. Liszt Hochschule of Weimar, and Bern Conservatory, working with J. Achucarro, L. Berman, B. Canino, S. Perticaroli, and T. Vasary.

Roberto was awarded prizes in several piano competitions in Italy and began performing in solo and chamber music concerts in major Italian cities such as Rome, Naples, Palermo, Bologna, and Verona. At the meantime, he also completed the degree of composition at the Conservatory of Potenza under the guidance of Maestro B. Mazzotta. Later, he perfected his compositional skills with G. Manzoni, obtaining the diploma of Accademia Musicale Pescarese. Some of his works have been performed in Italy and Portugal, as well as published by Pagano Edition.

In 1997, Roberto moved to Portugal, where he taught piano and composition at Ponta Delgada Conservatory. Three years later, he joined the faculty of Leiria Conservatory, where he was professor of piano and accompaniment for more than one decade.

In his continuous quest for new pedagogic horizons, Roberto obtained the Instrumental Music Mastership Certification from The Gordon Institute for Music Learning in University of Texas, Arlington, USA, in 2004. With Canadian pianist, Jennifer Yu, Roberto co-taught piano workshops at Escola de Música do Orfeão de Leiria in Portugal during the summers of 2009, 2010, and 2011. In Septembre, 2012, Roberto and Jennifer gave a piano masterclass for teachers and students at Academia de Musica da Graça in Lisbon, Portugal.

In August, 2011, Roberto moved to Canada. With his professional and life partner, Jennifer Yu, he founded Suono Music Studio in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Roberto’s pedagogic collaboration with Jennifer has taken them to conducting masterclass, poster presentation, and pedagogic workshop in educational institutions across Canada, Portugal, and USA. In Octobre, 2012, Roberto became the composition consultant at Children's Piano Pedgagoy Program, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, where he continues to teach musicianship, improvisation, and composition classes to young pianists to this day.

In addition to his pedagogic activities, Roberto also leads an active chamber music and solo piano career, performing in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland.