Penultimate Day of ClaviCologne 2026 Sees Students Engage in Workshops, Masterclasses, and Professional Seminars
The 2026 ClaviCologne International Piano Festival reached its penultimate day in Pescara on Friday 7th August, with the festival presenting a packed programme of masterclasses, performances, and special activities for participants in Italy.
Taking place at the Conservatory of Music “Luisa D’Annunzio”, the day saw a series of classes led by a highly distinguished group of professors, including Michel Béroff (France), Milana Chernyavska (Germany/Ukraine), Pietro De Maria (Italy), Pavel Gililov (Austria), Giuliano Mazzoccante (Italy), Grigory Gruzman (Germany), Stepan Simonian (Germany), Stefan Vladar (Austria), and Hisako Kawamura (Japan).
Speaking about his work with the students, Gililov reflected on the special value of the exchange between teacher and participant. “I like to meet new people, to be together with young people, and I’m very happy to help them,” he said. “I think that it’s a kind of exchange between us. It’s not only from teacher to student. Students sometimes also have interesting ideas, and I learn something new.” He also praised the standard of this year’s edition, adding that “the level this year was very good,” with “many very international students” taking part.
The festival’s Lunchtime Concert Series also continued, giving participants another invaluable opportunity to perform in front of their peers and professors, with the fourth-day concert featuring performances by Adam Gauci Davison, Ayana Yoshikawa, Kateryna Pyshniuk, Mario Fernández Rey, and Darius Emanuel Mot.
Moreover, students also took part in two special events designed to support their development as complete artists. The day began with a Sunrise Beach Workshop at Spiaggia Libera, that offered participants a moment to reconnect with their bodies and minds in a picturesque seaside setting. Then, later in the day, the students attended the second of two professional workshops with Maestro Alan Chircop, this time entitled Practice & Performing: A Way of Living. This seminar encouraged students to think more deeply about the relationship between daily work, artistic discipline, performance preparation, and the wider lifestyle of a professional musician.
“The idea behind this workshop is to help young musicians understand that practice is not something separate from performance, or even from daily life”, Chircop said. “It is part of a wider artistic discipline that involves focus, patience, awareness, and self-knowledge. At ClaviCologne, the students are already working at a very high level, so this workshop was about encouraging them to look beyond technical preparation and reflect on how they can grow as complete musicians, both on stage and away from the instrument.”
For student Melania Bobrowska, the festival has been valuable on both an artistic and personal level. “For me, the most valuable thing I have learned from these masterclasses is to look for the artistic interpretation, look inside myself and my soul, and try to find the best interpretation, which includes the advice from the composers, what is in the notes, and also my personality”, she remarked. “I think that was the most valuable thing for me. I practice a lot every day, and here I understood that time to relax and to get rest is also really important. It is not always necessary to practice for the whole day, and sometimes I can spend, for example, two hours and it will be more useful and helpful than spending six hours.”
With just one more day left of ClaviCologne 2026, students and professors alike are now looking forward to closing this wonderful experience on a memorable note, cementing what has become a truly unforgettable week of music and learning that has seen so many young pianists taking the next step forward in their respective artistic journeys.
For all the latest details about the 2026 ClaviCologne International Piano Festival, visit the festival’s website at clavicologne.com.
