Francesco Granata

Francesco Granata, born in 1998, is an Italian pianist.  

Highly active both in solo and chamber music settings, his collaborations include Trio Eclipse, an ensemble based in Basel that he joined in 2024 and Wendel Quartet, of which he is a founding member. Additionally, he frequently performs duo recitals with various musical partners.

Winner of numerous piano competitions, he resulted First Prize at the “Premio Venezia” in 2017, which led to many solo recitals across Italy and abroad. Subsequently, he was a Laureate at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition (2021), won Second Prize at the Rahn Musikpreis (2024), was a Finalist at the Montreal International Piano Competition (2021), and reached the final stages of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2022). Since then, Francesco has performed in solo recitals and chamber music ensembles in Italy, the United States, Switzerland, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, and India, giving concerts in renowned venues such as KKL in Lucerne, the Experimental Theatre of the NCPA in Mumbai, the Opera House in Bordeaux, the Musical Arts Center in Bloomington (USA), the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, among others.

At the age of 13, Francesco made his debut as a soloist with orchestra and has since performed with the Luzern Sinfonieorchester, the Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice, I Pomeriggi Musicali, IU Philarmonic Orchestra, among others, working with conductors such as Tung-Chieh Chuang, Jonathan Webb, Arthur Fagen, Amedeo Monetti, Cosimo Bombardieri, Stefano Ligoratti, and Michele Spotti.

In 2018, the magazine “Suonare News” released his first CD, featuring a repertoire ranging from Mozart to Debussy. In 2015, he recorded a DVD for Limenmusic studios of Lachner's version for piano and string quintet of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto. In 2023, Italian magazine “Amadeus” published a CD featuring Martucci's Trios recorded with the “DaVinci Ensemble.”

He has attended various masterclasses with Pavel Gililov, Robert Levin, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alberto Nosè, Giovanni Bellucci, Scott McBride Smith, Malcolm Bilson, Rolf Plagge, and Andrea Lucchesini. In 2023, he was selected by Maria João Pires to participate in one of her “Partitura Project” workshops.

Francesco graduated at 17 from “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan with top marks and special mention. In 2019, he completed the MasterCourse Diploma at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome under the guidance of Benedetto Lupo, and in 2023, he obtained the Artist Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA), studying with Roberto Plano. He currently resides in Basel, where he is pursuing his second  Master in Music Pedagogy at the Musik Akademie, after having earned the Master in Performance (with a minor in Jazz) at the same school in June 2025, under the guidance of Claudio Martínez Mehner.