Pianist Benedetto Lupo, the 1989 Bronze Medal winner of the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, continues to dazzle audiences throughout the United States and Europe. Considered a pianist who, “carries great authority and a compelling conviction . . . (he) plays the piano with elegance and achievement (Los Angeles Times).”

Since the Van Cliburn Competition, Lupo returns each season to perform in the United States. He made his New York City recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in December of 1992. He subsequently won the 1992 Biennial Terence Judd International Award, earning his recital debut at London's Wigmore Hall in 1993, as well as performances with the Halle Orchestra. He returned to the Halle in June of 1994 to perform Rachmaninov's Third Concerto, a performance The Manchester Evening News called, “devastatingly brilliant.” Afterward he was immediately reinvited to perform under the baton of Kent Nagano.Last season found Lupo returning as soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, and performing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Waterbury Symphony. His European appearances included the Saarbruchen Radio Orchestra under Michael Stern, the Verdi Orchestra under Peter Maag, and performances with the Teatro Communale di Firenze, Bari Symphony Orchestra, and San Marino Symphony Orchestra. Lupo has also performed in recitals throughout Europe, including an appearance at La Scala.In the U.S. Lupo has been guest soloist with the Fort Worth, Utah, Syracuse, Kansas City, Phoenix, Charlotte, Augusta and Spokane Symphonies, the Louisville Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida, and the Dallas Chamber Orchestra. After his performance in Phoenix of the Schumann A-minor Concerto, the Arizona Republic stated, “Lupo is a deeply introspective artist who, technically and emotionally, is well-equipped to do the concerto full justice. His touch is gentle yet strong when needed. Above all, he feels the work as much as he plays it. . .”In Europe, Lupo has been heard throughout his native Italy with the Teatro Regio Orchestra in Turin, the Santa Cecilia Symphony and the Opera House Symphony in Rome and the RAI Orchestras of Naples, Rome and Milan. Lupo earned critical acclaim after replacing Alexis Weissenberg as soloist with Italy's Genoa Symphony on last-minute notice, playing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. He has appeared with the National Capitole Orchestra of Toulouse; the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, and the Lodz Philharmonic. In South America, he has performed with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro.Lupo has appeared at numerous music festivals including the Festival International de Bordeaux, Villa Medici in Rome, Le Settimane Musicali Internazionali di Stresa, the Aix-en-Provence Festival and at the Chopin Festival in Poland. In April 1997, he played three all-Schubert recitals for the Schubert Festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In 1997-1998, he appeared at the Carinthian Summer Festival in Austria, the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen playing Brahms' Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Aldo Ceccato, and at the closing concerts of Chicago's 1997 Grant Park Music Festival under the baton on Hugh Wolff. As a chamber musician he has played with the Tokyo String Quartet, cellist Franco Maggio Ormezowsky, violinists Uto Ughi and Evgeny Bushkov.Lupo's solo recital performances have taken him to Manchester, Brussels, Paris, Hanover, Madrid, La Fenice Theatre in Venice, the Istanbul Festival, Cleveland, and Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium. Of his appearance at the latter, the Los Angeles Times called Lupo, “a young virtuoso on the brink – of maturity, of major, world-class achievement, of potential widespread acclaim.”Lupo's critically lauded recording of Nino Rota's neo-romantic Concerto Soiree with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana was released in 1992 on the NUOVA ERA label. In the spring of 1999, Lupo and the RSI Orchestra under Peter Maag released a new CD on the ARTS label, consisting of the complete works for piano and orchestra of Robert Schumann, including the first recording on CD of the piano version of Konzertstück, Op. 86.In addition to the Van Cliburn (for which he was consequently featured on the Emmy Award-winning television documentary Here to Make Music: The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the seven-part television series Encore! The Final Round Performances of the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which continues to be aired nationally on PBS) and the Terence Judd Awards, Lupo has won many competitions and awards, including First Prize at the 1980 Alfred Cortot International Piano Competition in Milan. He won Second Prize at the 1985 Robert Casadesus Competition in Cleveland, and Third Prize at the 1986 Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in Salt Lake City. He has recently been invited to become a member of the juries of both of these competitions.Lupo lives in Acquaviva delle fonti, an Adriatic town near Bari, Italy. He teaches at the Piccinni Conservatory in Bari and gives masterclasses worldwide.