Rodolfo Leone
“a true sound philosopher”
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Recent performances with James Conlon and LA Opera, and debuts with the San Diego Symphony & Michael Francis, Stockton Symphony & Peter Jaffe, Pasadena Symphony & David Lockington, and Palm Beach Symphony & Gerard Schwarz. Rodolfo has performed chamber music with Lynn Harrel, Fabio Bidini, Andrew Schulmann, the Viano String Quartet. Recent recitals include those in Los Angeles, Newport, and Sanibel, Florida; for Festival Napa Valley, Soka Performing Arts Center, and Music at Dumbarton Oaks.
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Rodolfo's sophomore album is "a brilliant musical portrait of Clementi" (Pizzicato) with the American Record Guide proclaiming "Leone is not afraid to display his technical prowess. The Toccata is a wild romp that will keep the listener (and performer) on the edge of the seat. Worth acquiring…"
Described as a “true sound philosopher” (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten), the brilliant Italian-born pianist Rodolfo Leone, whose career was formerly supported by the Amron-Sutherland Fund for Young Pianists at the Colburn School, was the first-prize winner of the 2017 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. Rodolfo released his debut album on the Austrian label Gramola in May 2018 and “Piano Jewels” featuring works of Muzio Clementi on Naxos in January 2022.
Rodolfo’s recent seasons include a collaboration with James Conlon and LA Opera and debuts with North Carolina Symphony (Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1) conducted by Michelle Di Russo, San Diego Symphony (Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1) conducted by Michael Francis, Bozeman Symphony (Ravel’s PIano Concerto in G major) conducted by Norman Huynh, Pasadena Symphony (Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21) with conductor David Lockington, and Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”) with Sascha Goetzel; he also performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Walt Disney Hall under the baton of Xian Zhang.
Recent recital appearances include Kent Blossom Music Festival and Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series with flutist Demarre McGill, Music at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth in TX, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In May 2019, he gave a recital tour in Austria, culminating in a performance in Vienna at the Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein. He also performed recitals in Los Angeles and Naples, Florida, and appeared on the chamber music series Le Salon de Musiques in Los Angeles. As a 2018-19 Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, Rodolfo’s live recordings were broadcast nationally throughout the United States.
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A native of Turin, Italy, Rodolfo made his orchestral debut in 2013 performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento (Italy). He toured Italy with that orchestra the following year performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Rodolfo made his North American debut in 2014 performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Toronto Concert Orchestra. Since then, he has performed with, among others, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra with Stéphane Denève and the Colburn Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall; and recitals at Festival Napa Valley and the Soka Performing Arts Center. He has also performed chamber music with Lynn Harrell, Fabio Bidini, SooBeen Lee, Clive Greensmith, and the Viano String Quartet.
Rodolfo has performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, and China. These performances include debuts in venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Steinway Hall in London, the Music Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Politeama Theatre in Palermo, the Mozart Concert Hall of Accademia Filarmonica and Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova in Italy, and the BASF Gesellschaftshaus in Germany. A top-prize winner of several major piano competitions, Rodolfo was awarded top prizes at the 2014 Toronto International Piano Competition and the 2013 Busoni International Piano Competition. Pianist magazine described his concerto performance during the 2017 International Beethoven Piano Competition as a “communion with the orchestra” that “was raptly convincing… robust and joyful.”
In addition to performing, Rodolfo has a very active teaching studio and is on the Piano Faculty at the Colburn Music Academy, one of the preeminent pre-collegiate schools in the country. He is also highly sought after for masterclass and summer festival educational opportunities throughout the United States.
Rodolfo is currently based in Los Angeles where he previously studied at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. He holds both a Master of Music degree and an Artist Diploma from Colburn, where he studied with Fabio Bidini. He previously studied at the Hans Eisler School of Music in Berlin, Germany and at the G. Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, Italy.
For more information visit www.rodolfoleone.com
July 2025 – Please do not edit without permission.
Videos
Programs & Repertoire
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Johann Sebastian Bach:
Italian Concerto, BWV 971Johannes Brahms:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83Ludwig van Beethoven:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 “Emperor”
Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56Frédéric Chopin:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21Franz Liszt:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, S 124
Totentanz: Paraphrase on Dies irae, S.126George Gershwin:
Rhapsody in BlueWolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414
Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488Sergei Prokofiev:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26Sergei Rachmaninoff
Paganini Rhapsody
Piano Concerto No. 1 in F# minor, Op. 1
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43Maurice Ravel
Piano Concerto in G majorCamille Saint-Saëns:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22Dimitri Shostakovich:
Concerto No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra, Op. 35Pyotr Tchaikovsky:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 -
2023-2024
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
Frédéric Chopin: Polonaise-Fantasy Op. 61 in A-flat major
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Claude Debussy: Images, Books 1 and 2
Igor Stravinsky: Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka