Meet salvatore moltisanti | pianist and artistic director

We had the good fortune of connecting with salvatore moltisanti and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi salvatore, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
i myself am a musician.. a classical pianist. as a young man i was introverted and afraid of public performances. i found very helpful for my professional growth the experience of performing through several music competitions. they offered me the opportunity to focus on a specific repertoire the months prior to the competition itself and test my memory during the performance in front of a jury panel and assess my talent and expertise in relation to other professionals. this being said, i decide to establish a competition of my own that would offer an intense experience along the lines that had been helpful to me in addition to offering the opportunity to choose one’s own free music program that would reflect the musical interest and passion of each individual musician.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In over 30 years, more than 8,600 musicians from all corners of the earth have performed in the piazzas, theaters, churches and palazzi of Ragusa-Ibla, Sicily. The entirety of this beautiful Sicilian enclave, known for its baroque architecture and ancient monuments, is currently designated as one of the largest UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These musicians, together with their friends and family, a group of more than 27,000 visitors over the years, spend days immersing themselves in the culture of Ragusa-Ibla. Young, bright, intelligent and curious, these young musicians maintain a rigorous practice and performance schedule. As a result, the streets of Ragusa-Ibla come alive with music. The IBLA Foundation has presented over 850 IBLA GRAND PRIZE Winners in first tier venues such as Carnegie Weill Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, KIOI Hall and Tokyo Opera City Hall in Japan, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, as well as at prestigious universities in the USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Georgia and Europe. In over three decades we have engaged in very successful outreach programs, enriching the lives of over 26,000 students in Arkansas, Virginia, Tennessee and Mississippi, while allowing our musicians to experience the heartland of America as well as its most important cultural centers. IBLA Winners have been presented on major television programs like the American Pulitzer Prize winner Martin Bernheimer’s series “Living Young Artists” series for MSNBC and “The Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS. Samarcanda Films has produced the documentary “IBLA, le chiavi dell’anima”, portraying the international activities of the IBLA Foundation; it has been honored with the ‘Best International Documentary Award’ at the Alter do Chao Film Festival in Brazil.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If we were in Sicily…I would share with my best friend a visit through the Greek Temples of Agrigento. If we were in New York City .. i would share with my best friend an evening at the Metropolitan Opera House with dinner experience during the intermissions.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The IBLA Foundation benefits entirely from the generosity of our family of hardworking volunteers, musicians, artists, doctors, lawyers, professionals in various fields of expertise, who do not hesitate to offer their support and advice to promote the success of our activities. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all of you who nurture the careers of young artists, thus ensuring a future enriched with dedication, discipline, hard work and the joys of beautiful music.

Website: ibla.org

Instagram: ibla.grand.prize

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IblaGrandPrize

Youtube: IBLA GRAND PRIZE

Image Credits
Maurizio Frazzetto Michael Yasenak