Pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi has been in love with classical music for most of his life.
“I started when I was four,” Pompa-Baldi said. “I saw a pianist play somewhere and after that came home and banged out music on the table, then a toy piano, until my parents decided to take me to a teacher to study it formally.”
The 26-year-old Van Cliburn silver co-medalist joins the Eugene Symphony today for an 8 p.m. performance featuring Prokokiev’s Third Concerto at the Hult Center. He said he chose the concerto for its density and passion, both characteristics of his performance style through 22 years of playing the piano.
His endeavors led him to formal competitions, including the Van Cliburn contest in June 2001 in Fort Worth, Texas. Performers tied for both the gold and the silver medals for the first time in the history of the competition. Pompa-Baldi came away with one of the silver medals and a concert tour for two years, which brings him to the Willamette Valley this week.
On Monday night at the LaSells Stewart Center in Corvallis, he caressed the piano while playing and leaned forward to peer into its interior as if drawing the music out toward him during the 90-minute recital. He said he chose Mozart, Chopin, Liebermann, Poulenc and Rachmaninoff for his Monday performance for the variety of styles.
“They are completely different from each other,” Pompa-Baldi said. “I like to have music I can plunge into.”
He also plunged into life in a new country by moving to the United States in 2000. The move was precipitated by his tour as the winner of the 1999 Cleveland Competition.
“In six months, I crossed the Atlantic Ocean 18 times. That’s when I decided it was time to make the move,” he said.
Pompa-Baldi relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, from his native city of Naples, Italy. He learned to speak English, began teaching at Cuyahoga Community College and took a position on the board of the Oberlin Conservatory. He said the adjustment to a different culture has not been a problem.
“I like it here. I don’t miss Italy as a country, but I do miss my family who are still located there,” he said.
The Van Cliburn competition will be his last one as Pompa-Baldi has decided to pursue his career as a concert pianist at a professional level.
“I don’t want to compete anymore,” he said. “It’s mainly to get your career started and this has done that for me.”
Pompa-Baldi said even though he has done well in such events, he dislikes that musicians end up rated by such competitions.
“I don’t feel artists should be ranked,” he said. “We all love music, and it should be reflected individually, not through being compared to others.”
At tonight’s Eugene concert, Pompa-Baldi will pair with Conductor Marc Taddei and New Zealand composer Gareth Farr. Tickets for University students cost $10.