Giuseppe Devastato
Jury Member & Masterclass Professor
Pianist • Composer • Professor
Giuseppe Devastato, born in Naples, is an internationally acclaimed pianist and composer, recognised by critics as one of the most compelling and expressive artists of his generation. Educated in Italy under Carlo Alessandro Lapegna (piano) and Giacomo Vitale (composition), his artistry was further shaped by renowned pianists such as Laura De Fusco, Francesco Nicolosi and Aldo Ciccolini.
He has appeared in many of the world’s major venues and festivals across Europe, America and Asia, including Teatru Manoel (Malta), Carnegie Hall New York, Auditorium Parco della Musica Rome, Ravello Festival, Ateneum Bucharest, National Philharmonic of Timisoara, Kiev National Auditorium, Tokyo National Auditorium, and leading halls throughout Poland, China and Russia. Frequently invited to the Ravello Festival, he has performed complete Beethoven and Brahms cycles for piano and cello, and has collaborated with orchestras such as the Kiev Symphony Orchestra, State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Chamber Orchestra, IASI Philharmonic, and others.
In 2011 he was awarded the prestigious International Prize Cartagine for artistic merit and contribution to the dissemination of classical music worldwide, with critics praising “the vocal beauty of his sound, inspired by the Bel Canto tradition of the Neapolitan School.” His Carnegie Hall debut in 2014 as pianist and composer received a standing ovation, featuring his celebrated Sembazuru Fantasy. Further international recognition followed with two Gold Medals at the Global Music Awards (Los Angeles, 2015) for his composition Toccata and the album The Pianist Composer. His recordings are published by Warner Chappell, CAM, Da Vinci Classics, and KNS Classical, and are regularly broadcast on leading European and American classical radio networks.
A highly respected pedagogue, Devastato gives masterclasses worldwide and serves as President of WPTA Spain, Artistic Director of The Neapolitan Masters International Piano Competition, the Mimas Music Festival, WPTA Spain IPC, and the International Piano Balkan Academy. He is Professor at Alfonso X el Sabio University (Madrid), Accademia Musicale Europea (Naples), Talent Music Masters Academy (Brescia) and guest professor at EuroArts Academy (Germany). His students have won more than 50 international prizes, earned scholarships at elite institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Santa Cecilia Academy, and the Mozarteum, and many now maintain distinguished performing careers.
