Praised by Wayne Lee Gay in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a "potential pianistic messiah", and by Chris Pasles in the Los Angeles Times for his "warmth, exquisite taste, and arresting technique," twenty-seven year old Antonio Pompa-Baldi emerged from the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2001 with not only a coveted silver medal, but the Phyllis Jones Tilley Memorial Award for the Best Performance of a major new work. He was awarded two years of concert engagements as well as a compact disc recording of his award-winning performances for the "harmonia mundi" label. During the seventeen days spent in Fort Worth, Texas, Mr. Pompa-Baldi captivated the world's critics with his mature command and formidable display of repertoire. In a series of programs that seethed with intellectual energy and charisma, he sparked the audience's enthusiasm, becoming a crowd favorite.

Winner of the first prize at the 1999 Cleveland International Piano
Competition and a top prize winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris, Mr. Pompa-Baldi has toured extensively in the United States and Europe. His assured touch on the keyboard graced stages in Bologna, Milan, Cleveland (Severance Hall), Philadelphia, Naples, New York (Alice Tully Hall), Paris (Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau, and Salle Pleyel among others), and Stuttgard. Engagements in 2001 alone numbered well above 70.

Recent appearances included performances with the Charleston, Savannah, Columbus, and Pacific Symphony Orchestras, in addition to recitals in Paris (Theatre du Chatelet), Bologna (Italy), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Cleveland, San Jose, New Orleans, San Antonio, Dallas, and other major cities.

As a soloist, he has collaborated with the Orchestre National de Paris-Radio France, the Orchestre Philarmonique de Metz (France), the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana (Italy), the Santo Domingo National Orchestra, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Spokane Symphony, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras among others. Chamber music performances with the
Avalon String Quartet as well as two-piano and four-hand recitals profess his versatility in both the solo and chamber group settings.

During the summer of 2002, Mr. Pompa-Baldi performed the Ravel Concerto in G major with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in Boston's Symphony Hall, and was featured in recital at the internationally acclaimed Chopin Festival in Duznicki, Poland as well as teaching and performing at both the TCU-Cliburn Piano Institute in Fort Worth and Pianofest in Long Island. He also served as a juror at the Third Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, and at the Oberlin International Piano Competition.

The 2002-03 season includes over 50 recitals, among which Minneapolis (Chopin Society), Pittsburgh, Carmel (Mozart Society), and Hartford. Upcoming orchestra engagements include appearances with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia (New Zealand), and the Fort Worth, Midland, and South Carolina Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Pompa-Baldi will make his New York's Carnegie Hall debut in the Spring of 2004. No stranger to live radio and TV performances, his playing has been broadcast for the French National
Television and Radio, for New York's WNYC, Boston's WGBH, Cleveland's WCLV, and several times for National Public Radio's "Performance Today".

In addition to the CD recording of his Cliburn Competition performances on the Harmonia Mundi label, he recorded an all-Brahms disc for AZICA, and appeared in the PBS documentary on the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, "Playing on the Edge", which premiered in October of 2001 in the USA and Canada. Mr. Pompa-Baldi will also be featured in the forthcoming PBS documentary "Concerto", which will showcase his performance of Prokofiev's Concerto #3 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Maestro James Conlon. His next recording will be released under the "Centaur Records" label.

Earning critical acclaim for his empathetic and sensitive interpretations of contemporary music, Mr. Pompa-Baldi won the award for the Best Performance of a new work at the 2001 Van Cliburn Competition for his rendition of Lowell Liebermann's 3 Impromptus. He received similar recognition at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition for his performance of Serge Nigg's Tumultes, a new work commissioned for the occasion.

Born in Foggia, Italy, he commenced his piano studies at the age of 4. A former pupil of Aldo Ciccolini, Mr. Pompa-Baldi attributes much of his
success to Annamaria Pennella, his teacher for seven years. Seasoned to the stage early on in his childhood, he won his first competitive medal at the age of thirteen and since then has placed first, second, and third in more than 20 national and international competitions. He recently served as assistant professor at the Oberlin Conservatory, and currently acts as an artist-in-residence at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio along with his wife, pianist Emanuela Friscioni.

Antonio Pompa Baldi’s appearance at the Miami International Piano Festival’s “Discovery Series” on May 16th, 2003 marks his debut in Florida.