Francesco Stefanelli

Francesco Stefanelli started to play the cello when he was seven years old and he graduated at the age of 15 with full marks. He was later admitted at a very young age to the Master of Arts in Music Performance at the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland in Lugano in Enrico Dindo class and recently graduated from the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome with Giovanni Sollima.

He is currently studying at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid with Jens Peter Maintz.
He has been top prize winners in numerous International Competitions such as: 2nd prize at the prestigious “Krzysztof Penderecki Cello Competition” in Krakow, III prize "50th International Jeunesses Musicales Belgrade", III prize at Zurig's Rahn Music Prize, 1st prize at the "Antonio Janigro competition" in Croatia, I prize at the Maura Giorgetti prize of the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan as the best young Italian cellist, I prize at the"Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship" award. He performed as a soloist in many cities and theaters such as:
Belgrade Koralac Foundation Hall with the Serbian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, Prague Smetana Hall with the “North Czech Philarmony Orchestra, Köln Roncalliplatz with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Krakow Florianka Hall with the Orchestra Chamber Orchestra of Academy of music in Krakow, Macerata with the Filarmonica Marchigiana Orchestra, Padova with Solisti Veneti.

He has been a guest in important festivals such as Unione Musicale di Torino, Ente Concerti di Pesaro, Sagra Musicale Malatestiana, Amici della Musica Firenze, Amici della Musica di Padova, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival di Lubecca, Oratorio del Gonfalone a Roma e Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Festival Piatti, Solisti di Pavia. He recorded David Fontanesi's Arcadian Concert for cello and Orchestra with the "I Virtuosi Italiani" Orchestra for the Da Vinci Classics.