Fabrizio Chiovetta

After winning an impressive range of prizes during the first years of his career, pianist Fabrizio Chiovetta has issued a series of critically acclaimed recordings. He is also in demand as a chamber music player and as an accompanist. Chiovetta was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 9, 1976. His older brother played the piano, and he took naturally to the instrument in the house. Enrolling at the Conservatoire Supérieure of Geneva, he majored in piano and music theory but also took courses in Italian literature, mathematics, musicology, and the Latin language before settling on the piano as a career. Chiovetta won the city of Geneva's Adolphe Neumann Prize and went on for further study at the Tibor Varga Academy in the Swiss city of Sion, graduating with highest honors in 2003. His teacher for four years was Dominique Weber, who, he told the Cross-Eyed Pianist, "helped me consolidate my technique and develop my sense of structure, rhythm and beauty of sound." He also studied with Paul Badura-Skoda and John Perry, focusing on historical Viennese instruments as well as works for the modern piano. Chiovetta won several unusual prizes that testify to his ability to engage listeners: the Audience Award at the Klaviersommer Festival in Germany in 1999 and an honorary mention from the Seventh International Web Concert Hall, based in the U.S., in 2005. Chiovetta's recitals and chamber music appearances have taken him across Europe, North America, and Asia. He is in high demand as a vocal accompanist from the likes of tenor Werner Güra, soprano Sophie Karthaüser, and baritone Benjamin Appl. In 2010, Chiovetta released a recital of Schumann piano works on the Palexa label that earned raves in both Europe and the U.S., and he was signed to the Claves label. He released a recording of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B flat major, D. 960, in 2013. He has also recorded Bach for Claves. In 2018, Chiovetta moved to the Aparte label, appearing in a chamber group with Patrick Messina and Henri Demarquette on Kaleidoscopic, an album of contemporary works by Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and Jaan Rääts. He has remained on the Aparte label, issuing an album of Beethoven's three final sonatas in 2020 and backing clarinetist Patrick Messina on the album Songs that year. In 2023, Chiovetta released an album of Schumann works.
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