Francesco Venudo

Born on 27 March 2000, Francesco Venudo began playing the violin at the age of seven. In 2012, he began his studies at the "A. Steffani" conservatory in Castelfranco Veneto, in the class of Michele Lot, and since 2017 has continued his studies in the class of Svetlana Makarova at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne. In 2015, 2016 and 2018, he continued to refine his playing with Sonig Tchakerian and Amiram Ganz.

In 2017, he received a scholarship for specialisation in ensemble music, selected by M.o Leon Spierer, former Konzertmeister of the Berliner Philharmoniker. The courses took place at the Società del Quartetto di Vicenza, Italy.

He took lessons with Gilles Apap at the Grand Théâtre "La Fenice" in Venice, and with Igor Volochine and Pavel Vernikov at the "Tibor Varga" Music Academy in Sion. In 2019, he was selected to take part in Nora Chastain's masterclass, held at the Ettal SommerAkademie und Festival in Germany. In July 2020, he earned his Bachelor's degree in violin at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. In September 2020, he began his Master's, specialising in violin pedagogy, at the same institution. Since January 2021, he has been part of the Swiss Youth Orchestra (OSJ) as tutti first violin.

Since the age of 14, he has performed as a soloist and orchestra member in concerts and festivals in Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany: In 2015, with Gilles Apap for the chamber music season of the "La Fenice" theatre in Venice. In 2017, with "I Solisti Veneti" and Claudio Scimone at the "C. Pollini" auditorium in Padua and at Milan Cathedral. In 2018, he played at the Portogruaro chamber music festival with cellist Enrico Bronzi, violinist Amiram Ganz and tenor Toby Spence. In 2019, he played in the orchestra of the Blaricum festival, under the baton of Mathieu Herzog, and with musicians such as Konstantin Lifschitz, Kirill Troussov, Augustin Dumay, Andrei Ionita and Maxim Rysanov. In 2021, he played with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Swiss Orchestra. Since January 2022, he has been a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, where he has played under conductors Teodor Currentzis and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and performed at the Salzburg Festival (Salzburger Festspiele), the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.

He has won numerous prizes at national and international competitions. First Prize: 2012 – "A. Steffani" Competition. First Prize: 2014 – international competition Musile di Piave. First Prize: 2015 – "D. Zambon" competition. Second Prize: 2017 – "A. Salieri" International Competition. First Prize: 2017 – "Città di Piove di Sacco" National Competition. First Prize: 2017 – "Città di Palmanova" International Competition. First Prize and prize for the best classical sonata performance: 2019 – "A. Salieri" International Competition for young musicians.