English Bio

The pianist Umberto Barisciano is distinguished by a versatile and expressive musical personality, combining an active career as a pianist with conducting and chamber music.

Born in Naples, he graduated at a young age with top marks from the “D. Cimarosa” Conservatory in Avellino, where he was awarded the Bruno Mazzotta Prize as best graduate of the year at just eighteen years old. He later moved to Munich at the invitation of Prof. Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy, continuing his studies between Germany and Italy and earning the Artist Diploma in Piano Performance at the Talent Music Master Courses Academy in Brescia.

His artistic development has been enriched through participation in major international institutions, including the Tibor Varga Academy in Sion, the Accademia Pianistica delle Marche, and the Tonkünstlerverband Bayern in Munich. He has studied with distinguished musicians such as Georg Friedrich Schenck, Roberto Paruzzo, Maurizio Baglini, and Lorenzo Di Bella, with whom he obtained his Master’s degree in Piano Performance with honors at the “C. Monteverdi” Conservatory in Cremona.

He has performed in prestigious venues in Italy and abroad, including Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, Teatro Carlo Gesualdo in Avellino, Auditorium Gaber in Milan, Auditorium Arvedi in Cremona, the Art Center in Gyeongju (South Korea), and the Historic Hoover Theater in San Jose (California).

Following his acclaimed participation in the Sion Academy and Festival, he was invited to Switzerland for a recital tour organized by Fondation Château Mercier, Festival de Musique des Haudères, and Festival Rencontre Orient-Occident.

Among his most notable appearances, he performed for the FAI Foundation at the Museo Teatrale alla Scala on the Steinway piano once owned by Franz Liszt, and he was featured at the Italian Pavilion during EXPO 2015. Internationally, he performed at the Silk Road Cultural Festival in South Korea, where he also inaugurated the Goryeong Gun Nuri Hall.

In recent years, he has devoted particular attention to the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, taking part in a project conceived by cellist Silvia Chiesa dedicated to the complete works for cello and piano.

In 2020, he created and performed the original production Io, Beethoven: Inner Opera for Voice and Piano, presented successfully at Teatro dei Filodrammatici in Cremona and, in 2023, in the “Musica a Santa Tecla” concert series in Sanremo.

In 2021, he obtained his Master’s degree in Chamber Music with highest honors and special mention at the “F. Vittadini” Conservatory in Pavia.

Alongside his pianistic career, he is increasingly active as a conductor: in 2024, he served as Music Director and Conductor for a production of La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi at the Jackson Theater in Fremont (California), conducting the CLAA Orchestra for the California Lyric Artist Association season. In 2026, he is scheduled to conduct new opera productions in San Francisco, including Tosca and La fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini.

He is regularly invited as a collaborative pianist for vocal masterclasses and instrumental courses, working with artists such as Mario Luperi, Andrea Cigni, Maria Billeri, and Francesco Fiore.

He shares both life and stage with the Ukrainian pianist and singer Yevheniya Lysohor, with whom he forms a close artistic partnership.