Luca Arnaldo Maria Colombo Sugiko Chinen

Piano Duet

The piano duet Luca A. M. Colombo-Sugiko Chinen has been formed in 1995, and since its very beginning it has been devoted to works for piano four hands written by French and Italian composers of the first half of XXth century, extending afterwards its interests to the whole repertoire written for this ensemble. The duet has improved its profile under the guidance of Alfredo Speranza, and taking part in the festival Allegro Vivo Horn - Vienna.

It has been awarded in several international competitions (III Prize at "Liburni Civitas” 1998, III Prize at “Etruria Classic” 2000, III Prize at the "City of Cortemilia” 2000, III Prize at the International Rome Competition 2000) and has received the First Prize in the XIV edition of the European Music Competition

"Città di Moncalieri".

During its career it has performed in Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Poland and Japan, where Colombo and Chinen perform regularly since 1995.

Furthermore, since 2011 the duet is the resident ensemble of the chamber music season "MusicaPoesia", organized by the Associazione Notturno, for which it regularly gives concerts in Milan. During the last years it has been repeatedly invited to hold concerts at the Rest Home for Musicians “G. Verdi”, at the Palazzo delle Stelline, the Boschi-Di Stefano Museum (in collaboration with Touring Club Italiano) and the Natural History Museum in Milan.

At present, Colombo and Chinen are also working on a CD dedicated to the French music for piano duet.

Sugiko Chinen, born in Okinawa (Japan), attended the Accademia Musicae Musashino in Tokyo, where she graduated under the guidance of Sakoh Atsushi and Ichiahashi Tetsuo. In 1993 she moved to Italy, where she studied with S. Marengoni, F. Angeleri and M. Panciroli, she specialized with Alfredo Speranza and attended several masterclasses with Aldo Ciccolini. She held concerts in Italy, Japan, Spain, France and Austria. As a soloist, she collaborated with the Mexican orchestra Camerata in Movimiento, the Harmonia quartet in Milan, the Japanese chorus Okinawa Rossini Choir, and several other chamber ensembles. Since the beginning of her activity as a pianist, she has dedicated particular attention to the collaboration with singers, both in Japan and Italy, improving her preparation with E. Furlotti and also being his assistant during the masterclasses he held in Okinawa. As “maestro accompagnatore” she performed both in Italy and Japan, collaborating with institutions such as the Associazione Notturno in Milan, the Japanese Consulate in Milan, the “Amilcare Ponchielli” association in Busto Arsizio, and the “Ai no kai” and “Vivace” associations in Okinawa.

Luca Colombo studied in Milan with Midori Kasahara and Mario Panciroli, graduating at the Conservatorio "A. Vivaldi" in Alessandria. He later studied in Rimini with Alfredo Speranza, and attended some masterclasses held, among the others, by Lazar Berman, Vitaly Margulis and Aldo Ciccolini. In addition to his musical studies he also took a degree in Physics, graduating at the Università degli Studi in Milan. He was awarded in national and international competitions, thus beginning an intense musical activity performing in Europe (Italy, Spain, France, England and Austria), USA (New York, Toronto, Puebla - Mexico) and Japan. His particular interest in the chamber music repertoire has led him to found a piano duet with his wife Sugiko Chinen. In 2009 he released with the clarinettist Raffaele Bertolini his first CD, dedicated to the music of Astor Piazzolla. In the same year she gave a recital in New York with the flutist Yuri Ciccarese and the clarinettist Raffaele Bertolini, and a gala concert in Okinawa with his wife Sugiko Chinen and the participation of the Okinawa Rossini Choir. In the last years he has performed as a soloist with the Orchestra dell’Assunta in Vigentino and with the Camerata Angelopolitana in Milan and with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. In 2001 he has founded Notturno, an association devoted to classical music concerts and cultural activities in Milan and Japan. Furthermore, since 2009 he collaborates with the "Amilcare Ponchielli" association in Busto Arsizio, taking care of the season as artistic and musical director.

RepertoireJ. C. Bach Sonata per pianoforte a quattro mani in do magg. op. 15 n°6

A. Benjamin Jamaican Rumba

J. Brahms Tre danze ungheresi

F. Busoni Finnländische Volksweisen op.27

A. Casella Pupazzetti, cinque pezzi per pianoforte a quattro mani

E. Chabrier Cortege Burlesque

F. Cilea Amour Joyeux

Alla gavotta

M. Clementi Sonata in do maggiore op. 3 n°1

C. Czerny Ouverture Caractéristique et brillante op. 54

C. Debussy Petite Suite, quattro pezzi per pianoforte a quattro mani

G. Donizetti Sonata “Il Genio di G.D.”

G. Fauré Suite Dolly, op.56

G. Gershwin Rhapsody in blue

P. Hindemith Sonata (1938)

J. Ibert Le Petit Ane Blanc

G. F. Malipiero Dialogo con Jacopone da Todi, per due pianoforti e soprano

W. A. Mozart Sonata in re maggiore KV 123a

Sonata in Si bemolle maggiore KV 186

Andante con Variazioni in sol maggiore KV 501

Fuga in sol minore KV 401

Sonata per due pianoforti KV 448

Y. Nakada The Four Seasons of Japan

F. Poulenc Sonata per pianoforte a quattro mani

Concerto per due pianoforti ed orchestra

Elegie per due pianoforti

G. Puccini Capriccio sinfonico

M. Ravel Ma Mère l’Oye

Bolero, versione per due pianoforti

O. Respighi Sei piccoli pezzi per pianoforte a quattro mani

Antiche Danze ed Arie per liuto

I Suite ( versione per pianoforte a quattro mani )

II Suite ( versione per pianoforte a quattro mani )

N. Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade ( versione per pianoforte a quattro mani )

G. Rossini Petite Messe Solemnelle

per due pianoforti, harmonium, solisti e coro

N. Rubinstein Tarantella

G. B. Sammartini Sinfonia in sol ( J.C.36 ) - trascrizione originale

E. Satie La Belle Excentrique, fantaisie sérieuse per pianoforte a 4 mani

Trois morceaux en forme de poire

F. Schubert Fantasia in fa minore op. 103 (D 940)

Deutscher mit zwei Trios und zwei Ländler (D 618)

Vier Ländler (D 814)

Allegro moderato und Andante (D968)

R. Schumann Sei Improvvisi Op. 66 “Bilder aus Osten”

L. Sinigaglia Ouverture dall'opera "Le baruffe chiozzotte"

Suite sinfonica "Piemonte"

J. Strauss jr. Rose del Sud, Valzer op. 388

Sul Bel Danubio blu, Valzer op. 314

A. Speranza En la Noche, poema gitano per pianoforte a quattro mani