The Christopher Falzone Chamber Music Fund began January 2015 in honor of the late Christopher Reichart Falzone, an award-winning pianist, who began studying piano at the age four and composing at the age of six. Mr. Falzone grew up in Richmond, Virginia, where he studied with Julian Martin at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. and with Dr. Joanne Kong, the Artistic Director of the Summer Chamber Music Institute. At the age of eight, Falzone won the Young Musicians Foundation Competition and the following year performed in a televised concert as the soloist in the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Disney Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. He went on to win numerous honors and perform internationally.

Dr. Joanne Kong, who taught Falzone from the age of four until his late teen years, said, “He was one of the most remarkably gifted young pianists with whom I’ve worked. What was most striking to me was his ability to communicate with an audience, and his ability to get to the essence of the music. That’s something you can’t teach.”

After graduating from Monacan High School in Chesterfield County, Falzone enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where his principal teachers were Leon Fleisher and Claude Frank. He graduated from Curtis in 2008. Fleisher said of Falzone, “[T]here is scarcely anything beyond his means and his musical awarenesses.”

In 2004, he was the recipient of a $15,000 Gilmore Young Artist Award. In 2009, he was a gold medalist in the fourth International Piano Competition in Memory of Emil Gilels at the Odessa National A. V. Nezhdanova Academy of Music in Ukraine and winner of the Martha Argerich Les Virtuoses du Future competition in Switzerland. In 2010, he won the Grand Prix International Piano Competition: XX-XXI Century in Orléans, France.

A dedicated chamber player since the age of 10, Falzone was a member of several award-winning ensembles.  In 2001, his Chicago-based ensemble, the Favrile Quartet, performed at Carnegie Hall after being selected by Isaac Stern to participate in his three-week workshop.  His ensemble, the Orion Trio, received first prize in the 2002 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.  Falzone also played the violin and was the concertmaster of his school orchestra for several years.

Falzone performed as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with many orchestras in the United States and Europe.

He appeared several times as a soloist with the Richmond Symphony, most recently in 2005, playing Mozart’s “Coronation” Concerto (No. 26).  He also was a composer and arranger, notably of solo-piano versions of piano concertos and chamber works.

The Christopher Falzone Chamber Music Fund will provide scholarship monies to allow promising young chamber musicians to pursue their passion here at the Academy of Music.  To donate, please send your tax-deductible gift to:

The Christopher Falzone Chamber Music Fund
4101 Grove Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221

In memory of Christopher Falzone, GreenSpring expresses gracious thanks.