On Thursday 18 July, Premio Paganini of Genoa participated in the LacMus International Music Festival, directed by the Maestros Louis Lortie and Paolo Bressan, held at the Durini Castle in Alzate Brianza in the province of Como. Simon Zhu, a student of Ana Chumachenco, performed to high acclaim in a concert playing “La campanella” and “I palpiti” by Paganini, and offering proof of his talent with Fauré’s “Sonata” op. 13. Joining Zhu was the pianist Han-Wen Jennifer Yu, trained in Taiwan, the United States and Germany, and a winner of the Vienna International Piano Competition, as well as numerous other awards.

“We are very pleased to work in collaboration with the LacMus Festival, which showcased the extraordinary talent of Simon Zhu yesterday, in such an evocative setting as the Durini Castle in Alzate Brianza. The synergy between the Premio Paganini and the LacMus Festival represents an important opportunity to enhance and promote young musicians. In this sense, Zhu’s performance, accompanied by the pianist Han-Wen Yu, has shown once again how beautiful and important it is to support young international talent and bring great music to an increasingly wide and varied audience. I would like to thank the organizers of LacMus Festival, and in particular Don Giulio Durini, and I hope that the partnership between the Durini Foundation and the Premio can continue to grow in view of the 58th edition of the Competition taking place in Genoa in October 2025, with Uto Ughi as president of the Jury” – said President Giovanni Panebianco.

“Simon Zhu and Han-Wen Yu’s concert is testimony to the profound impact of Paganini’s genius on the history of music. A program that calls to mind the family tree of ancient and illustrious families, intertwining Maestros, students, and heirs of musical traditions that, although distant in time and space, finally come together today, constituting the essence of the myth. I thank Maestro Lortie and Director Bressan for their excellent work” – said Maestro Nicola Bruzzo, artistic director of the Premio Paganini.

“It has been a true honour to have among us the winner of the 2023 Premio Paganini and it has been a privilege for the Fondazione Durini, one of the oldest institutions in Milan - which, among its institutional activities every year with the Guglielmina Durini Litta Prize, honours a pianist of international talent since 1907 - to be able to collaborate with a Genoese institution of such great prestige as the Premio Paganini” – said Count Giulio Durini, President of the Fondazione Durini, promoter of LacMus.