Biography

RUBEN XHAFERI, Italian-Albanian pianist born in 2005, began studying piano at the age of five. 

He has won more than twenty national and international prizes, including the Lamberto Brunelli Prize, where he also received the Audience Award, and the Silvio Bengalli Prize organised by the Val Tidone Foundation; in 2024 he was awarded First Prize at the XVII National Arts Prize, a distinguished recognition from the Ministry of Education and Merit for the best students of the Conservatories of Italy, held at the Conservatory of Cagliari. 

He has already performed in numerous concerts in Italy, Germany, Spain, and Slovenia. 

He has performed in prestigious venues including the Pauline Chapel of the Quirinale Palace in Rome (broadcast live on RAI Radio3), the Salone dei Cinquecento at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Palazzo Chigi-Saracini in Siena, the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, the Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna, the Mozart Hall of the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, the Archiginnasio Courtyard in Bologna, the Teatro Palladium in Rome, the Sala del Guariento of the Accademia Galileiana in Padua, the Teatro Sociale E. Balzan in Badia Polesine, the Teatro Comunale in Adria, and the Belloni Theatre in Monza. 

He has given solo recitals for leading institutions and festivals including the Società dei Concerti di Milano Foundation, i Giardini La Mortella in Ischia, the Ljubljana Festival, I Concerti del Quirinale, PianoFortissimo / Bologna Festival, the Emilia-Romagna Festival, the Bartolomeo Cristofori International Festival in Padua. 

He has performed as a soloist with I Musici dell’Accademia di Bologna, the Symphony Orchestra of the “Antonio Buzzolla” Conservatory of Adria, the Symphony Orchestra of the “Giovan Battista Martini” Conservatory of Bologna, the Symphony Orchestra of the “Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina” Conservatory of Cagliari, the Senzaspine Orchestra of Bologna, the FVG Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta. 

From the age of eight, he studied with Sandro Baldi, continuing until he obtained his First Level Academic Diploma at the “Giovan Battista Martini” Conservatory in Bologna, graduating with top marks, honours, and special mention.  

He is currently studying with Alessandro Taverna at the “Cesare Pollini” Conservatory in Padua and attending Advanced Courses at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Benedetto Lupo. 

Since 2023, he has attended specialisation courses at the Accademia Chigiana under the guidance of Lilya Zilberstein.