Each year the IBLA Foundation sponsors a competition for classical musicians from around the world.
The competition is held in the picturesque UNESCO World Heritage site Ragusa Ibla, Sicily. The top winners receive the opportunity to travel and perform, culminating in a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
The Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley will host the winners of the 2022 competition in a free salon-style concert on Radford University’s campus on Thursday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. The performance is free and open to the public.
Included in the program are three top prize winners: Michael Barimo, a whistler from Winter Park, Florida; Haruna Furukawa, a flautist from Tokyo, Japan; and Tamara Licheli, a pianist from the Republic of Georgia. Joining them will be four Italian musicians: pianists Giampiero Bugliarello and Armando Sabbarese; classical guitarist Maria Criscione; and accordion player Luigi Gordano, along with Alexander Kato-Willis, a pianist and improvisational performer from Japan and the U.S.
The award-winning musicians will also perform in a more traditional concert setting at the Davis Performance Hall in the Covington Center at Radford University the evening before. The smaller venue at the Fine Arts Center will provide a more intimate setting in which to experience the talents of the musicians. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the concert from 6:30 to 8 p.m. A short meet-and-greet opportunity will be hosted at 8 p.m.
Tickets are free for this event but must be reserved in advance through Eventbrite. Visit FACNRV.org for a direct link and the opportunity to RSVP for additional free concerts.
The Fine Arts Center is located at 21 West Main St. in historic downtown Pulaski. The center is supported, in part, by funding from the Town of Pulaski, Pulaski County, the C. E. Richardson Benevolent Foundation, the Randolph Foundation, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts and through membership and donations.