Laura Richaud

Laura Richaud has dedicated over forty years to piano education and to shaping the professional paths of young musicians. A visionary cultural entrepreneur, she is the founder and artistic director of major institutions and projects that have made a lasting impact on Italy’s musical landscape. These include an international chamber music competition, renowned summer specialization courses, and the Academy of Music of Pinerolo–Turin—today an internationally respected centre for advanced musical training. She also established Italy’s first and only third-level university School of Specialization in music.

After winning sixteen first prizes in national and international competitions, Richaud graduated with full marks and honors in 1979 and began her long teaching career as professor of principal piano at the Conservatories of Bari, Cuneo, and Turin (1979–2021). Alongside an active concert career in the 1980s and early 1990s, she developed an outstanding pedagogical profile: her students regularly perform for major European institutions and win top international awards. A decades-long collaboration with Franco Scala and encounters with leading musicians—including Giorgio Vidusso, Paul Badura-Skoda, Jörg Demus, Alexander Lonquich, and Sergio Fiorentino—deeply shaped her artistic vision.

In 1994 she founded the “Città di Pinerolo” International Chamber Music Competition, which has been part of the World Federation of International Music Competitions since 2012 and, since 2016, has taken place as the “International Chamber Music Competition Pinerolo and Turin – Metropolitan City.” She also created the Autumn Music Festival (1994–1997) and the Musica d’Estate summer campus and festival, now one of Bardonecchia’s most significant cultural events.

All these initiatives converge today in the ETS Academy of Music Foundation, where Richaud serves as founder, president, and artistic director. Her leadership has brought the Academy into close partnership with major institutions such as the Fiesole Music School, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra (through the Professione Orchestra program), the Turin Conservatory, and the Turin Academy of Fine Arts. She regularly holds masterclasses in Europe—including at the École Normale in Paris—and serves on juries of prestigious international competitions.

She has launched projects that enrich the Academy’s identity, such as the Academy Chamber Orchestra (2014), the Academy Choir (2015), the Open Source Project (2016), and the Polo delle Arti (2019). Between 2019 and 2021 she guided the creation of the Third-Level School of Specialization in Instrumental Musical Heritage, which has now completed its first teaching cycles.

In 2024, following the Academy’s transformation into the ETS Academy of Music Foundation, Laura Richaud was appointed President, continuing her role as Artistic Director and reaffirming her commitment to excellence in musical education and cultural development.