"The two young, dark-haired women, partners on the keyboard since the age of 5, interpreted Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 with taste and musicality [...]" [Translation]
Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde
The twin sisters, Fiona & Chiara Alaimo (1998°) are highly appreciated for their eclectic piano performances as soloists and piano duet. The Belgian/French sisters gained interest from their audience since their very first performances: they regularly combine solo and duo repertoire in their concerts and offer a unique insight into both arts. Their family tie is part of the sister’s chemistry and their devotion on stage for each composer’s work reflect their passion for music.
They have started their musical studies at the age of 5 with Maria Andreeva, and Jean-Paul Wittek at the Music School of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe. Seven years later, they moved to Namur to study with Stéphanie Salmin and Pierre Solot at the Conservatoire Balthasar-Florence.
After graduating in 2020 as soloist at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB) with Prof. Aleksandar Madzar and piano duo with Prof. Thomas Dieltjens, Fiona and Chiara Alaimo flew to Paris in order to pursue their musical career. They met Prof. Marian Rybicki and Prof. Nina Patarcec at the prestigious Ecole Normale de Musique ‘Alfred Cortot’ in which they graduated in 2023 with two Artist Diploma's, as soloists and piano duet.
Fiona and Chiara also obtained a pedagogical degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in 2022.
Throughout the years, Fiona and Chiara performed in several important concert halls such as the Salle Cortot in Paris, the Palladium Theatre in Rome, the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) in Brussels, the Great Hall of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels as well as the Sala Koncertowa in Tarnów and the Royal Castle of Warsaw, among others.
In March 2021, the Alaimo sisters made their orchestral debut with the Orchestra of the Royal Band of the Belgian Guides performing Poulenc’s Concerto for two pianos.
They both regularly take part in international competitions and have won several prizes including the 1st and 2nd prize at the Belfius Classics (2014), the Fonds Thirionet (2019) and the Horlait Dapsens Foundation (2021) prizes, the 1st and 2nd prize at the International Piano Competition Jacopo Napoli (2021), as well as a 1st prize at the 'Città di Arona' International Competition for piano duet (2021) and two 1st prizes at the Rome International Competition for piano duet (2021).
In 2022, they were sponsored by the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Paris for an artist residency in Lourmarin (FR), and in 2023 were awarded the Maurice Lefrancq prize by the Commission of Equity from Belgium.
They regularly receive advice from great pedagogues such as Cristina Pliousnina, Rena Shereshevskaya, Leonid Margarius, Vitaly Samoshko, Sergei Edelmann, Markus Groh, Jan Jiracek Von Arnim, Naum Grubert, Boyan Vodenitcharov, Nelson Delle-Vigne, Lilya Zilberstein, Claire Désert, ... and from the internationally acclaimed piano duos Ludmila Berlinskaïa-Arthur Ancelle and Louis Lortie-Helene Mercier.
The Alaimo sisters are regularly invited to perform at music festivals in Belgium and abroad such as the Musicorum, Midis-Minimes and Zomer van Sint-Pieter (BE) festivals, the 'Musiques d'été au Château de Lourmarin' (FR), the Music Gardens Festival (PL), the 'Concerts de Midi et Demi à la Salle Cortot' (FR), the Animato concerts (FR) and many more.