Top of the World: Costanza Pascuzzi Leads LYM’s 2024–2025 World Top 50 Musicians
- WOMCO
- Jul 26
- 4 min read
Costanza Pascuzzi, a versatile young musician who has mastered multiple instruments and composition, recently topped the World Top 50 Musicians ranking during the 2024–2025 season of the prestigious London Young Musician competition.
You’ve received LYM top honours in piano, organ, clarinet and composition - what is it that draws you to express yourself through such a wide range of musical voices?
I think it’s because each instrument is able to give me such different insights into the musical world, each allowing me to grapple with a new set of genres, techniques and questions. For example, I love the intimacy and sincerity of the tone of a piano, and how it is able to express multiple independent chromatic lines at once, giving room to explore voicing, harmonies and orchestration. In fact, piano has introduced me to my favourite pieces of repertoire by wonderful composers such as Scriabin and Rachmaninoff. However, I started learning the clarinet to help me in a different way; it instead taught me what it’s like to perform in ensembles and orchestras, introducing me to the social side of music. I also love the huge dynamic range it provides and its ability to explore infinite types of articulation. Two years ago, I decided to also start learning the organ because of my curiosity for its stops, which make me feel like I’m conducting an entire orchestra.
As for composing, I think that composing is just an extension of performance and a way for me to gain further opportunities to explore and study the techniques and note choices my favourite composers made.
What did an ordinary day of practice look like for you, and in what ways did your family support your musical journey? How do you manage to balance your training with schoolwork?
My practice times vary deeply, but if I’m nearing an important performance or competition I can practice up to 5-6 hours a day; I think practising is a wonderful way to take a break from schoolwork. Additionally, I play in the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Band, Jazz Band, and smaller Wind Ensembles within my school, so even if I may not have as much chance to practice individually, I still dedicate a significant portion of my time each week to music making.
Looking back on this award-filled year with LYM, what has it helped you discover about yourself and the direction of your musical journey?
What London Young Musician has done most for me is give me a global platform on which I can share my love for music - especially through the Champions Show online concert. It has really helped me gain new insights into performance and my passion for it: thank you LYM!
Your accomplishments span several instruments as well as composition — was there a point when music began to feel like part of who you are, rather than simply something you were learning to do well?
Yes - music has felt like a part of me since I was born and I really could not imagine my life without it.
Would you like to share your experience of participating in the London Young Musician competitions, and are there any individuals you’d like to thank (such as family members, mentors, or supporters)?
I enjoyed London Young Musician as it pushed me to get my pieces to performance level in order to perform them, rather than hopping on from piece to piece.
As for thank yous, I would like to thank my parents for supporting my musical journey since I was born and making so many sacrifices in order to allow me to follow my dreams. I would also like to thank my music teachers for their infinite patience and support, as they have come to watch me at every concert and they’ve given me advice I will remember forever. Finally, I would like to thank the friends that I’ve made through music as they have grown with me and truly turned my life into a life half-fulfilled into one fulfilled.
Is there anything else you would like to say to musicians and music enthusiasts around the world?
Keep practising!!
Biography
Born in 2008, Costanza Pascuzzi is a music scholar at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, where she is an active member of the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Band, Jazz Band, and Clarinet Ensemble. She began learning the piano at the age of four, and took up the clarinet at seven. Two years later, she joined the National Children’s Orchestra for the year 2017.
Costanza’s recent performance highlights include solo appearances at the Cheltenham Music Festival, the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the finals of the Cheltenham Young Performer Awards 2025, and recitals at Casa Verdi (Milan) and Harrods (London). Costanza is also the past winner of the Stratford and East London Music Festival, the MusicaeLiberta Concorso SIMM, the concours La Côte Flûte, and the London Young Musician of the Year (2025). She also won a place in the regional final of the EPTA UK National Piano competition. She has participated in masterclasses with Ivana Gavric, Carlo Failli and Paul Whitmarsh.
Outside of performance, Costanza is passionate about musical outreach, and co-organises concerts and music workshops in schools and care homes.
