Tomassini’s widow always tells me that if her husband were still alive, he would never have allow a competition to bear his name. In fact, Giuseppe Tomassini (Petritoli 1915-1987) was a bashful, mild, honest and pleasant man. He was esteemed as the first oboist in the orchestras of S. Cecilia and of the Rome Opera House, and was highly regarded by the most important conductors with whom he worked. However, above all, he was much loved and admired for his work as a teacher, for over twenty years at the conservatory of S. Cecilia in Rome.

For these reasons, and to honor the fond memory left by him, as man and musician, both in his hometown, Petritoli, and in Rome where he worked,  the competition ‘Giuseppe Tomassini’ was organized.

In fact, in 1994 the mayor Eugenio Monaldi asked me to organize a ‘concert in remembrance of Tomassini’, to which I invited his most distinguished pupils, like Augusto Loppi and Carlo Romano. It was after that concert that the idea for the competition sprung, from the love and gratitude of his pupils.

Thanks to these excellent roots, perhaps, our competition became important and fortunate.

Important because, although originating in the small town of Petritoli, today it is as famous worldwide as the competitions of Tokyo and Geneva, enjoying a brilliant reputation.

Fortunate because the all young musicians who have won, even if only in third place, have rapidly gained international success.

The 2003 live CD in  with  Lucas Macias Navarro (today, first oboist of the Concertgebauw in  Amsterdam) is one of the numerous proofs of the high level of the competition, which has now  arrived at its fifteenth edition.