Artists

Born in Milan in 1958, after graduating from high school, he graduated in Organ and Organ Composition and in Harpsichord at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in his city. Winner of several national competitions, he undertook an intense concert activity that led him to play for the most prestigious concert societies throughout Europe and the U.S.A.

He passionately dedicated himself to the study of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries music and performed on “historical” instruments. He has recorded thirty CDs, both as a soloist and in instrumental groups.

Since 1982 he has been a teacher of basso continuo and ensemble music at the International Academy of Music in Milan and for several years he has collaborated, as a musicologist and IT expert, with Edizioni BIM – (Switzerland), Ricordi and the Istituto Vivaldi – Fondazione Cini in Venice, for the editing of critical editions of Antonio Vivaldi’s musical works.

From 1990 to 1995 he was a member of the board of directors of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice and is currently part of the Music Commission of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. He is the organist at the Church of San Francesco di Paola and the Basilica of San Simpliciano in Milan.

“The ensemble plays the best of historically informed interpretation: with assertiveness, a rich sound and regularly integrating elements of improvisation into the music. The solo passages in some arias also highlight the potential of this ensemble.”

GUIDO KRAWINKEL – OPERA! MAGAZINE

Founded by Boris Begelman in 2014, Arsenale Sonoro quickly won critical acclaim with its debut album for Sony DHM, Telemann Violin Sonatas. The subsequent monographic recording, Scarlatti Violin Sonatas (Obsidian 2022), explores those harpsichord sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti that, with their virtuoso writing rich in jumps and arpeggios and large sections of continuo bass, suggest an original destination for violin and basso continuo. Performing in formations ranging from chamber music to complete orchestra, Arsenale Sonoro has hosted prestigious festivals such as Elbphilarmonie Festival, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Valletta Baroque Festival, Timisoara Early Music Festival, Musik&Kirche Brixen, Mittelfest, Pur ti miro Festival, Urbino Early Music Festival, Amici della Musica di Firenze, Bologna Festival, Roma Festival Barocco, Concerti del Quirinale.  Based in Bologna, the ensemble is committed to rediscovering hidden jewels of the baroque repertoire. His recent first performances in modern times include The burial of Christ by Perti/Predieri at the Tage Alter Musik in Herne and the monumental four-voice Oratory “for the Madonna of the Rosary” by Leonardo Vinci at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Arsenale Sonoro’s latest CD, Un’alma innamorata (Pentatone 2023), is entirely dedicated to Händel and his Italian cantatas. The recital album by soprano Francesca Aspromonte was included among Scherzo’s Exceptional Discs, the Recommended Rhythm Discs, Classic Voice’s CD of the Month and received 5 stars from Rivista Musica, which called it “pure pleasure for over an hour of music”. Among the next commitments of the ensemble are the recording of Francesca Aspromonte’s new album, concerts at Caserta’s Castle, Festival de musique sacrée et baroque de Froville, Meisterkonzerte Lohne, and a concert with countertenor Christopher Lowrey at the Crans Montana Festival.

NOVEMBER 2024

“Under the direction of baroque violinist Boris Begelman, the Bolognese ensemble Arsenale Sonoro has conquered the audience from the first note of the overture. Vinci’s characteristic phrasing and ornamentation have been rendered naturally by the string section of the ensemble. Their enthusiasm and spontaneity were palpable, reflecting with great skill the contrasting personalities of the characters of the oratory.”

Mengguang Huang – OPERAWIRE

“Here is a musician who recognises no boundaries except those of good taste, and who has the artistry to persuade listeners to follow him anywhere.” Gramophone 

The first mandolin soloist to be nominated for a classical Grammy, Avi Avital has been compared to Andres Segovia for his championship of his instrument and to Jascha Heifitz for his incredible virtuosity. Passionate and “explosively charismatic” (New York Times) in live performance, he is a driving force behind the reinvigoration of the mandolin repertory. 

He has commissioned over 100 works for the mandolin including concertos for mandolin and orchestra by Anna Clyne, Jennifer Higdon, Avner Dorman, David Bruce and Giovanni Sollima which he has performed with orchestras and conductors such as the Munich Philharmonic with Krzysztof Urbański, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Robert Spano, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and Ryan Bancroft and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Daniele Rustioni. 

Highlights of the 2022/23 season see performances of the Mandolin Concertos by Jennifer Higdon, Anna Clyne and Giovanni Sollima commissioned for Avital, alongside tours with the Academy of Sat Martin in the Fields, Il Giardino Armonico with Giovanni Antonini, B’Rock and Arcangelo, duo recitals with Ksenija Sidorova (accordion), Olga Pashchenko (harpsichord/fortepiano) and Omer Klein (piano), and a tour of Australia with cellist Giovanni Sollima. Avital launches his new venture, the “Between Worlds Ensemble” with a three-part residency at the Boulez Saal in Berlin. The ensemble was formed to explore different genres, cultures and musical worlds focusing on different geographical regions and in its first year will feature traditional, classical and folk music from the Iberian Peninsula, Black Sea and Italy. 

Avi Avital collaborates with musicians across many genres including Mahan Esfahani, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Alice Sara Ott, Andreas Scholl, the Dover Quartet, the Danish String Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, Omer Klein, Omer Avital, actress Martina Gedeck and Georgian puppet theatre Budrugana Gagra. His versatility has led to features as “Portrait Artist” at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, BOZAR in Brussels and the Dortmund Konzerthaus (Zeitinsel). He is a regular presence at major festivals such as Aspen, Salzburg, Tanglewood, Spoleto, Ravenna, MISA Shanghai, Cheltenham, Verbier and Tsinandali. 

An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, his sixth album for the label “The Art of the Mandolin” has been received with high praise and top reviews in The Times, Independent, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine as well as the international press. Previous recordings “Bach” (2019), “Avital meets Avital” (2017), “Vivaldi” (2015), an album of Avital’s own transcriptions of Bach concertos (2012) and “Between Worlds” (2014) also received numerous awards.

Born in Be’er Sheva in southern Israel, Avital began learning the mandolin at the age of eight and soon joined the flourishing mandolin youth orchestra founded and directed by his charismatic teacher, Russian-born violinist Simcha Nathanson. He studied at the Jerusalem Music Academy and the Conservatorio Cesare Pollini in Padua with Ugo Orlandi. Winner of Israel’s prestigious Aviv Competitions in 2007, Avital is the first mandolinist in the history of the competition to be so honoured. He plays on a mandolin made by Israeli luthier Arik Kerman.

Ayako Matsunaga was born in Tokyo, Japan. She began studying violin at a very early age. In 1995 she joined the Toho Gakuen music school in Japan where she graduated in modern violin. She also began studying baroque violin as a secondary subject with M° Natsumi Wakamatsu but it soon became her favorite subject and repertoire. After graduating, she performed with many ensembles in Japan and recorded many CDs with “Bach Collegium Japan” and “Orchestra Symposion”. In 2002 she won the first prize at the “Early Music Competition” in Japan and was one of the semi-finalists at the Brugge early music competition. In 2003 she won the third prize in baroque violin at the Bonporti Competition in Rovereto (TN). Ayako Matsunaga is studying for a master in Amsterdam under the guidance of Lucy van Dael. She is also a member of the “Handel Festival Japan” orchestra.

“…behind his superlative technique hides a great artist…” – Scherzo

Rapidly establishing himself as one of the most interesting violinists of his generation, Boris Begelman graduated in violin at the Tchiajkovskij Conservatory in Moscow, later specializing in the baroque repertoire in Italy, where he currently resides.

He has performed as a soloist or Konzertmeister on major international stages, including the Berliner Philharmonie, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Théatre des Champs-Elysées, the Wigmore Hall, the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona, ​​the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the KKL in Lucerne, collaborating with orchestras such as the Complesso Barocco, Kammerorchester Basel, I Barocchisti, Cappella Mediterranea and B’Rock Orchestra. Since 2017 he has been Konzertmeister of Rinaldo Alessandrini’s Concerto Italiano.

Begelman has conducted from the violin the Accademia Bizantina, Il Pomo d’Oro, Accademia Montis Regalis, Arion Baroque Orchestra, Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra B’Rock and soloists such as Vivica Genaux, Max Cenčić and Simone Kermes.

In 2014, Boris founded his own ensemble, Arsenale Sonoro, whose debut album containing a selection of Telemann’s Sonatas for violin and basso continuo for Sony DHM was enthusiastically received by international critics. For the same label he released in 2017 “Sei solo”, a complete recording of J. S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, awarded as Discos Exceptionales by the Spanish magazine Scherzo. His latest solo album dedicated to Domenico Scarlatti (Obsidian Records 2022), presents an interesting selection of sonatas traditionally performed on the harpsichord, which may have originally been intended for violin and continuo.

Boris has joined the prestigious Vivaldi Edition catalog with the album “Le nuove vie” (Naïve 2021), in which he performs six of Vivaldi’s virtuoso concertos accompanied by Concerto Italiano conducted by Alessandrini. His performance was described as “a dazzling ray of sunshine” by BBC Music Magazine and was featured as Concerto Choice in the September 2021 issue.

Also critically acclaimed is the latest recital album by soprano Francesca Aspromonte, I(Pentatone 2023), which features Begelman as director of Arsenale Sonoro as well as solo violin.

His most recent engagements include a concert with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia as soloist and conductor; solo recitals of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas at the N&B Mareterra Festival and the Amici della Musica in Cagliari; and an international tour with Vivaldi’s Estro Armonico with Concerto Italiano.

Projects with Arsenale Sonoro in 2024 include: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for the Grandi Interpreti season at the Teatro Verdi in Sassari; a concert with Francesca Aspromonte at the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg; the first modern performance of Vinci’s Oratorio “per la Madonna del Rosario” at the Elbphilarmonie Festival of Early Music; and the first modern performance of Perti’s La Sepoltura di Cristo at the Tage Alter Musik in Herne.

In addition to his concert activity, Boris is also a dedicated teacher. Since November 2024 he has been teaching baroque violin at the Conservatorio Piccinni in Bari and regularly holds masterclasses, the latest of which was held at the Domaine Forget&Charlevoix Academy in Canada in July 2023.

Channa Malkin is known for her compelling musical personality and unbridled creativity. She was recently praised by Opera Today for “her pure and smooth voice, but full of feeling” and by La Opinión de Málaga for “her balance between vocal technique and precise musical phrasing and an unquestionable artistic talent.” She excels in a broad repertoire, from Mozart to Italian Baroque opera and Sephardic chamber music.

Channa’s most recent highlights include her title role debut in Händel’s Acis and Galatea with the Joven Orquesta Barroca Andalucía in Málaga, as well as a Vivaldi and Händel aria programme with the same orchestra. She made her recital debut at the Royal Concertgebouw with a semi-staged programme around the various identities of womanhood, inspired by 17th-century Italian composer Barbara Strozzi and Russian 20th-century poet Anna Akhmatova. Part of this recital was recently released as an EP on digital streaming platforms titled Channa Malkin Live at Concertgebouw. In the main hall of the Royal Concertgebouw, Channa performed as the first soprano in Mozart’s C Minor Mass as well as in an opera gala concert. With Ensemble Odyssee, she debuted at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in a programme around Anna Magdalena Bach, including some of the most beautiful Bach cantatas.

Other performances have brought Channa to Madrid, Göttingen, Istanbul, Ankara, Tata (Hungary), Lomza (Poland), and more, presenting programmes ranging from Zarzuela and Rossini arias with orchestra to Spanish and Sephardic folk songs with guitarist Izhar Elias, to intimate 17th-century songs with the orbist Mike Fentross and baroque ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa.

The Siena Cathedral Choir “Guido Chigi Saracini” was founded in September 2016 thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the Accademia Musicale Chigiana and the Opera della Metropolitana di Siena. The artistic group, made up of a variable number of singers from all over Italy, combines liturgical service and the realization of concerts of high artistic value, fully embodying the double title of Cathedral Choir dedicated to Count Chigi Saracini, founder of the Siena Academy, which bears his name. The choir prepares and performs every year a vast repertoire that embraces the most beautiful and heartfelt pages of the sacred choral tradition, addressed in the context of the liturgical animation of the main solemn celebrations of the Siena Cathedral, alongside those belonging to the cultural and concert heritage of international scope with the aim of spreading and enhancing choral production in Italy and abroad. The choir has performed in countless prestigious concerts both a cappella and with orchestra, ranging from Palestrina’s Missa Brevis to Pärt’s Berliner Messe, from Ligeti’s Lux aeterna to Tallis’s Spem in alium, Stockhausen’s Stimmung and Xenakis’ Nuits. The vocal ensemble has performed many works in world premiere, including Tigran Mansurian’s Seven Prayers with the ORT – Orchestra della Toscana for the celebrations of the Millennium of San Miniato al Monte in 2018 and Giovanni Sollima’s Six Studies on Dante’s Inferno for countertenor for choir and orchestra, performed on 10 June as part of the Ravenna Festival 2021 under the direction of Kristjan Järvi. Starting from 2021, the Siena Cathedral Choir “Guido Chigi Saracini” has been invited by the Sagra Musicale Umbra of Perugia as a choir in residence for the 5th edition of the International Composition Competition for a work of sacred music, the “Francesco Siciliani” Award.

Since 2021, the choir has collaborated with Ravenna Festival to organize important concerts, such as in 2024, Le Vie dell’Amicizia, conducted by Riccardo Muti, Dido e Enea nel giorno di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Ottavio Dantone.

The Siena Cathedral Choir “Guido Chigi Saracini” is conducted by Lorenzo Donati, a name of international excellence who, among other things, was a student in the composition courses of the Accademia Chigiana.

Pianist Corrado Ruzza trained at the Verona Conservatory under the guidance of the distinguished teacher Laura Palmieri, later perfecting his skills in Vienna with Paul Badura-Skoda and taking masterclasses with Michele Campanella, Jorg Demus, Dario De Rosa, and Norbert Brainin.
He is currently a professor of chamber music and coordinator of the Riva del Garda campus of the Bonporti Conservatory of Trento.
He focuses primarily on chamber music repertoire, to which he dedicates his artistic and teaching activities. Over the years, he has collaborated with many leading soloists, giving concerts throughout Europe and the United States. Among them are violinist Cristiano Rossi, flutists Giampaolo Pretto (with whom he formed a duo in his youth) and Andrea Griminelli, violinist Domenico Nordio, with whom he produced a CD for the UNICEF Channel, and singers Francesco Meli, Anna Dragoni, Serena Gamberoni, and others. The renowned Russian soprano Ljuba Kazarnovskaya chose him for numerous chamber music tours throughout the former Soviet Union.
He was the resident pianist at the Giuseppe Verdi National Museum in Busseto, where he collaborated with leading international singers in chamber concerts. He was also the official pianist for every edition of the AudiMozart! international competition for wind instruments in Rovereto, conceived and chaired by Maestro Marcello Abbado.
He is particularly active in research, promoting the lesser-known heritage of 19th-century Italian music through concerts, recordings, exhibitions, and conferences. Notable recordings, including the world premiere of modern works, include the complete chamber music of Giancarlo Colò and a CD of romances based on texts by the literary scholar Andrea Maffei (Verdi’s librettist), which have been praised by the music press. Tactus Records has entrusted him with the project of publishing the chamber works of Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari, whose first volume, featuring his violin sonatas and cello trios, has been enthusiastically received by critics, who have called it “significant for the remarkable quality of the interpretation… a release worthy of being a point of reference” (Musica, 5 stars).
Corrado Ruzza combines his artistic career with considerable experience in audio recording, honed over many years as a collaborator of Tonmeister Michael Seberich on countless recordings for all the major labels (Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, Brilliant, Decca, Chandos, etc.). He collaborated on the mastering of Grigory Sokolov’s historic Deutsche Grammophon CD “The Salzburg Recital,” which marked the Maestro’s return after a twenty-year absence from recording.

Diego Moreno Castelli studied violin at the Conservatory G. Verdi of Milan under the guide of Professor Cinzia Barbagelata. He graduated with honors, completing the First Level of the Superior Triennium and obtained a specialised degree in Violin at the same Institute with full marks and praise. He followed the international improvement courses with the maestro Pavel Vernikov and Igor Volochine and later he specialised with Oleksandr Semchuk at the International Academy of Imola and the Music School of Florence. He finally completed the PostGraduate in violin at the Hogeschool in Gent (Belgium) with the maestro Alessandro Moccia.
In 2023 he obtained the II level Academic Diploma of Baroque Violin at the Rovigo Conservatory under the guidance of the maestro Federico Guglielmo.
He attained Master Classes held by important musicians like C. Busch, M. Dancila, H. V. Freiberger, R. Clemencic, K. Leister, B. Belkin, E. Peace, P. Amoyal, S. Gazeau. He also dedicated himself in
historical research and attended specific courses on ‘600-‘700 repertoires. He is among the
founders of the Ensemble Tamuz (Berlin), with which he plays on ancient instruments the late classical and romantic repertoire according to the executive practice of the time. The ensemble, active between Germany, Switzerland and
Italy, collaborates with some of the leading experts in historical practises and boasts exhibitions in some of the most prestigious theatres on the international scene such as the Konzerthaus in Berlin and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
As first part of the second violins of the ensemble La Barocca, Diego collaborates with the Orchestre de Champs Elysees,
Kammerorchester Basel, les Musiciens du Prince, Orchestra and Choir Ghislieri, of which he performed as leader and first of the second violins, the Ensemble the Divine Harmony,
the ensemble Le Cercle de L’Harmonie, the ensemble Il Furibondo, Atalanta Fugiens, the Divertimento Ensemble, the Orhestra Sinfonica Leonore di Pistoia, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana, the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova,
the Orchestra Sinfonica Verdi di Milano, and is a member of the Geneva Camerata chamber orchestra (Geneve). In 2018 he was invited to play the role of leader of the second violins in the production of Siroe King of Persia by L. Vinci with the Orchestra of the San Carlo Theatre in Naples and since 2014 participates in the project Spira Mirabilis.
He has recorded for EMI Classic, Amadeus, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Sony, Glossa.
In 2011 he won the scholarship Letizia Rizzo Cipiciani of the Gubbio Summer Festival. Awarded in various competitions
he is the winner of the national competition city of Bardolino. He attended the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Milan. He taught Chamber Music at the Vecchi-Tonelli Conservatory of Modena.

“I had the opportunity to hear Enrico Casazza many years ago, at the Toniolo Theater in Mestre with the great and unforgettable violist Dino Asciolla in Mozart’s Duo in G major for violin and viola… I was deeply impressed by his luminous, precise sound, rich in dynamic nuances, truly a very refined and aristocratic way of playing. A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet him at the courses organized by Asolo Musica…
I remember the great pleasure of working with him and the regret of not being able to work with him longer.
I consider him one of the pinnacles of our Italian violin players and I am proud to have contributed, even for a short time, to his growth as an artist.”
Giuliano Carmignola

First violin and soloist of Cecilia Bartoli’s ensemble, Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco, conducted by Gianluca Capuano, of the “Gli Originali” orchestra of the Teatro Donizetti-Bergamo, and of the ensemble “La Magnifica Comunità” with historically informed instruments.
With the “Choc de la Musique” award received for the fourth volume of Boccherini’s Quintets, Enrico Casazza confirms his position as one of the most internationally acclaimed interpreters of early music. In addition to “Le Monde de la Musique,” he has received numerous reviews and awards from “Diapason,” “Amadeus,” “Musica,” “Fanfare magazine,” and “musicweb.”
His extensive recording activity has led him to release more than 80 CDs with major national and international labels, including Sony, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Opus 111, Naive, Stradivarius, Emi-Virgin, Dynamic, Tactus, and Brilliant.
He has also made recordings for RAI with the Ensemble “La Magnifica Comunità,” appearing at the “Concerti del Quirinale” in Rome and in various episodes of the “Piazza Verdi” program live in Milan, as well as “La Victoire de La Musique” with Spinosi’s Ensemble Mattheus for TV FRANCE and with the Ensemble Europa Galante for the BBC.
Born in Adria, he studied music at the “A. Buzzolla” Conservatory of Music, graduating with honors in violin. He continued his studies with Carlo Chiarappa, Pavel Vernikof, Dino Asciolla, Franco Gulli, and Giuliano Carmignola.
He began a brilliant concert career playing with renowned musicians and performing as a soloist at the most important international festivals and theaters.
He has been a guest at the most important international festivals and theaters, such as the Konzertegebow in Amsterdam, the Teatre de la Ville in Paris, the Teatro Carignano in Turin, the Teatro delle Belle Arti in Mexico City, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, the Teatro di Toulouse in France, the Noga Theater in Tel Aviv, Israel, the Theatre Henry Crown Hall in Jerusalem, Israel, the Chapelle Royale in Versailles, France, the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain, the Sala Penderewski in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Brahms Festival in Philipszaal, Netherlands, the Grote Zaal in Utrecht, Netherlands, and the Hoji Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Important collaborations have seen him as a soloist alongside illustrious musicians such as Cecilia Bartoli, Gianluca Capuano, Philippe Jaroussky, Vivica Genaux, Simone Kermes, Placido Domingo, Anne Helleberg, Nathalie Stutzmann, Dino Asciolla, and Fabio Biondi. C. Hogwood, C. Chiarappa, R. Goebel, L. Berio.
He teaches violin at the Donizetti Conservatory in Bergamo.

Musica Antiqua Latina, an internationally recognized baroque ensemble on original instruments, was created in 2000 by the director, musicologist and baroque cellist Giordano Antonelli. The Musica Antiqua Latina project promotes the rediscovery and diffusion of the great Italian baroque repertoire, of which Rome, where the group is resident, was one of the centers of maximum creativity. The specialized study of the baroque repertoire, particularly of Italian and Roman origin, is carried out by the Musica Antiqua Latina ensemble in direct connection with the places and historical iconology of the city of Rome, which gave life and reason to exist to the same repertoire.

Musica Antiqua Latina has been a guest of numerous festivals and associations throughout Europe, including the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano, Radio3 – I concerti del Quirinale, Musei in Musica, Stagione Musicale Etnea, Festival Perla Baroku Warsaw, Goldberg Festival Gdansk, Rome Baroque Festival, Rai Radio 3 Suite, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alte Musik, Malta International Baroque Festival, Sud Tirol Festival, Stradivari Festival. Musica Antiqua Latina records for the Sony Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label, with which it has received numerous awards and recognitions.

A multi-instrumentalist, he plays electric bass, double bass and violoni professionally. Over the years he studied electric bass with Dino D’Autorio, Riccardo Fioravanti, Luca Visigalli and Gaetano

Puzzutiello; double bass with Paolo Rizzi and Piermario Murelli, with whom he graduated first at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado and then at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, both in Milan; violoni with Paolo Rizzi and Vanni Moretto. For a more complete musical education he studied clarinet, piano, viola da gamba, basso continuo and singing, simultaneously graduating with full marks in ancient literature at the University of Milan.

A lover of working in big ensembles, orchestras and larger groups, he works in very different circuits. Between studio recordings, collaborations with orchestras, live, TV broadcasts and video clips in the pop field, he has worked for Marco Mengoni, Diodato, Alessandra Amoroso, Elodie, Niccolò ’ Fabi, Madame, Ernia, Sfera Ebbasta, Andrea Biccelli, Matteo Boccelli, Mika, Sister Cristina, Remo Anzovino, Jesse Ritch, Paola Donzella, Jennifer Batten, Andrea Casta.

As an electric bass player and double bass player he has played for the main Italian musical companies, such as Stage Entertainment, Compagnia della Rancia, WEC, Teatro Brancaccio in the musicals Pretty Woman, Mary Poppins, Cats, Sister Act, Spring Awekening, Funny Girl. He collaborates on call with numerous orchestras (Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi Orchestra, Testori Ensemble, Canova Orchestra, Milano Classica, etc.) on classical, contemporary, swing-jazz and pop music productions. Currently first double bass and violonist for various early and baroque music groups such as La Barocca, an instrumental ensemble on original instruments born as an offshoot of the Milan Symphony Orchestra (LaVerdi), La Terza Prattica, Musica Antiqua Latina, he takes part in numerous concerts and recordings between Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Colombia, both in productions with historical instruments and as an electric bassist in crossover productions between prog-rock and classical music – ORFEO BaRock by Monteverdi/Toni, REQUIEM by Mozart/Del Puerto, etc.

“An extraordinary pianist and excellent interpreter…” wrote the composer Joseph Horovitz about him the day after the recording of the famous Sonatina for clarinet and piano by Horovitz himself that Fausto Quintabà recorded with the clarinetist Ferdinand Steiner. The pianist Fausto Quintabà was born in Palermo in 1977 and graduated in piano with top marks and honors under the guidance of the pianist and composer M° Marcello Biondolillo at the “V. Bellini” conservatory in his city. He then perfected his skills at the “Musici Artis” Academy in Rome, the Sommerakademie of the “Mozarteum” in Salzburg and participated in numerous Master Classes held by Aquiles Delle Vigne. He then perfected his skills with M° Pierluigi Camicia and at the Pescarese Music Academy under the guidance of M° Bruno Mezzena. His artistic activity has led him to perform in many European countries including: Italy – Palermo Teatro Politeama, Austria – Vienna Konzerthaus – Salzburg Wiener Saal – Solitär – Großes Studio – Steinway Galerie – ORF Innsbruck and Salzburg, Germany, Croatia, Serbia, France – Salle Gaveau Paris, Holland – Concertgebouw Amsterdam), both as a soloist and in chamber music groups, in orchestras and in collaboration with singers (including Gabriella Costa, Nicola Alaimo, Jennifer Chamandy and Lim Hyung Joo).

He has collaborated with some of the most important Italian concert associations, including “Amici della Musica” in Palermo, “Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana” and in 2000 he worked as a Collaborator Maestro and as an Orchestra Pianist for the “Fondazione Teatro Massimo” in Palermo. With the clarinetist Gaspare Vittorio Buonomano he won, in the month of July 2004 alone, the first absolute prize in five international chamber music competitions: Città di Bojano (CB), Città di Massafra (TA), Premio Rovere d’Oro (Imperia), Premio Città di Morcone (BN), International Competition Lions Club Europeans (Salzburg). He performed with the ÖENM (Austrian National Ensemble for Contemporary Music) under the direction of Johannes Kalitzke, Tito Ceccherini, Peter WesenAuer and David Danzmayr, for the Austrian national radio Ö1, with the Trio Broz, with the Salzburg Classical Quintett, with the Sinfonietta Salzburg, with the Ensemble Acrobat for important chamber music and contemporary music festivals.

He has collaborated as a pianist accompanist at the Mozarteum Summer Academy with Peter Gülke, Simone Fontanelli and at the Mozarteum University with Alois Brandhofer and Grace Bumbry. In 2003 he graduated in Electronic Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Palermo. He also obtained a diploma in Piano at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under the guidance of Claudius Tanski with top marks and honors, obtaining the title of “Magister Artium”. He performed at the opening of the famous Salzburg Festival in July 2005 and July 2006. He attended the master’s degree at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and is currently a professor at the Innsbruck Conservatory of Music.

“The appeal of Aspromonte’s art lies not just in the wonderful vocal colors that she can generate, but in the voice’s flexibility, and in the detailed attention she gives to her phrasing, which is full of nuanced inflections and subtel ornamentations, underpinned by clear articulation”
OPERAWIRE                                                                                                                                                                 

Hailed as one of the finest interpreters of baroque and classical music, Francesca Aspromonte graduated with honors from the Mozarteum Salzburg and furthered her studies under the tutelage of Renata Scotto at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

 Francesca has performed in such venues as Teatro alla Scala, Carnegie Hall, Theatre de Champs-Elysees, Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, Zaryadye Hall, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Theatre an- der-Wien, Wiener Konzerthaus, Fundaçao Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Teatro Real de Madrid, Teatro la Fenice, Grand Theatre de Provence, Philharmonie Essen. She sang with renowned conductors such as Zubin Metha, John Eliot Gardiner, Ivor Bolton, Christophe Rousset, Gustavo Gimeno, Manfred Honeck, Diego Fasolis, Ottavio Dantone, Giovanni Antonini, Maxim Emelyanichev, Enrico Onofri, Leonardo García Alarcón, Raphaël Pichon, Andrea Marcon, Gianluca Capuano, Emmanuelle Haïm, Stefano Montanari.   Among her past engagements, it’s worth mentioning: the title role in Cavalli’s Erismena at the Festival d’Aix en Provence; the title role in Hasse’s Semele at the Innsbrucker Festwochen; title role in Orfeo&Euridice by Gluck at Palau de les Arts in Valencia; the title role in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at Beaune International Baroque Opera Festival; Euridice in Luigi Rossi’s L’Orfeo with Pygmalion; the title role in Caldara’s Dafne in Teatro la Fenice; Deidamia in Corselli’s Achille in Sciro at Teatro Real de Madrid with Ivor Bolton; Angelica in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso at Teatro La Fenice; La Musica and Messaggiera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the 2015 BBC Proms; the title role in Caldara’s La Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo in Prague with Collegium 1704; a recital at Moscow’s Conservatoire’s Grand Hall and the title role in Haendel’s Acis&Galatea at the Zaryadye Hall; Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Zubin Metha at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, primo uomo Carlo Celmino in Vinci’s Li zite ‘ngalera at Teatro alla Scala, plus numerous recitals dedicated to sacred, operatic or chamber music repertoire.   Francesca recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Sony DHM, Alpha Classics, Christophorus, Harmonia Mundi, Ricercare, HDB Sonus.   In 2018 Pentatone released her debut album “Prologue” (a selection of 17th-century operatic prologues, from Monteverdi to Scarlatti) with Il Pomo d’oro ensemble and Enrico Onofri, has been worldwide critically acclaimed.    Her second album for Pentatone “Maria&Maddalena” (among the best recordings of 2022 according to Gramophone) portrays the Two Maries through early 18th-century oratorios by Bononcini, Scarlatti, Haendel, Lulier, and others, together with violinist Boris Begelman and I Barocchisti under the baton of Diego Fasolis. 
 Her latest recital album “Un’alma innamorata” (Scherzo’s Discos Exceptionales, Rivista Musica 5 Stars, Classic Voice’s CD of the Month…) with Arsenale Sonoro conducted by Boris Begelman, features three Dear Saxon Italian cantatas as well as a world premiere recording opera aria.  Since 2019, Francesca teaches the performance practice and interpretation of the baroque repertoire at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.

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A student of Vincenzo Vitale, he is today considered one of the greatest exponents of the Neapolitan piano school.[1] In 1996, together with the Princess of Strongoli Donna Francesca Ferrara Pignatelli, he founded the Sigismund Thalberg International Study Center with the aim of promoting and disseminating the music of Sigismund Thalberg. In 1998, together with the pianist Vittorio Bresciani, he founded the Franz Liszt Piano Duo. Since 1996, he has been president of the Sigismund Thalberg International Study Center. He also holds the position of artistic director of the Sigismund Thalberg International Piano Award. Until 2015, he was artistic director of the International Courses of Advanced Musical Training and Education based in Naples and Rome, of the concert series “I concerti d’Estate a Villa Guariglia” on the Amalfi Coast, of the Festival “Jeux d’art a Villa d’Este” in Tivoli and of the Festival “Roccaraso in Musica”. From 2015 to 2019 he was artistic director of the E.A.R. Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, a traditional theatre recognized by the Italian State pursuant to art. 28, law 14 August 1967 n. 800 and subsequent amendments. He is currently President of the Advisory Commission for Music of the Ministry of Culture.

Awards

• 1980 Third prize at the Santander International Piano Competition
• 1980 Second prize at the Geneva International Music Performance Competition (first prize not awarded).
• 1994 “Bellini d’oro” Award
• 2004 “Ara di Giove” Award
• 2008 “Aci Castello Riviera dei Ciclopi” Award
• 2012 “Note nell’Olimpo” Award

• 2012 “Domenico Danzuso” Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2013 “Cosimo Fanzago” Award
• 2017 “Rachmaninov Award” Award
• 2021 “Pietro Golia” Award

Discography

He has recorded for the record companies Nuova Era and Marco Polo, for the latter he has recorded the complete paraphrases on the Italian opera by Sigismund Thalberg, he currently records for the record company Naxos.

Naxos

• Mozart: Piano Variations Vol 1
• Mozart: Piano Variations Vol 2
• Mozart: Piano Variations Vol 3
• S. Thalberg: Fantasias on Opera by Bellini
• S. Thalberg: Fantasias on Opera by Rossini
• S. Thalberg: Piano Concerto op. 5 and Others Pieces
• G. Paisiello: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 4
• C. Schumann: Piano Concerto Op 7 and Piano Trio Op 17
• F. Liszt: Dante Sonata S161 – Dante Symphony S648 (Franz Liszt Piano Duo)
• D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas Vol. 9
• G. Paisiello: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 3 and 5
• F. Liszt: A Faust Symphony S647 (Franz Liszt Piano Duo)

Marco Polo

• S. Thalberg: Fantasias on Operas by Bellini
• S. Thalberg: Fantasies on Operas by Donizetti
• S. Thalberg: Fantasies on Operas by Rossini
• S. Thalberg: Fantasies on Operas by Verdi, Rossini and Bellini
• S. Thalberg: Les Soirées de Pausilippe

New Era

• My Bellini
• S. Rachmaninov – Piano Variations
• Work for Cello and Piano: Duo Signorini – Nicolosi

Francesco Paolo Scola graduated at the age of 18 with top marks and honors from the “V. Bellini” Conservatory of Music in Palermo. After completing his studies, he began his orchestral career at a very young age, collaborating with the Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma under the direction of Maestro Riccardo Muti.

Winner of the 2009 (Principal Clarinet-Section Leader competition) at the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast (UK), he regularly performs as guest principal clarinet with many other orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra of Helsinki, the Orchestre Les Dissonances of Paris, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Orchestra John Wilson, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

A professor at Queen’s University Belfast and a visiting professor for the ARCS Clarinet Academy at Liverpool Hope University, he has more recently taught clarinet at the “A. Scarlatti” Conservatory of Music in Palermo.

He has performed under the baton of leading conductors, including Riccardo Muti, V. Petrenko, Dima Slobodeniuk, Jaime Martin, Yan Pascal Tortellier, Guy Braunstein, Michael Collins, and Daniele Rustioni, and has toured worldwide, performing in some of the most prestigious concert halls, including the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonie de Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Royal Albert Hall in London.

As a soloist with orchestra, he has performed most of the repertoire for clarinet and orchestra, from Mozart’s concertos to Weber’s, Copland’s, and John Williams’s, to name a few.

His concerts have been

broadcast live on radio and television by BBC Radio 3, RAI International, Yle Finnish Radio, BBC Radio Ulster, and NPO Radio 4 Netherlands. He has also recorded for the Chandos, Naxos and Hyperion labels.

He regularly gives courses and masterclasses for the Stupor Mundi Association, the Soni Ventorum Chamber Music Association, the Eliodoro Sollima Philharmonic Association, and the Accademia Mediterranea del Clarinetto. He has also been invited to give masterclasses at the Karlsruhe University of Music.

Particularly interested in chamber music projects around the world, he is a member of the Soni Ventorum Ensemble (Italy), the Fews Ensemble (Northern Ireland), and a regular guest of the Fidelio Trio (UK).

He has won numerous international competitions, including the Seiler Prize, the European Valle del Barocco Competition, and the Città di Caltanissetta International Chamber Music Competition, the latter a member of the Geneva International Federation of Competitions.

In his most recent projects, he has contributed to the creation of several new compositions dedicated to him, together with some of the most interesting contemporary composers, particularly the renowned Italian cellist/composer Giovanni Sollima, whose project included two pieces for clarinet and piano, “Anphenibene – Yafu”. The concerto for clarinet and strings “In quella parte del libro della mia memoria” by Marcello Bonanno, and the suite for solo clarinet “When Aslan shakes his name” by Anselm McDonnell and Professor Piers Hellawell’s “Woodsmoke” for clarinet and piano. All projects have been presented and broadcast by BBC radio on programs such as Classic Connections, Afternoon on 3, and Musical Postcards.

CHRISTIAN PIO NESE Born in 2007, he began studying the piccolo with his father at about 3 years old and already at 6 years old he participated in the first national and international competitions that he won without interruption. In 2017 he won the First Prize at the Crescendo International Competition Italy which led him to perform at the Carnegie Hall in New York at just 10 years old, and in 2018 the First Prize overall in the wind category of the Crescendo Competition city of Florence and the Crescendo Prize for Chamber Music in Duo with his brother Massimiliano on trombone, performing at the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. He participated as a soloist at the Pomir Festival in St. Petersburg (Russia) in 2019, at the Falaut Festival 2019, 2020 and 2024. He participated as an active student in the Masterclasses of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th “International Piccolo Festival” (Italy, Germany) doing masterclasses with the greatest piccolo players in the world such as N. Mazzanti, P. Verhoyen, P. Morris, M. Rossi, G. Hinze, V. Cortvrint, H. Lubcke, A. Benoit, T. Watson, N. Schwaabe who appreciated his great musical skills. He has performed in masterclasses by G. Nese, P.L. Graf, P. Taballione, A. Oliva, J. Zoon, J. Balint. He made his debut, at just 7 years old, as a soloist with the “Orchestra di Flauti A.Toscanini” directed by P. Totti, and held concerts as a soloist with orchestras and chamber groups in prestigious Italian halls. He won the Angelo Persichilli Award as “Young Talent” at the Pescara Flute Festival in 2021. He performs concerts in Italy and abroad in a Trio with his brother Massimiliano Nese on trombone and Francesco Ricci on piano, and also with the trio “I suoni di Pan” (2 flutes and piano). At just 13 years old, he was admitted to the three-year Flute course at the “Santa Cecilia” Conservatory in Rome, where he studied with the masters F. Albanese, V. Desideri and the last 2 years under the guidance of M° P. Tabachin with whom he obtained the first level diploma in July 2025. Since 2016, he has been the piccolo soloist and first flute in the Juniorchestra Young of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. With the same company, he was conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano for the 2022 Christmas Concert broadcast by Rai 5, by Nicola Piovani for the soundtrack of the film “Il Treno dei Bambini” at the Rome Film Festival, and by Simone Genuini, permanent director, with whom he performed as a soloist the show “Peter and the Wolf” by Prokofiev with the narration of Stefano Fresi, Alessandro Preziosi and Riccardo Rossi. In 2022 he won first prize at several international competitions such as Vienna, Birmingham, London and Berlin. He played at some Italian theaters with the Juniorchestra such as the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara. At 16 he was among the three finalists of the National Arts Award of the Italian Conservatories. He participated in the Masterclasses of the Festival Musicalp in Tignes (France) with Maestro Andrea Oliva and at the Falaut Campus 2024, where he was invited as a Young Promise to open the concert dedicated to the piccolo held by N. Mazzanti and J.L. Beaumadier, recording for the Festival CD. In 2024 he was admitted to the class of the Corso di Alto Perfezionamento of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Maestro Andrea Oliva. In the same year he was invited as an additional member of the Italian Army Band and was selected as a piccolo player for the project “Professione Orchestra RAI” 2025 of the Rai National Symphony Orchestra in Turin with Prof. F. Andriani, where for the occasion he was conducted by maestros A. Orozco-Estrada, M. Gardolinska and G. Fratta. In March and April 2025 he was invited to the Galway Flute Academy in Lucerne studying with Sir James Galway and Jeanne Galway. In June 2025 he graduated with top marks from the “G. Bruno” Music High School in Rome in piano.

MASSIMILIANO NESE, at only 16 years old, his trombone has already resonated as a soloist and as first trombone in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world such as: Sala Santa Cecilia of the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone in Rome, Carnegie Hall in New York, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Palazzo Kammerzowky in St. Petersburg, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Apollo in Lecce, Salle des Combins of the Verbier Festival, Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome. Winner of numerous international competitions in Padua, Florence, Berlin, London, Birmingham, Vienna. In 2023 he won the scholarship in memory of Giovanbattista Cutolo at the National Arts Award among all Italian conservatories in the trombone section. He began studying at 4 years old with A. Caterina, continued with E. Basilico and is currently a student of M. Costanzi at the Conservatory of Terni. He attended masterclasses with: Andrea Conti, Enzo Turriziani, Joseph Alessi, Hans Stroecker, Nico Schippers, Hans Alting, Perry Hoogendijk, Charles G. Vernon, Gabriele Malloggi, Jonathan Reith, Giovanni Dominicis. He has been conducted by world-famous maestros such as: Sir A. Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, D. Renzetti, A. Orozco-Estrada, James Gaffigan, Vincenzo Milltarì, S. Kochanovsky, R. Gonzales-Monjas, G. Takacs-Nagy, M. Martinelli and S. Genuini. He is the first trombone of the Juniorchestra Young of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He won the audition at the Concertgebouworkest Young 2023 (Netherlands), at the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra 2024 of the Verbier Festival (Switzerland) for which he was also invited for the next edition of 2025. In 2025 he was the first eligible to audition for the ONCI (National Orchestra of Italian Conservatories) among all the Italian conservatories. He also played Mahler’s first symphony at the Rome Chamber Music Festival 2025.

Gianni de Rosa graduated in viola with full marks from the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan under the guidance of Angelo Bartoletti, also completing composition studies with Ivan Fedele. From 1994 to 1999 he was first viola of the “G. Verdi” Symphony Orchestra of Milan, collaborating with internationally renowned conductors and soloists including Riccardo Muti, Carlo Maria Giulini, George Prêtre, Riccardo Chailly, Gianandrea Noseda, Tibor Varga and Enrico Dindo.

He also cooperated with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the RAI National Symphony Orchestra. He regularly performs in chamber ensembles with a repertoire ranging from classicism to twentieth-century history and contemporary music.

Since 1991 he has been a member of Le Concert des Nations directed by Jordi Savall, with whom he has taken part in tours in Europe, the Americas and Asia, also as first part and soloist. He has held the position of first viola in important ensembles specialized in historical practice, including Accademia Bizantina (Ottavio Dantone), Ensemble Zefiro (Alfredo Bernardini), I Barocchisti (Diego Fasolis), La Risonanza (Fabio Bonizzoni), Europa Galante (Fabio Biondi), Il Giardino Armonico (Giovanni Antonini), Kammerorchester Basel and Consort Gabetta. He has also collaborated with Café Zimmermann and The Rare Fruits Council.

Since 2011 he has been a member of the Furibondo String Trio. He has numerous recordings under his belt for labels such as Astrée, Alia Vox, Decca, Naïve, Opus 111, Glossa, Arts, Chandos, Stradivarius and RTSI Multimedia. He teaches viola and baroque viola at the Civica Scuola di Musica “Claudio Abbado” in Milan.

Giordano Antonelli, a student of the great Russian cellist Ivan Monighetti, devoted himself to the study of performance practice in ancient music and baroque cello with Christophe Coin, at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel.

From 1998 to 2003 he collaborated as solo cello with the Granada Symphony Orchestra (OCG, Spain), making recordings with Harmonia Mundi France, and concert tours in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, USA. Giordano Antonelli has held the position of first solo cello and continuo player at the Orchestra of the Theatre Royale La Monnaie – Brussels, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Sevilla Baroque Orchestra, I Fiati di Parma, Kammer Orchester Basel, Neues Orchester Basel, Granada Baroque Orchestra, Prague Mozart Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester (all); he has played as first cello alongside conductors such as C.Hogwood, G.van Waas, G.Carmignola, G.Antonini, B.Sargent, F.Brueggen, F.Biondi, K.Ono, P.Herreweghe, C.Abbado, G.Acciai. The principal solo cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Ludwig Quandt, wrote: ‘Giordano Antonelli is one of the rare musicians, who are able to create links between active musicians and music scientists as well as to build up and to lead ensembles that perform directly from the archives’. He collaborated for some years as principal cellist in Il Giardino Armonico, and frequently plays the five-string cello piccolo (P.A. Landolfi, Milan circa 1770), widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries, for which he has carried out an in-depth philological and repertoire study. He is the founder and director of the baroque ensemble Musica Antiqua Latina.

Graduated in choral music, choir conducting and sacred vocal polyphony under the guidance of Pierluigi Zangelmi, in band instrumentation with Lorenzo Semeraro at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, where he also studied composition with Franco Cioci. He studied conducting with Bruno Campanella and Georg Solti, of whom he was an assistant, finally perfecting himself with Franco Ferrara in Rome, Assisi, Verona and at the Chigiana Musical Academy in Siena. He studied choir conducting with the Bulgarian masters George Robef and Samuil Vidas. Holder of the chair of orchestral exercises at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Florence, he was in the past also among the main teachers of the “Florence Conducting Masterclasses” international conducting courses based in Florence aimed at young conductors from all over the world attended in the 2012 edition by young people from Germany, the Netherlands, Belarus, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Portugal, Japan, Austria, Republic of Singapore, the United States and Italy.

In 1981 he founded in Florence the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, which has 35 members consisting of winds and strings. With the Florentine Chamber Orchestra, Lanzetta holds concerts in Italy, in Europe and in several non-European countries. He made his international debut in 2003 in Berlin with the Berliner Symphoniker. In 2006, 2008 and 2009 it was the turn of Carnegie Hall in New York. Since 1987 he has been a guest of many orchestras in Mexico City. Symphonic and chamber compositions were performed by RAI.

Some of the orchestras he conducted are: The Wiener Residenzorchester which in the history section of his site defines Lanzetta as one of the most prestigious conductors, the Symphony Orchestra of Bacau and that of Novi Sad in Austria, The Chamber Orchestra of Israel, The Ukrainian Philharmonic of Donetzk, the State Orchestra of Craiova (Romania), The Symphony Orchestra of Moscow, The Toronto Symphony, The Joensu Philharmonich (Finland), The Aaken Sinfonie Orchester and Wroclaw Philharmonic (Poland), the Hermitage of St. Petersburg, The Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (Turkey). He conducted famous choirs such as that of the Municipal Theatre of Florence and the International Choir of Leuven (Belgium) and the Madrigal Choir of Bucharest.

In Italy he has conducted: the Orchestra Regionale Toscana, the orchestra “I Solisti fiorentini” of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Ensemble of the Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra della Gioventù Musicale of Italy, L’Orchestra da Camera Romana e Veronese, the Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali of Milan, l’Orchestra Sinfonica of Sanremo.

Lanzetta is also honorary president of the Florence offices of the Mozart Association of Italy.

‘with a feeling for style, timing, colour and depth he transcends his instrument’
(Dutch national newspaper Trouw)

EARLY MUSIC — CHAMBER MUSIC — NEW MUSIC

His poetic style in combination with profound research makes Izhar Elias (Netherlands) one of the most sought-after specialists in early music, chamber music and new music for guitar. He has given concerts, lectures and masterclasses, and been the soloist in concertos with renowned orchestras, in Europe, Russia, south-east Asia, Australia and the US. Izhar has won many national and international competitions. He is winner of the prestigious Dutch Music Prize, the highest musical award given by the Dutch government. Through extensive research, Izhar Elias has been able to recreate a musical language of the renaissance, baroque, classical and romantic periods using original instruments and historical methods. Izhar Elias teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Izhar Elias’ impressive collection of CD releases have earned him worldwide critical acclaim.
In 2021 his 14th album has been released: Le Plaintif (Brilliant Classics), with French baroque music. Le Plaintif has been nominated for the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2022. His 15th album is about to be released: La Guitaromanie (Cobra Records), with early 19th century world premiere recordings Izhar Elias has premiered over 50 contemporary works. In addition he mixes different artistic disciplines in his collaborations with choreographers, experimental film makers and theatre directors.

He studied at the Liceo Musicale in Arezzo and at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, graduating in violin and composition. He then attended various advanced courses to get to the three-year course in choral conducting organized by the “Guido d’Arezzo” Foundation in Arezzo and subsequently to the Master of Advanced Studies of the same Guido d’Arezzo Foundation. He studied film composition with Ennio Morricone and various composition seminars with Luciano Berio, Azio Corghi and Salvatore Sciarrino at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena.

In the years 1995-2007 he received various prizes in composition competitions for choral music, including a first prize at the XXVI International Composition Competition “Guido di Arezzo” in Arezzo (1999) and at the International Competition “Carlo Gesualdo e l’Irpinia” in Avellino (2003).

He is the founder and permanent director of the Vox Cordis Vocal Ensemble, with which he participates in various competitions, winning in particular the first prize at the Vittorio Veneto National Choral Competition in 2003, the 2nd prize and the audience prize – equal voices category at the “Florilège Vocal” International Competition in Tours in 2013, the 1st prize at the Cantonigròs International Competition and the 2nd and 3rd prize at the Montreux International Choral Festival (2010 and 2013).

Between 1996 and 2006 he founded and directed the Hesperimenta Vocal Ensemble, a solo quartet with which he recorded discs of ancient music and won the competitions of Vittorio Veneto, Arezzo, Zagarolo, Marano Vicentino and was awarded at the competitions of Gorizia and Lugano. Between 2011 and 2014, together with Dario Tabbia, he directed the Coro Giovanile Italiano, with which he won first prize at the Florilège Vocal de Tours competition in 2014.

He collaborates with numerous national and international institutions such as the Associazione dei Cori delle Toscana, the Centro Studi Musicali F. Busoni in Empoli, FENIARCO, Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo. He holds courses on choral music and composition in Italy and abroad (China, France, Georgia, Japan, Indonesia, Russia,) and for important conducting schools (Accademia Corale Italiana, Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo). Since 2008, he has been the artistic director of the Incontro Internazionale Polifonico Città di Fano festival.

He currently teaches choral conducting at the B. Marcello Conservatory of Venice. He directs the UT Insieme vocale-consonante formation with which he won the European Grand Prix for choral singing in 2016.

Marcello Scandelli was born into a family of musicians. He studied at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory in Milan with Giuseppe Lafranchini, the first cello of Teatro alla Scala. He continued his studies with Paul Tortelier, Gabor Eckhardt, Amedeo Baldovino, and the “Trio di Trieste,” with whom he earned a scholarship and Diploma of Merit at the AccademiaChigiana, as well as a scholarship at the Scuola di Fiesole as the top student in the chamber music class. He has performednumerous concerts in Europe, Russia, South America, and the United States, collaborating with artists such as Franco Gulli, Marco Fornaciari, Fabio Biondi, Stefano Montanari, Ezio Bosso, Ottavio Dantone, Sigisvald Kuijken, Monica Hugget, Enrico Gatti, Sergio Azzolini, Giuliano Carmignola, Mario Brunello, Massimo Mercelli, Isabelle Faust, and Patricia Kopatchinskaja. He has collaborated as principal solo cellist with various early music ensembles. He often appears with “Accademia dell’Annunciata,” “I Virtuosi Italiani,” “Il Giardino Armonico,” and “Consort Gabetta.” He has performed with Milano Classicafor over twenty years as cello soloist and director. In 1996, he founded the ensemble “Il Furibondo,” an instrumental group that allows him to tackle a wide range of repertoire from seventeenth-century canzona to concertos, from ricercares to liturgical and secular cantatas and from Renaissance dances to eighteenth-century sonatas. From the origins of this ensemble, together with Liana Mosca and Gianni de Rosa, he founded in 2011 the string trio on period instruments “Il Furibondo” String Trio. He has made many recordings, including “Viaggio a Napoli” for Stradivarius with music by Leo, Durante, and Fiorenza as a soloist and director with Milano Classica, and “Sacred Music in Lombardy” as director for the Pan Classics record label.

Awarded in the 3 most prestigious violin competitions – the Tchaikovsky in Moscow, the Queen Elizabeth in Brussels and the Indianapolis Violin Competition – Marco Rizzi is particularly appreciated today for the quality, strength and depth of his interpretations. In 1991 he was awarded the “European Musikförderpreis” as one of the most interesting violinists of the new generation. He played with directors such as R. H. Chailly A. Vonk Eötvös, S. Neuhold and with renowned orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Concerts Lamoreux, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonisch, the RTVE Orchestra in Madrid, the BBC Scottish, the Nederlands Philharmonic, and many others.

Marco Mencoboni, harpsichordist and organist, was born in 1961 in Macerata. He studied with Umberto Pineschi, Ton Koopman, Jesper Christensen and Gustav Leonhardt. He obtained a high school diploma in Renaissance Vocality with top marks and honors at the Conservatory of Lecce, under the guidance of Diego Fratelli. For years he has dedicated himself to the reconstruction of the ancient musical repertoire of the Marche; thanks to his work, a musical world of great value has come to light, completely unknown until a few years ago. Since 1999 he has been the artistic director of the Cantar Lontano Festival, which is held every year in Ancona. His incessant research work has led to the rediscovery and re-evaluation of the practice of cantar lontano, a very refined way of performing vocal music that was performed in the Renaissance by arranging the singers in different points of the performance space, so that they were not visible; the result is a total immersion in music, as if it were performed by many choirs. He combines his passion for music with the pleasure of writing, photography and travel. Some of his stories have been published by the magazine FMR; in 2007 he made his first short film entitled Looking for Vicky. Also for the cinema he wrote the screenplay and starred in the film Un canto lontano directed by Alberto Momo and with the participation of Toni Servillo (short short film award at the 2008 Venice Film Festival). He founded and directs the record label E lucevan le stelle Records for which he has produced around thirty records dedicated to the unreleased music of his homeland. He regularly performs at the most important music festivals, including Ambronay, Utrecht, Antwerp, Pontoise, Lisbon, Sferisterio Opera Festival, Rossini Opera Festival, to name just a few. Very recently (2011) he began his collaboration with Pier Luigi Pizzi on Monteverdi’s sacred and profane works. He is a regular guest conductor of FORM, the Orchestra Filarmonica delle Marche. Since 2011 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of REMA (Réseau Européen de la Musique Ancienne, Paris), a European network of ancient music festivals supported by the European Union. He has collaborated with Jordi Savall, Max van Egmond, Gabriel Garrigo, Toni Servillo, Olivia Williams, Luis Miguel Cintra, Anna Caterina Antonacci. He has won numerous prizes and awards; the Metropolitan Museum of New York commissioned an important project of musical restitution. The uniqueness and spectacular nature of the productions he creates within the Cantar Lontano Festival lead him to hold conferences on the concept of his productions (Estella Festival de Musica Antigua 2012, Stockholm Festival of Ancient Music 2013). In 2010 he performed a world premiere at the Port of Ancona with a spectacular concert where, from the top of a crane, he directed the sirens of seven ships moored at the various docks of the port, combining their notes, harmonized with the Guidonian hexachord, with the voices of four singers also positioned on the cranes of the port. His latest project was realized with the birth of the baroque orchestra Canalgrande (2012), composed of young musicians from all the nations bordering the Adriatic Sea. In 2013 he was present as a director at the Cité de la Musique in Paris and at the Casa da Musica in Porto.

Maria Salvatori, born in Florence in 2004, began studying the cello at the age of five, immediately demonstrating a particular talent, which soon led her to obtain significant recognition.

In 2016 she won the scholarship as the best student overall at the Fiesole School of Music, which she attended in the class of Marianne Chen first and then Luca Provenzani; in 2017 she began studying with Ivan Monighetti in Basel. In 2021 she won the scholarship to enter the Escuela de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid, which she has been attending since September 2021. She has attended Masterclasses with Natalia Gutman, D. Geringas, Franz Helmerson, Mario Brunello. Maria has won national and international awards such as the first prize at the “Riviera Etrusca” National Competition, the first prize at the 7th “Antonio Salieri” International Competition, the first prize at the 11th “Antonio Janigro” International Competition in Croatia, the first absolute prize at the XII Premio Crescendo – Città di Firenze in 2021 and the third prize at the 4th Penderecki International Cello Competition in Krakow in 2023.

In 2019 she won the audition as first cello of the Royal Concertgebouw Youth Orchestra in Amsterdam and in 2020 the one for the same role in the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra (VFJO). In 2022 Rai Radio 3 dedicated the episode of “La Stanza della Musica” on November 16 to her; in the same year she won the Selection for the project “Attraverso i suoni”, soloists section, which saw her engaged in a series of concerts in Tuscany.

She plays as a soloist and in various chamber groups, performing in important concert institutions such as the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Amici della Musica in Florence, the Filarmonica Romana, the Cantiere Internazionale d’arte in Montepulciano and the Dresden Music Festival. She benefits from a scholarship from the Internationale Musikakademie in Liechtenstein, taking part in the “intensive music weeks” and the activities that take place there.

He began his music studies at a very young age, dedicating himself to the folk, rock and pop repertoire and later moved on to classical studies of Organ and Organ Composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. Not yet graduated, he won two scholarships at the X and XII editions of the Noale National Organ Competition. Driven by his great passion for early music, he studied Basso Continuo and Chamber Music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he worked as an accompanist and was called to direct the “Opern-Klasse” in the 1997/98 school year.

He began his artistic activity in 1997 as an assistant to Alessandro De Marchi, with whom he collaborated regularly until 2008 and occasionally over the years. From 2002 to 2007 he was an assistant to René Jacobs. He accompanies the activity of director to that of harpsichordist in titles such as: Così Fan Tutte, L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Gli Amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, La Diana Schernita, Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, La Serva Scaltra, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme as well as numerous concert programs and original shows such as: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, BaroccArmonica, Et in Arcadia Ego.

From 2011 to 2013 he was Didactic and Artistic Director of the Civic Musical Institute Brera of Novara. In 2017 he began a new activity as a composer and arranger, debuting Orfeo at baRock opera, a new arrangement of Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi.

Matteo Guasconi, born in Siena in 1996, began studying piano at the age of 7.
From 2010 to 2015 he studied with Alessio Tiezzi at the H. W. Henze Music Institute in Montepulciano
(SI), where he won two scholarships as Best Student (2011 and 2015) and an Extraordinary scholarship (2013).
In 2015 he enrolled at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence where, under the guidance of Cecilia
Giuntoli, he obtained the first level diploma with top marks and honors in February 2019 and the second level diploma with top marks, honors and mention in May 2021.
He has participated in various piano and chamber music competitions achieving excellent results. In 2018
he participated in the 17th Calcit Competition in Arezzo, winning the 1st category prize and the 1st absolute prize ex-aequo in all categories.
In recent years he has held concerts as a soloist, in chamber groups and with orchestra in numerous musical events.
He has performed with various orchestras including the Zurich Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Massimiliano Matesic, the “Arezzo Open Orchestra” and in Switzerland with the “Binningen Orchester”.
He has held chamber music concerts for the “Momenti Musicali” and “Sorsi di Musica” (2016) and “Il Cherubini all’Istituto Francese” (2019) festivals and as a soloist for the
“Note tra i Libri” festival (2018).
He has performed in various editions of the “CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE DI MONTEPULCIANO” music festival.
In October 2020 he played as a soloist for the “Universo Bach” festival together with the
“Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina”.
In August 2021 he performed in a duo with cello for the “Paesaggi Musicali Toscani” festival.
He attended piano masterclasses held by illustrious teachers such as Markus Bellheim, Pier Narciso Masi, Massimiliano Damerini, Gustavo Romero.
He is currently a piano teacher at the “U. Cappetti” municipal music school in Monte San Savino, the D.I.M.A. Academy in Arezzo and the H. W. Henze Institute in Montepulciano.
He works as a piano collaborator at the Rinaldo Franci Conservatory in Siena.
Since January 2024 he has collaborated with the soprano Stefania Paddeu holding concerts in important festivals, including “Careggi in Musica” organized by the Agimus of Florence and obtaining good results in important competitions, most recently the third prize at the 28th and 29th Giulio Rospigliosi International
Competition. Since December 2024, always with the same duo, he has attended, at the Fiesole School of
Music, the “Masterclass of High Perfection in Lieder” held by Maestro Erik Battaglia.

Born in 1992, he began studying piano at the age of five, continuing it at the Central School of Music of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow since 1999, the year in which he made his debut in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. Since 2005 he has been a student of Mikhail Voskresensky with whom he completed his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He is currently studying with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Music in Hannover.

At 18, he was the youngest finalist at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where he received a special mention.

In 2012, he won the first absolute prize at the Dublin International Competition with a thrilling performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto. Also in 2012, he won the 2nd Prize and the Audience Award at the 10th Sydney International Competition, where he also received five special prizes.

He has performed successfully in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Gaveau, Théâtre de Champs-Elysees and the Louvre in Paris, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and has collaborated with orchestras such as the Tokyo Symphony, the Sydney Symphony, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Czech National Orchestra, the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, the RTE National Symphony.

In Italy he has played several times with great success both in recital (Ravello Festival, Concerts at the Quirinale of Radio Tre, Varignana Festival, Ravenna Festival), and with orchestra: Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana.

In 2011 Accord released Khozyainov’s first CD with music by Chopin and Liszt. In 2012 he recorded a Chopin CD for the Chopin Institute in Warsaw and a CD with music by Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin and Liszt for JVC Victor in Japan, which in 2014 released a new CD with Ravel’s Pavane and Gaspard de la nuit, Chopin’s Barcarolle and Berceuse and Liszt’s Sonata in B minor. Reviewing the first of his four CDs in Fanfare in 2011, Dave Saemann wrote: “Khozyainov is clearly an extraordinary artist. He has it all: a great sound, a splendid technique and a musicality far beyond his years. […] The fact that, at his age, his talent can only grow is frightening. The possibilities for his mastery seem virtually limitless.”

The Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina was formed in 1981 by will of Maestro Giuseppe Lanzetta, its current permanent director, with the aim of spreading knowledge of the symphonic and chamber repertoire. In a few years, the Orchestra has attracted the attention of national and international critics thanks to numerous concerts held both in Italy, for the most important musical institutions, and abroad in various tours: United States, Mexico (III Gran Festival of Mexico City 1991, VI International Music Festival of Morelia 1994), Europe (42nd International Festival of Santander, IV International Festival of Gandia Spain, Tour 1993 – Gran Teatro M. De Falla of Cadiz, Auditorium M. De Falla of Granada, Gran Teatro of Huelva, Sala Argenta of Santander, Salón de Actos of Avilés, Sala de Concertos Caixavigo of Vigo, Teatro Principal of Orense – Spain, Tour 1994), (Malaga – Tarragona – Zaragoza – Santander – Spain, Tour 1997), Malta 1996 – Brazil 1997 – Portugal 1998 – Brazil 1998 – Slovenia 1999 and 2004 – Poland 2002 – Germany 2003 – Croatia 2006 – Spain 2011 (Tarragona, Reus, Murcia, Valencia – Palau da musica). It is made up of about 40 elements that can also be structured into agile chamber groups: it organizes national and international competitions. Since 1985, its concert activity in Italy and abroad has been partly financed by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. It has performed over 1850 concerts, many of which for RAI and for the most important international networks, always obtaining unanimous acclaim from the public and critics who have defined it as “one of the best European Chamber Orchestras”. It has recorded various compact discs of rare music and baroque music under the direction of Maestro G. Lanzetta, also recording for Amiata Records. It has hosted internationally renowned ensembles and soloists such as: Mario Brunello, Augusto Vismara and Christiane Edinger, Jorge Demus, Eduard Brunner, David Garrett, Aldo Ciccolini, Alessandro Carbonare, Alessio Allegrini, Francesco Bossone, Rolando Panerai, Andreas Blau, Bruno Canino, Daniele Damiano, Cristiano Rossi, Vincenzo Mariozzi, Domenico Pierini, Piero Bellugi, Alessandro Specchi, Umberto Clerici, Gary Karr, Andrea Nannoni, Filippo Maria Bressan, Ilya Grubert, L’Athestis Chorus, Il Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Il Coro Harmonia Cantata, the Berliner Philarmoniker Chamber Orchestra, Cameristi del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Ensemble dell’Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and the soloists of La Scala in Milan. It has also invited conductors from all over the world, chamber ensembles and chamber orchestras. It received the Beato Angelico Award in 2005 and the Florence Award in 2006 for its work in Florence and around the world in its 30 years of activity. It is also funded by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Florence, the Tuscany Region, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and other public and private entities. Thanks to its activity, it has also made prestigious churches and museums such as the Church of Orsammichele, the National Museum of Bargello, the Courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi, the Badia Fiorentina, S. Felice in Piazza, S. Jacopo Soprarno, S. Michele e Gaetano, and the Arium of Santo Stefano al Ponte Vecchio open to music. Its activity includes concerts during metropolitan and regional major events and the organisation of high-level concerts for the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (the “Mercoledì Musicali” of the Ente Cassa).

Born in Falerone (Fermo), Paolo Vergari studied piano and composition at the “L. D’Annunzio” Conservatory in Pescara with Giovanna De Fanti, later perfecting his skills with M. Della Chiesa D’Isasca, E. Hubert, A. Ciccolini, T. Nikolajewa, A. Hintchev.

He has performed in the most important theaters and international festivals, including the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Sala Nervi in ​​the Vatican City, the Teatro Regio in Parma, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, the Sala Scarlatti in Naples, the Teatro Verdi in Salerno, the United Nations Auditorium in New York, the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the Dante Alighieri Cultural Center in Moscow, at the Klementinum and in the Martinu Hall in Prague, IRCAM Paris, the Sala A. Williams in Buenos Aires, the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Montpellier-Radio France Festival, the Stresa Musical Weeks, the Pontino Festival.

His performances have been broadcast by RAI, TMC, Radio France, RSI, Radio Maltese, Blu Sat 2000, ORF, Radio France, SenadoTv Brazil.

Since 2004 he has been regularly touring Asia, especially China, playing in the most important theaters of the country in Beijing, Shanghai, Canton, Shenyang, Shenzhen.

He has played as a soloist with the Windkraft Orchestra, the Radio Sofia Orchestra, the Lublin Philarmonia Orchestra, the Bacau Philharmonic (Romania), The State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Parma Wind Orchestra, the Brno Philharmonic, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, the Salta Philharmonic, the Virtuosi Italiani, collaborating with conductors such as: Giorgio Bernasconi, Mirjam Schimdt, Marco Della Chiesa D’Isasca, Petr Altrichter, Kaspar De Roo, Michele Santorsola, Jorge Lhez, Francesco Ivan Ciampa.

His interest in chamber music masterpieces has led him to prestigious collaborations with: the “Szymanowski Quartet”, violinist Nicolas Chumachenco, in a piano duo with Alessandro Cappella, with the Oggimusica Ensemble of Lugano and with the ADM Ensemble of Modena of which he was a founding member.

Paolo Vergari was the founder and artistic director of Badiamusica (Bolzano), an international festival founded in 2000 that hosts prestigious performers.

Among his considerable recording production, he has published the complete six concertos for piano and orchestra by Gian Francesco Malipiero performed in 2005 with the Iasi Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania). Considered by critics to be one of the most important works of recent years, in 2003 he recorded a double CD containing the 40 Studi di perfezionamento by Gino Tagliapietra, in an absolute first recording.

For the Clarius Audi label he recorded the Goyescas by E. Granados. For the Phoenix and Altrisuoni labels he has interpreted authors such as O. Messiaen, L. Liviabella, C. Rastelli, Vassena, Hoch. From the recent collaboration with Da Vinci Classics he has published Last Piano Works, Le Harmonies poétiques et religieuses by Liszt and the Novellette op. 21 by Schumann. From the passion for the practice of improvisation and the training work carried out with M° François Rossé, Vergari creates performances by improvising with piano alone or together with other musicians including the tambourine player Carlo Rizzo. He composed and directed the music for the film “Duns Scoto” by director Fernando Muraca and the documentary film “The Innocents of Florence” directed by David Battistella. He has held courses and masterclasses at Kunming University (Yunnan-China), “G. Enescu” University in Iasi (Romania), Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana (Cuba), Magnificat Institute in Jerusalem – a school, the latter – that hosts teachers and students of different cultural and religious traditions.

He has been a piano teacher at various conservatories in Italy, currently he holds the chair of piano at “N. Sala” in Benevento.

Founded in Vienna in 2019 on the principles of ‘chaos’ in art, science, and philosophy, the Chaos String Quartet has swiftly made its mark on the international music stage. Comprising musicians from Germany, Hungary, Italy, and the Netherlands, the quartet was selected as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists for 2023-2025. Through this scheme, they frequently record for BBC Radio 3 and perform at some of the UK’s most renowned festivals and concert halls, including Wigmore Hall, Cheltenham Music Festival, Britten Pears Arts, and the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

Even before their triumph at the International String Quartet Competition Bad Tölz, the ensemble had won multiple awards at major competitions. These include the Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna (including the Audience Prize), ARD Competition in Munich, and Second Prize, along with the award for best interpretation of Kaija Saariaho’s work “Terra Memoria” (with Saariaho herself as a jury member) at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. They have also been awarded various prizes at the Rimbotti Competition and Bartók World Competition in Budapest.

Their debut CD, featuring works by Haydn, Hensel, and Ligeti, received widespread critical acclaim from outlets like BBC Music Magazine, Le Monde, Orchestergraben, and Ritmo, and was nominated for the ‘Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik’.

Contemporary music holds a special place in the Chaos String Quartet’s repertoire. They regularly perform works by composers such as György Kurtág, Kaija Saariaho, Helmut Lachenmann, Rebecca Saunders, Dobrinka Tabakova, and Francesca Verunelli. Several composers have written and dedicated works specifically for them, including Diego Conti’s “Une étoile dansante” (2023) and Alessio Elia’s “Voids of Inequality” for string quartet and clarinet, which premiered at the Schwetzinger Mozartfest in October 2024. Additionally, they have collaborated with composer and sound painter Samu Gryllus, creating improvisational transitions for their concert program “Chaos” and working on improvisations inspired by Beethoven’s Quartet Op.131 for their debut at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. In March 2025, they will premiere a new work by Errollyn Wallen, co-commissioned by the BBC and the Henry Barber Trust.

Beyond their classical and contemporary performances, the quartet is committed to making string quartet repertoire more accessible. Their project “Free the Franz”—a collaboration with jazz saxophonist István Grencsó to reinterpret Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden”—has been particularly rewarding.

Under the mentorship of Prof. Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet) in Vienna through the ECMAster program, the ensemble also completed postgraduate studies at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole under the guidance of the Cuarteto Casals. They have received further musical insights from esteemed artists such as Eberhard Feltz, András Keller (Keller Quartet), Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet), and Helmut Lachenmann.

The Chaos Quartet is a member of the ‘MERITA’ project and was selected for the ‘New Austrian Sound of Music’ program, which has taken them to perform in Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

Characterized by their powerful communication, thoughtful musical and stylistic exploration, and original selection of repertoire, the quartet is frequently invited to prestigious festivals such as the Schwetzingen SWR Festival, Mozartfest Würzburg, Les Musicales de Normandie, Davos Festival, Ravenna Festival, Lockenhaus Festival, Wien Modern, Hitzacker Music Festival, Heidelberg Streichquartettfest, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season include debuts at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Wigmore Hall in London, Bozar in Brussels, Schönberg Center, and Musikverein in Vienna. Looking ahead to the 2024/25 season, the quartet will debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, return to Wigmore Hall and the Musikverein, and embark on tours in North America and China.

Susanne Schäffer plays a violin by Carlo Giuseppe Testore (c. 1710), kindly on loan from the MERITO String Instruments Trust and Bas Jongen plays a cello by Hendrick Jacobs (Amsterdam, 1696), kindly loaned to him by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation (NMF).

Cecilia Ziano| Clara Franziska Schötensack Francesca Piccioni| Giorgio Casati

The Lyskamm Quartet was founded in 2008 at the Milan Conservatory. In 2016, the Borletti Buitoni Trust awarded the Lyskamm Quartet the Claudio Abbado Special Prize for Chamber Music. In previous years, the quartet received the second prize and the special Pro Quartet prize at the Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne international competition in Graz, the Vittorio Rimbotti prize from the European Quartet Academy, the Jeunesse Musicale Deutschland prize, the Ad Infinitum Foundation scholarship, and first prize at the Possehl Stiftung competition in Lübeck and the Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award in Lugano. The Lyskamm Quartet has been a guest of numerous concert societies in Italy and Europe, including the Società del Quartetto of Milan, the Amici della Musica of Florence, the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna, the Amici della Musica of Padua, Musicainsieme Bologna, the Festival Mito, the Unione Musicale and Lingotto Musica in Turin, the I Suoni delle Dolomiti festival, the international festival Quatuor in Bordeaux, the Aldeburgh Music Festival, the Brahms Festival of Lübeck and the Rheingau Musik Festival, the University of Oxford, the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, the GOG of Genoa, the Cidim circuit. Over the years, the quartet has collaborated with numerous musicians such as Mario Brunello, Bruno Giuranna, Gabriele Carcano, Simone Rubino, Alessandro Taverna, Luigi Attademo, Simone Jandl and Filippo Gorini. After studying at the Universität der Kunste (UdK) in Berlin with the Artemis Quartet and participating in the masterclasses of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA), the Lyskamm Quartet continued and completed its studies under the guidance of Heime Müller at the University of Lübeck. In 2019, the Lyskamm Quartet’s first CD, containing Béla Bartók’s fourth and sixth quartets, was released in the magazine Amadeus and later re-released by NovAntiqua Records.

A writer and music historian, Sandro Cappelletto was born in Venice in the second half of the twentieth century. Graduated in Philosophy, he studied harmony and composition with the maestro Robert Mann. Among his main publications, the first critical biography of Carlo Broschi Farinelli (La voce perduta, EDT, 1995), an analysis of Puccini’s Turandot (Gremese Editore, 1988), a biography of Beethoven (Newton Compton, 1986), an essay on Gaetano Guadagni (Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana, 1993), a political investigation into Italian opera houses (Farò grande questo teatro!, EDT 1996).

Author of radio and television programs for Rai frequencies (in 2001 he created the Rai-Radio Tre program La scena invisibile, made a television film on Maurizio Pollini).

His librettos for musical theatre were born from the collaboration with significant Italian composers: Claudio Ambrosini (Big Bang Circus, Venice Music Biennale 2002), Matteo D’Amico (Patto di sangue, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino 2009), Luca Lombardi (Il re nudo, Opera di Roma 2009).

Invited by Giuseppe Sinopoli he directed the dramaturgy and teaching sector of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Since 2001 he has been a member of the artistic commission of the Fiesole Music School, in 2005 he took over the responsibility of the Giuseppe Sinopoli Festival in Taormina. He was the artistic director of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana.

In 2004 he won the Premio d’Arcangelo for music criticism announced by the Martina Franca festival. A professional journalist, he writes for the newspaper La Stampa.

Silvia de Maria graduated in viola da gamba and musical pedagogy at the Center for Ancient Music of the Geneva Conservatory (Switzerland) in the class of Guido Balestracci. She also attended viola da gamba courses held by Paolo Pandolfo, Marianne Muller and Wieland Kuijken. Previously, she graduated in piano with Rocco De Vitto and in viola da gamba with Bruno Re at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome.

She has performed in chamber and orchestral formations, both as a soloist and as a continuo player, in the most prestigious concert halls in Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Romania, Estonia, Austria, Norway, Holland, Hungary

«Harpsichordist Pierini is not yet 30 … I will want to hear everything he does. […] His musicianship is superb»
(American Record Guide, January/February 2025)

«One cannot find any fault with Pierini’s work … this is one set that really ought to be a part of any collection of Baroque keyboard music. Highest recommendation.»
(Fanfare, January/February 2024 on his recording of A. Tinazzoli)

Nominated by the British radio Classic FM as one of the thirty most important musicians under 30 for the year 2024 (link), Simone El Oufir Pierini performs regularly on both the harpsichord and the fortepiano, with a repertoire spanning from the 16th century to the late 19th century.
His recording activity, for such labels as Brilliant Classics and Da Vinci Classics, includes works by authors such as H. de Montgeroult, F. Mendelssohn, L. Cherubini, J. B. Cramer on fortepiano, as well as the complete works for harpsichord A. Tinazzoli, Le Bret, Charles De Mars, Ph. F. Véras. His recordings were broadcast on radio stations such as Rai Radio 3, Radio Classica, Ö1 (Austrian National Radio), Vatican Radio, SRF 2 Kultur (Switzerland), IMER (Mexico), RTVE (Spain). His recording of fortepiano works by the last active composer of Couperin’s dynasty, Gervais-François Couperin, obtained a nomination for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik, 2025/1.
Simone Pierini regularly performs in public as a solo harpsichordist and continuo player for institutions, orchestras and ensembles such as Urbino Musica Antica, Roma Festival Barocco, Roma Sinfonietta, Associazione Musicale Karl Jenkins, Muzio Clementi Musical Association, Contrasto Armonico, Musica Antiqua Latina, Orchestra Barocca dei Conservatori Italiani, Opera Prima Ensemble, Reate Festival: for the latter, he presented a complete performance of J. S. Bach’s Musicalisches Opfer BWV 1079.
Born in Rome on 9th of December 1996, Simone El Oufir Pierini began studying the piano at the age of eight. Aged eighteen, he graduated in piano from Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome with highest honours (original 10/10, lode e menzione d’onore). After initially pursuing a career in piano, obtaining a number of prizes in national and  international competitions, his interests turned mainly on historical performance practice, and he later took a master’s degree in Harpsichord under the guidance of E. Baiano, again with highest honours (110/110, lode e menzione d’onore).
Other professors with whom he honed his skills on the harpsichord were G. Togni, D. Pozzi, A. Coen.
He also undertook the study of historically informed piano practice, taking part in courses and masterclasses held by A. Lubimov, A. Staier, G. Bonino, J. Sprosse, T. Koch, M. Bartoccini, S. Fiuzzi. He obtained a master’s degree in Musicology in 2022 cum laude from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, with a dissertation upon the transition between harpsichord and fortepiano in contemporary literature.
He is a member of the Cappella Musicale Enrico Stuart ensemble, with which he performs as a continuo player on the harpsichord and organ. He has performed, as well as in Italy, in the UK, Germany, China, Canada, Poland, Finland, Spain.

Simone Soldati, born in Lucca on 09/12/1998 and joint winner with Rommel Coronel of the AML (Lucchese musical association) scholarship, began his studies at the “Sinfonia” Music School with Maicol Pucci; later he enrolled at the “L. Boccherini” Conservatory in Lucca with Donato De Sena, where he completed his entire course of studies, including masterclasses with high-caliber trumpet players. He is now perfecting his skills with Claudio Quintavalla and Emanuele Antoniucci at the Fiesole Music School. He has collaborated with orchestras such as ORT, the Puccini Festival Orchestra, the Versilia Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Conservatories of Tuscany, the Boccherini Orchestra and so on. He has played under the baton of D. Rustioni, N. Venditti, B. Venezi, R. Trevino, A. Cadario and others; he has collaborated with several people of a certain calibre such as C. Valli, O. Tomasoni, G. Tarkovi, M. Cavalletti, B. Canino, S. Ivo Bartoli etc. As an orchestral musician, he recorded the Rachmaninov piano concerto n.2 with the Boccherini orchestra for the magazine Amadeus (solo pianist: S. Ivo Bartoli). In the field of teaching, he is a substitute trumpet teacher at the “Don Milani” middle school in Massa, at the “Sinfonia” music school and LOL (Lucchese Orchestra Laboratory) – Tempo di Musica Association; previously he taught trumpet and solfeggio at the Filarmonica di San Gennaro. He is fond of yoga, fitness, running, cooking,…

Stefania Paddeu began her musical studies at the Liceo Classico Musicale “Petrarca” in Arezzo, in the clarinet class of Maestro Stendardi. She obtained a master’s degree in opera singing with top marks at the “Rinaldo Franci” Institute in Siena with Maestro Laura Polverelli. She perfected her skills in prestigious Academies (“Chigiana”, “Renato Bruson” and Adads) and participated in master classes with illustrious artists such as Renato Palumbo, Patrizia Ciofi, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Elizabeth Norberg – Schultz, Valeria Esposito, Yvonne Naef, Gianni Santucci and Mario Cassi. She is perfecting her skills in chamber music in Fiesole with Maestro Erik Battaglia. In 2024 she obtained the diploma of the Three-Year Master of Specialization in Chamber Music, under the guidance of Maestro Pier Narciso Masi, with top marks. She made her debut in important contexts: the role of Adina and Giannetta at the Teatro Comunale “Luciano Pavarotti” in Modena and at the Teatro di Carpi in the project “Appennino in Canto”, artistic director Maestro Gabrielli; the role of the first seeker in the opera Suor Angelica by G.Puccini and the role of Suor Angelica in the scenic concert at the Teatro Petrarca in Arezzo. In chamber music she won numerous awards in important national and international competitions. She participated in various master classes within Le Stanze dell’opera in Arezzo with the artistic direction of the Baritone Mario Cassi (Ricciarelli, Gallo, Kasarova, Sepe, Sumi Jo) where she received scholarships, participated in the Gianni Schicchi workshop and performed in the Gala evening at the Fortezza Medicea in Arezzo last July.

In March 2025 she performed at the Auditorium Caurum Hall Guido d’Arezzo on the occasion of the 4th Confartigianato Artisan Culture Day. In May she made her debut in the role of Nella in Gianni Schicchi by G. Puccini at the Teatro Petrarca in Arezzo with Maestro Gianna Fratta conducting the orchestra and Maestro Manu Lalli directing.

Born in Osaka, Japan, she began studying the piano at the age of 3.
She earned her degree in musicology from the Osaka College of Music and her harpsichord diploma from the Toho-Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo.

In 1998, she moved to Milan, where she furthered her studies in harpsichord and fortepiano under the guidance of Laura Alvini at the former Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan (now the Civica Scuola di Musica C.Abbado).

In 2006, she won the first absolute prize at the IX “Gianni Gambi” Harpsichord Competition in Pesaro, both in the soloist section ( second prize not awarded) and in the basso continuo section, also receiving the first prize for the best performance of a late 18th-century piece. That same year, she graduated in harpsichord with the highest honors from the Conservatory of Music “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan.

She is one of the founders of the “Accademia Ottoboni,” with which she received the Diapason d’Or award for March 2023 for the album “Light & Darkness.” She has collaborated with the Accademia Montis Regalis of Mondovì, Il Pomo d’Oro, La Venexiana, The Milano Classica, participating in numerous music festivals across Europe.

In 2014, she released her first CD “Girolamo Frescobaldi: Toccate, canzone e partite” for baritone.

In addition to her concert activities, she contributes to the diffusion of Italian keyboard music from the 16th and 17th centuries, holding lessons and masterclasses. In 2025, she will publish her first book titled “The History of Italian Keyboard Music” in Japan.