Maria Ronchini

Viola

Biography

Maria Ronchini practices an intense concert activity whether as soloist or in various chamber music formations, devoting herself to learning the different music styles by a vast repertoire from baroque to contemporary period.

She graduated with a first-class degree at the Music Conservatory “G. Verdi”, her native town, winning very young various competition.

She carried on her studies at the W.Stauffer Academy of Cremona with B.Giuranna and at the Chigiana Academy of Siena with Y. Bashmet and Trio di Trieste.

She also took part in masterclasses with W.Christ in Lubecca and K. Kashkashian in Luxembourg.

She played with the prestigious “European Community Youth Orchestra” in London led by C. Abbado, M. Bamert, H. Leinsdorf,V. Ashkenazy playing in the most important theaters around Europe and United States of America.

She made his debut as soloist in Milan, playing the Bartòk Concert with the RAI Orchestra at the Sala Verdi of the Music Conservatory and then she has been performing for many music institutions and societies , such “ Società dei concerti”, “Serate musicali”, Humanitarian Society of Milan, “ Ente triennale” of Cremona, Roman Philarmonic Academy, IUC of Rome, “Amici della musica “ of Florence and Perugia, Philarmonic Society of Trento, “Pietà dei Turchini” of Naples.

She has been invited to take part in several festivals,such as International Festival of Cremona, Festival of the Nations in Città di Castello, Festival of Lugano, Amsterdam, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Bad Kissinger Sommer,Festespiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern,Festival of Blonay at the prestigious P. Hindemith Foundation, playing with others important artist such S. Accardo, P.De Maria,E. Dindo, B. Giuranna , V.Repin, M.Sirbu, M. Quarta…

She has been selected by C. Scimone to join the famous chamber group “I Solisti Veneti” with whom she has been touring worldwide.

She is the solo viola of the Solisti di Pavia, United European Chamber Orchestra, as well as of the “Divertimento Ensemble” of Milan with whom she played as soloist at the SFB Radio Berlin, The Biennal of Venice, Villa Reale in Monza, Sala Verdi and Liberty Palace of Milan, Auditorium Paganini of Parma, Ravenna Festival….enriching the Repertoire of his instrument with first execution of works dedicated to her by important composers such Castagnoli, Gorli, Gervasoni, Mosca,Betta, Sugiyama, Franceschini, Pisati and others.

She premeried with the “Pomeriggi Musicali” orchestra of Milan, at the Teatro Dal Verme, ‘Aphrodite’ for solo viola and voice in the Festival KOINE’.

She is Viola teacher at “G. Cantelli” Conservatory of Novara, Italy.

Francesco Dillon

Cello and Chamber Music

Biography

Francesco Dillon (b.Turin, 1973) already has a brilliant international career to his credit, characterised by the originality and variety of the repertoire that he has embraced. As a soloist he has performed on such prestigious concert stages as Teatro alla Scala im Milan, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Herkulessaal of Munich, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Jordan Hall in Boston and the Colon Theatre of Buenos Aires, with such orchestras as the Italian National Radio Orchestra (RAI), the SWR Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna, the Orchestra of the Colon Theatre, Ensemble Resonanz,the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra,the Oulu Sinfonia Finland,the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and the Tuscany Regional Orchestra (ORT). Most recently he made an acclaimed debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, conducted by Susanna Mallki.
Having graduated in Florence under the guidance of Andrea Nannoni, he continued his studies with Anner Bijlsma, Mario Brunello, David Geringas and Mstislav Rostropovich, thereafter studying composition with Salvatore Sciarrino.
In 1993 he was one of the founders of the Quartetto Prometeo, a chamber group of international acclaim and winner of numerous prizes (Prague Spring, ARD Munich, Bordeaux) and recently honoured with the Leone d’Argento award of the Biennale Musica of Venice. Dillon is also a stable member of the Alter Ego ensemble which is regularly invited to the major contemporary music festivals around the world. His passion for chamber music has led to performances with musicians such as Irvine Arditti, Mario Brunello, Giuliano Carmignola, Piero Farulli, David Geringas, Veronika Hagen, Alexander Lonquich, Enrico Pace, Jean-Guihen Queyras. The profound interest in contemporary music which he has always cultivated has led to solid collaborations with the major composers of our time: Gavin Bryars, Ivan Fedele, Luca Francesconi, Stefano Gervasoni, Philip Glass, Vinko Globokar, Sofija Gubaidulina, Jonathan Harvey, Toshio Hosokawa, Giya Kancheli, Alexander Knaifel, Helmut Lachenmann, David Lang, Alvin Lucier, Arvo Pärt, Henri Pousseur, Steve Reich, Fausto Romitelli, Kaija Saariaho, Salvatore Sciarrino and with cult experimental musicians such as Matmos, and Pansonic, William Basinsky and John Zorn.
Dillon’s performances have been transmitted by such important broadcasters as the BBC, RAI, ARD, Radio France, ORF, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and WDR.
He has recorded for the ECM label, as well as Sony, Kairos, Ricordi, Stradivarius, Die Schachtel, Mode and Touch. He recently recorded for the first time, Variations by Salvatore Sciarrino which received the Diapason d’0r prize, and Ballata by Giacinto Scelsi, both with the Italian National Radio Orchestra (RAI). As a duo with the pianist Emanuele Torquati, he has brought out three CDs of rare music of Schumann and the complete works for cello by Franz Liszt for Brilliant Classics.
Along with his concert activity there have been teaching experiences in institutions such as the Royal College of London, the Scuola di musica di Fiesole, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, the Pacific University in California, Untref-Buenos Aires, Manchester University.
From 2010 he has been artistic director of the season of contemporary music Music@villaromana in Florence and from 2019 holds the same position at the Festival “Castelcello” in Brunnenburg (South Tyrol).

Kai Gleusteen

Violin

Biography

Canadian born violinist, Kai Gleusteen started at the age of five years old in his native city, Calgary. Early on, he met with success in national music competitions in addition to receiving top academic awards. Already at a young age, he had the opportunity to study with the most renowned violinists and teachers of his time, including Nathan Milstein, Ivan Galamian, Josef Gingold, Dorothy Delay, and Zakhar Bron. By the age of seventeen, Kai was awarded the top prize in the Commonwealth Concerto Competition in Australia, he had received the prestigious Skene Award in Scotland and had formed his first chamber orchestra: The Group of Twelve.

A strong believer in the musician as a multi-dimensional human being, Kai chose to combine his musical studies with academic pursuits. At the University of Michigan, he studied anthropology, geophysics, and philosophy. He received a Master’s Degree from Rice University under the tutelage of the person who would become his greatest inspiration on both a personal and musical level, the violinist Camilla Wicks.

In 1991, Kai moved to Europe to live in the heart of Western culture. Paris and Prague were his bases for nine years, allowing him to develop and perform both as a soloist and leader of numerous orchestras. In the year 2000, he won the concertmaster position of the Orchestra ‘del Gran Teatre del Liceu’ and subsequently moved to Barcelona. In 2003, he created the Gran Teatre del Liceu Chamber Orchestra and was appointed professor at the Escuela Superior de Musica de Catalunya and the Conservatorio Superior del Liceu.

With his partner, the French pianist Catherine Ordronneau, he performs extensively as a recitalist throughout Europe, North America and China and has released numerous critically acclaimed recordings. Since 2011, he has created and developed the concept of the “Kaimerata,” a project designed to bring the very best chamber music in a friendly and informative setting to audiences in both Canada and Spain. 2020 will be its tenth season, celebrating the life and music of Beethoven.

Kai performs on a G.B. Guadagnini made in 1781 in Turin.

Adrian Pinzaru

Violin

Biography

Born in 1974 in Romania, Adrian Pinzaru started studying violin in Iaşi at the Music School “O. Băncila “with Calistrat Catargiu and Natalia Epure continuing his studies in Bucharest at the” G. Enescu ” Music High School. In 1993, thanks to a scholarship, he moved to Italy where, after studying at the Scuola di Alto Perfezionamento Musicale in Saluzzo, he obtained a diploma in violin and viola at the “G. Verdi “in Turin under the guidance of M. Christine Anderson and M. Davide Zaltron. Over the years he studied with Stefan Gheoghiu, Mariana Sirbu, Dora Schwarzberg, Sadao Harada (Tokyo String Quartet), Franco Rossi (The Italian Quartet), Valentin Berlinsky (Borodin Quartet) and Milan Skampa (Quartetto Smetana). From 1997 to 2006 he has been the first violin of the Quartetto Casorati. Since 2006 he is the first violin of the Xenia Ensemble, a group dedicated to the performance of contemporary music.
Since 2007 he is the first violin of the Delian Quartett with which he has an intense international concert activity.

Biography

Mariangela Vacatello

Piano

Biography

“… and even when Ginastera gives you one piece with a close family likeness to another, you listen with a sense of renewal thanks to performances by Mariangela Vacatello of a superb zest, brio and imaginative scope… she has technique in spades, making her a front-runner with Argerich’s legendary live Three Argentinian Dances… no praise could be high enough for Vacatello’s achievement.” (Gramophone 2016)

In the two decades since her professional debut, pianist Mariangela Vacatello has brought her virtuosity, passionate interpretations, and magnificent musicality to diverse global audiences. She is recognized worldwide as an exceptionally gifted artist, reflected in the numerous awards and effusive reviews she has received for both her live performances and recordings for Brilliant Classics. Her performances are regularly broadcasted by prestigious Radio Stations worldwide.

The Second Prize at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in 1999 at the age of 17 catapulted her towards an international career as a soloist, performing at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Walt Disney Hall, Montpellier Festival, Carnegie Weill Hall in NYC, Oriental Centre in Shanghaj.

She has since appeared regularly with such prominent orchestras as the Teatro alla Scala Philharmonic Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia in Rome, RAI in Turin, Lithuanian Symphony, Stuttgarter Philharmonics, Nordwestdeutsche Orchestra, Johannesburg Philarmonic, “Haydn” in Trento and Bolzano, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Zagreb Philarmonia, Pannon Philharmonic, Moldavian Radio Television, RSI Orchestra, Belgrade Philarmonic Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, Colorado Spring Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra.

She has performed with renowned conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Krystof Penderecky, Gustav Kuhn, Andrès Orozco-Estrada, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Alexander Shelley, Xian Zhang, Roland Boer, Aleksander Slatkovky, Gerard Korsten, Daniel Kawka, Martin Haselboeck, Bernard Gueller, David Itkin, Zsolt Hamar, Christopher Franklin, Anton Nanut, Donato Renzetti, Alain Lombard, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Daniel Meyer, Carolyn Kuan, Michael Tabachnik. With Orchestra della Magna Grecia she has performed the Five Piano Concertos by S. Rachmaninov.

In her Awards: The Solti Foundation Award, Nino Carloni Prize, XVII Venice Prize, Finalist and Worldwide Audience Award at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, 1st Prize Top of the World International Piano Competition 2009, Laureate Prize Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in 2007, Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in 2005, I.Yun in memoriam Korea 2008; she has been Rising Star TheGilmore in 2010/2011.

Mariangela Vacatello was born in Naples, Italy, from a family of musicians that started her to music lessons at the age of four; her talent has been accelerated by studies at Imola Piano Academy, Milan Conservatory and Royal Academy of Music in London, besides several mastercalsses around the world.

Her musical curiosity in the contemporary repertoire has brought her to collaborate with IRCAM in Paris in a world premiere Piano Quintet for SmartInstruments, a new technology that will permit to join both classical and digital sounds and to work with the composer Georges Aperghis.

Acutally Mariangela is living in Umbria and is a sought-after teacher as Piano Professor at the Conservatoire “A. Boito” in Parma and in Pinerolo International Music Academy.

In the 2019 season Mariangela Vacatello will debut in the prestigiuos Teatro San Carlo in Naples, a tour in South Africa, a project with IRCAM – La Scala Paris “Skrijabin and the contemporary”, a debut in La Biennale – Venice.