How was your year? Theresia’s remarkable things of 2022

By Emilia Campagna - December 27, 2022

How was your 2022? We hope it was stunning, surprising, and full of new and exciting projects. Like Theresia’s! We are very proud and happy about the year that’s about to end: and now that only a handful of days stand between us and the new year, we want to run through the remarkable things of 2022 together.
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How was your 2022? We hope it was stunning, surprising, and full of new and exciting projects. Like Theresia’s!

Yes, we are very proud and happy about the year that’s about to end: and now that only a handful of days stand between us and the new year, we want to run through the remarkable things of 2022 together.

A year at full speed

With eight residencies (five devoted to chamber music, three to orchestral projects), we really got back to normal after the restrictions due to the Covid pandemic. Eight residencies mean an average of one every month and a half, and even if a residency lasts about a week between rehearsals and concerts, it takes a lot of preparation work, all done behind the scenes by our valuable staff led by artistic director Mario Martinoli and project manager Susanna Bucher. Congratulations on your excellent work!

New places, new friends

In 2022, we’ve been in familiar places, such as Ossiach and Geneva, but we happened also to land in new places, like Mondovì and Montecastelli, and also countries where Theresia had never performed before: like Spain! Being in Totana as part of Ecos Festival was a great experience, especially for the peculiarities of the event. Ecos Festival is devoted to music but also to sustainability and to finding new approaches to the audience, and we couldn’t help but love it

Find more in the interview with Ecos Festival’s artistic director

Performing opera in a fairy tale place

Not only opera is an exceptional event, as Theresia is devoted mainly to orchestral repertoire, but doing it in a place such as Teatro Torlonia in Rome is breathtaking! We had the chance to being part in the production of “Le astuzie femminili” by Domenico Cimarosa, organized by Reate Festival. Teatro Torlonia is a stunning little theater in the heart of a neoclassical villa set in Rome. A few people were among the privileged to attend the event: have a glimpse of it in this beautiful photogallery.

Find more about the opera production in this interview with conductor Alessandro De Marchi

Find more about Teatro Torlonia in this “Our places” series post

Not only rehearsals and concerts: the Ambassadorship project

Some may think we are never satisfied and always want to go further: that’s right! As a matter of fact, one of the remarkable things of 2022 was not a musical project – not strictly speaking, at least. Last July, we involved three Theresia’s musicians in an Ambassadorship project as part of the EU-funded project EMPOWER. Over the course of three years, the Ambassadorship project is going to involve a total of nine young musicians, representing nine different European countries, to be Ambassadors and Ambassadresses, embodying and transmitting the core values of classical music and its importance to their countries. First to participate in the initiative were Anna Krzyżak from Poland, Léna Ruisz from Hungary, and Irina Fârtat from Romania, with the task of promoting HIP in their own countries and engaging new audiences through their own and/or Theresia’s activity.

The task is not easy, and it is our job to help them, so in July we organized a co-creation workshop, involving our expert in communication and social media management: it was incredibly stimulating and inspiring. Here are some shots from the workshop:

Find more about the Ambassadorship project here.

New voices on the blog

As part of their activity, the Ambassadresses were suggested to contribute to the blog. That was a welcome breath of fresh air, with very interesting posts, from well-being to some hidden viola repertoire.

You can find all them here!

An old friend back on track

For more than 30 years, students of baroque music had looked to Eubo, the European Union Baroque Orchestra, as a reference point. But, first because of Brexit, then Covid, Eubo had ceased its activities in 2019. Now, thanks to ICONS foundations, Eubo starts its activity again: the new phase started with a concert in Ravenna, and auditions are to be announced soon! That’s great news that adds happiness to all baroque music lovers. Well done, ICONS!

Find more in this interview with President of ICONS and Founder and Artistic Director of Theresia Orchestra Mario Martinoli

Ecos Festival: music and sustainability in the heart of Spain

By Emilia Campagna - August 24, 2022

Our wind ensemble will be at Ecos Festival, a dynamic project set in Spain, where music and sustainability meet. Let's find more in this interview with Ecos Festival's artistic director, Jorge Losada
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For the first time, Theresia will perform in Alhama (Murcia region, Spain) as part of Ecos Festival. That is an honour for us, as Ecos Festival is among Europe’s most dynamic and interesting artistic projects. We have spoken about this musical initiative with its Artistic Director, Jorge Losana: a baroque singer (he mostly performs with the vocal ensemble La Cantoria), he’s from Murcia himself, and he was the soul of the project from its very beginning.

When and how did Ecos Festival start?

“In 2016, with a group of colleagues musicians from the University, we wanted to rehearse Monteverdi and needed a place where to do it. We met in Aledo, rehearsed for ten days, experimenting with a different way of doing things: we involved local people, and invited them to listen to our performances. They were very welcoming, and the outcome was really nice: so, the idea to make a treasure of this experience came naturally. The next year, thanks to the support of Sierra Espuña and six different villages that had decided to support forms of sustainable and natural tourism, we were able to make a series of concerts in some of the most emblematic places of the area.”

You started with early music: did you stick to the original artistic project during these years?

“Yes, we went on hosting chamber music and little ensemble who perform according to the historically informed practice. What we really focused on are young musicians: we tend to organize residencies, like the one Theresia is involved in, with workshops and situations where musicians can share their experience and learn from their peers and other guests.”

Which kind of audience do you have? Do you have a specific target?

“Audience mainly consists of local people, tourists, and English and German people who live on the coast. We have “professional concerts” which are meant to be for a general audience and “familiar concerts” especially designed for families and children.”

Ecos Festival is set in Murcia, and it appears to be closely related to the area: how is this part of Spain?

“Murcia is a small region between Alicante and Granada, always famous for the seaside, the good weather, the food and very different climate and landscape from other parts of Spain. People find especially exotic some semi desert-like landscapes and the singular forest from Sierra Espuña, which has geology caves and lakes. With its Castles and historical place, it is a very fascinating area, with the sea only one hour and a half far away.”

Together with the artistic value of the concerts, sustainability is one of the missions of Ecos Festival: how do you pursue it?

“Firstly, we chose to focus on chamber music because we perform in small venues and when it comes to the audience a limited number of people is definitely more sustainable. Then, apart from the implementation of ecological habits (we have no plastic going around, and we encourage the use of electric cars) we also organize three conferences involving ensembles and other festivals where participants can discuss and share ideas about how to deal with sustainability diversity and demographic challenge. In short, we try to be sustainable as we can, to give conscience to our audience, and we also try to develop new ideas.”

Theresia will be at Ecos Festival with its wind ensemble, prepared by tutor Javier Zafra. Two concerts are scheduled on 26th August at 9 pm and 11 pm at Patio del Museo Arqueológico de Los Baños: Theresia wind ensemble will perform an all-Mozart program (Divertimento in F major K. 213, Divertimento in F major K. 253, and Divertimento in B flat major K. 270). The day after at 10.30 am the ensemble will perform in a family concert.

These concerts end our summer concert season. But autumn is just around the corner, and we have some good news in store, so stay tuned!

Theresia’s summer concert season

By Emilia Campagna - August 1, 2022

August promises to be an intense month, with five concerts in three different European countries: Italy, Switzerland and Spain
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Five concerts in three different European countries: as July was devoted to our annual auditions, Theresia’s summer concert season is concentrated in August, which promises to be an intense month.

A first modern performance for Concerto Theresia

Concerto Theresia, our alumni ensemble, will perform in the first event, scheduled on 4th August in Bagnocavallo (Ravenna, Italy): the musical program is entirely devoted to a rarely performed composer, Elia Vannini. Concerto Theresia and “I luoghi dello Spirito” Ensemble will be cooperating to bring back to life music that modern audiences has never listened to: specifically, Concerto Theresia will play six Sonatas that Elia Vannini, a musician and a priest who lived beween 1644 and 1709 and was Maestro di Cappella of Ravenna’s Cathedral, dedicated to his Archbishop Fabio Guinigi in 1691.

Musicians involved are Gemma Longoni and Valentina Russo (violin), Francesca Camagni (viola), Giulia Gillio Gianetta (cello) and Federico Bagnasco (doublebass), with the collaboration of harpsichordist Maria Luisa Baldassari and organist Marina Scaioli (“Ensemble I Luoghi dello Spirito”).

A welcome comeback in Geneva

For the third time, our string ensemble has been invited to perform within the framework of a renowned festival, “Concerts d’été à Saint Germain”, in Geneva. That is a great honour and good opportunity too, especially for the orchestra members, who will have the chance to work with Chiara Banchini, thanks to the collaboration with the Société Genevoise d’Utilité Publique. Theresians will perform Boccherini’s Quintet in B flat major G 337 Op. 39 n. 1 plus an absolute rarity, a string transcription by M. G. Fischer of Beethoven’s Symphony n. 6 Pastorale in F major Op. 68. Two concerts are scheduled on 21 and 22 August.

Musicians involved in the project are violinists Léna Ruisz and Natasha Pichler, violists Anna Luiza Aleksandrow and Alioša Šolak, cellist Sara Vicioso Usero and doublebassist Yussif Barakat,

Performing in a new place

As well as we love going back to places we have performed in, we are delighted to explore new venues: it means knowing people, starting a new partnership, and enriching our network. So, our third summer project means a lot to us, as it will be in Spain, a country where we have never been (but from whom a lot of Theresians have come during these years). Specifically, we are going to be part of ECOS Festival in Totana, and on 26 and 27 August our woodwinds ensemble will work under the guidance of bassoonist Javier Zafra: the musical program is enchanting, as it is entirely devoted to Mozart’s Divertimentos for winds (Divertimento in F major K. 213, Divertimento in F major K. 253, Divertimento in B flat major K. 270)

Musicans involved are oboists Linda Alijaj and María Jesús Moreno Ciudad, bassoonists Angel Alvarez and Vincente Beltràn, and hornists Jonathan van der Beek and Etienne Devigne.

Stay tuned for further details!