Concerto di Margherita
Biography Concerto di Margherita
Concerto di Margherita
The ensemble Concerto di Margherita focuses on the historical practice of self-accompanied singing: all five musicians sing and accompany themselves on theorbo, viol, baroque guitar, harp and lute. Thus, the sound of five voices and five instruments melt into one musical gesture, creating a dynamic and exciting soundscape.
Francesca Benetti, Giovanna Baviera, Tanja Vogrin, Ricardo Leitão Pedro and Rui Staehelin met during their studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and founded the ensemble in 2014. The ensemble’s main repertoire is Italian vocal and instrumental music of the late 16th century, with a focus on the works written for the self-accompanying musicians of the court of Ferrara.
Concerto di Margherita has performed across Italy and Switzerland and has been invited to play at festivals across Europe. In 2016 Concerto di Margherita was selected to join European Early Music Ensembles http://www.eeemerging.eu. nsona Smitha in Rolfa Lislevanda. Trenutno na glasbeni akademiji Schola Cantorum Basiliensis študira srednjeveško in renesančno petje pri Dominiquu Vellardu in lutnjo pri Crawfordu Youngu s posebnim poudarkom na zgodovinskih tehnikah improvizacije.
Tanja Vogrin
The Slovenian-born mezzosoprano and harpist Tanja Vogrin studied singing with Dušanka Simonović, Jolanda Korat, Annemarie Zeller and Joanna Borowska-Isser, and harp with Dalibor Bernatović, Eva Hoffellner, Arcola Clark and Ágnes Polónyi in Slovenia and Austria. She graduated from the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz with honours in 2009.
Her interest in early music led her to the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where she studied historical harps with Heidrun Rosenzweig, ensemble singing with Anthony Rooley and Evelyn Tubb and medieval singing with Kathleen Dineen.
Tanja accompanies herself on the harp and is one of the founding members of Concerto di Margherita. She has a busy schedule both as a soloist and with several ensembles (Novantik, Alerion, Neue Hofkapelle Graz, recreationBAROCK, La Cetra Basel, Cortesia, Austrian Baroque Connection, musica cubicularis, etc.)
She teaches baroque singing at the Johann-Joseph-Fux Konservatorium in Graz since April 2016.
Giovanna Baviera
After obtaining a Master's degree with honours in Music and Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, Giovanna Baviera moved to Basel to study viola da gamba with Paolo Pandolfo, where she graduated with a Master's degree in 2016. While in Basel she also pursued studies in singing (with Kathleen Dineen and Ralf Ernst) and choral conducting (Raphael Immoos).
Giovanna accompanies herself on the viol and is a founding member of Concerto di Margherita. She has a busy schedule as a chamber musician with several ensembles across Europe (Profeti della Quinta, Daedalus, Novantik) and has performed in a variety of festivals and venues across Switzerland and Europe (Théâtre Vidy Lausanne, Gessnerallee Zürich, Poznan Baroque Festival, Harvard Institute for Renaissance Italian Studies Florence, among others). aroque singing at the Johann-Joseph-Fux Konservatorium in Graz since April 2016.
Francesca Benetti
is a guitarist and theorbist originally from Trento, Italy. She studied classical guitar at the Music conservatory in Venice with Florindo Baldissera and at the Hochschule der Künste Bern with Elena Cásoli with a focus on contemporary music. She pursued her interest in theorbo and early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where she graduated in 2014 under the tutelage of Peter Croton.
She has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician with various ensembles and at several festivals across Europe, notably in Venice (Art Night Festival/ World Venice Forum 2009), Trento (Castello del Buonconsiglio), Ravenna (Workshop-Ensemble Accademia Bizantina), Firenze (Harvard Institute for Renaissance Italian Studies), Ljubljana (Days of Early Music), Kassel (Stadttheater), among others. She has built her experience as an orchestral continuo-player under notable conductors such as René Jacobs and Rinaldo Alessandrini. She is co-founder of the ensemble Gitarreria and Concerto di Margherita.
Ricardo Leitão Pedro
Always fascinated by singer-instrumentalists from antiquity to modern times, Ricardo Leitão Pedro revives the early practice of cantor al liuto, accompanying himself on different plucked string instruments. Born in Porto, he studied lute at ESMAE (Porto) and at the CNSMD in Lyon with Eugène Ferré.
He has performed across Europe and regularly works with various ensembles (Troxalida, La Boz Galana, Cappela Sanctae Crucis). He is a member of I Discordanti and Concerto di Margherita. His lute duo with Guilherme Barroso was awarded 2nd prize (1st non-attributed) at the JIMA competition (Portugal) for chamber music.
Along the years, Ricardo has learned from singers such as Gerd Türk, Ulrich Messthaler and Kathleen Dineen, and lutenists Paul O’Dette, Eduardo Egüez, Hopkinson Smith and Rolf Lislevand. He is currently pursuing studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Medieval and Renaissance singing with Dominique Vellard and lute with Crawford Young, with a special focus on historical improvisation techniques.
Rui Staehelin
Born in Basel, Rui Staehelin studied lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He discovered the instrument early on in life, winning first prize in the Swiss Youth Music Competition in 2009. He perfected his skills as a lutenist in masterclasses with Paul O’Dette, Evangelina Mascardi und Paul Beier. He is a member of Concerto di Margherita and accompanies himself on the lute. He is in demand as a self-accompanying chamber musician with ensembles such as Les Bergers and Novantik. He has performed in Switzerland, the Netherlands, France and Italy. He is particularly interested in historical improvisation practices on lute and theorbo, which he pursues both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. rmed across Europe and regularly works with various ensembles (Troxalida, La Boz Galana, Cappela Sanctae Crucis). He is a member of I Discordanti and Concerto di Margherita. His lute duo with Guilherme Barroso was awarded 2nd prize (1st non-attributed) at the JIMA competition (Portugal) for chamber music.
