FRANCESCA BONAITA

Francesca Bonaita (Milan, 1997), soloist and chamber violinist, was recently described as a “violinist of extraordinary technique and intensity” (2024, Carlo Maria Cella, former Head of Press at Teatro alla Scala in Milan) and as “one of the best young performers, with a future of ever more brilliant international career, showing surprising artistic maturity, virtuosic technique, mastery of sound, intensity and passion, but also fluidity and lightness” (2023).

With her debut at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York, in a solo violin recital, and with the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, she has embarked embarked on an intense solo and chamber career, receiving great critical and public acclaim. Her repertoire spans from the early 20th century to contemporary music.

Among her prestigious international collaborations are her solo debut with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana at LAC in Lugano, performing B. A. Zimmermann’s Violin Concerto with large orchestra, conducted by Arturo Tamayo, and A. Schnittke’s Sonata No. 1 for violin and string orchestra, conducted by Kevin Griffiths. She has also given recitals with pianist Itamar Golan and made debuts with the Savaria Symphony Orchestra of Budapest in Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante, with the Filharmonie Orchestra in Barber’s Concerto, with the Italian Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and with the Pozzoli Philharmonic Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor.

She recorded a Master CD for Brilliant Classics, in duo with pianist Saskia Giorgini, titled Karol Szymanowski. Works for Violin and Piano, to be released on December 1, 2024.

She has been invited to perform by organizations such as Unione Musicale in Turin, MITO, Serate Musicali in Milan, Amici della Musica di Padua, MantovaMusica, Bologna Festival, Emilia Romagna Festival, I Concerti della Normale in Pisa, and the Accademia dei Cameristi in Bari. She has debuted in venues like Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, Sala Verdi of the Conservatorio, Auditorium Fondazione Cariplo, Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Teatro Filodrammatici, Teatro Gerolamo, and Palazzina Liberty in Milan, as well as Palazzo Barolo in Turin, Teatro Grande in Brescia, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Palazzo Pisani in Venice, Sala dei Giganti of Palazzo Liviano in Padua, Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, Teatro Bibiena in Mantua, Palazzo Chigi Saracini in Siena, and the Cappella Palatina of the Royal Palace of Caserta. Internationally, she has performed in Germany, Austria (Musikverein and Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna), Switzerland, France, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Norway, Greece, Romania, Hungary, and the USA.

Winner of numerous first prizes in international violin competitions, she is a finalist at the Anton Rubinstein International Violin Competition and has been highly praised at competitions belonging to the WFIMC circuit, such as the Grumiaux Competition, the George Enescu Violin Competition in Bucharest, Kloster Schöntal, and the Béla Bartók Violin Competition in Budapest.

Graduating with honors from the G. Verdi Conservatory in Milan, she won the Umberto Micheli Award and the Pina Carmirelli Award as the best violinist of the academic year. She has been studying with world-renowned violinist Sergej Krylov since the age of thirteen, and under his guidance, she earned two postgraduate Master of Arts degrees, both with highest honors, in Music Performance (2018) and in Specialized Music Performance (2020), for solo performers (Soloist Diploma), from the University of Music Conservatory of the Italian Switzerland in Lugano. Since 2017, she has also been perfecting her skills with Aleksey Semenenko and graduated with top marks in 2024 from the prestigious Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen (Germany) with a Master of Music in Professional Performance.

She was admitted to the Advanced Courses at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona and the Chigiana Academy in Siena, studying with Salvatore Accardo (2014-2019), and has attended masterclasses with acclaimed violinists such as Dmitri Chichlov, Andrey Baranov, Mihaela Martin, Jonian Kadesha, Natalia Prishepenko, Sergey Khachatryan, Francesca Dego, Piercarlo Sacco, the Atos Trio, and the Trio di Parma.

After completing high school with top honors at Liceo G. Parini in Milan, she was awarded the Premio Italia Giovane, under the patronage of the Chamber of Deputies, Senate, and Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Grandi Guglie Award of Grande Milano, and the Montale fuori di casa Montal/Arte Giovani 2024 Award for artistic merit.

Her first literary essay, Music, Orpheus, Eurydice. The Myth and Its Adaptation to the Contemporary (2020), was published by Virginio Cremona Editore.