Irene Abrigo

Artistic Director & Violin

 

Italian-Swiss violinist Irene Abrigo began studying violin at the age of four at the Suzuki School in Aosta. After graduating, she continued her training with Marie-Annick Nicolas (HEM Geneva), Pierre Amoyal (HEM Lausanne / Mozarteum Salzburg), and Corina Belcea (HFM Bern), also participating in international masterclasses with renowned pedagogues such as Zakhar Bron, Thomas Füri, Viktor Pikayzen, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Ani Schnarch, Mayumi Seiler, and Benjamin Schmid. She also attended the IOIA Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic and Keshet Eilon's masterclasses in Israel.

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Winner of the Respighi Prize in 2015, a finalist for the Premio Città di Vittorio Veneto in 2014, and a winner of several national and international competitions, in 2016 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in New York with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, performing the American premiere of Dirk Brossé's violin concerto "Black, White, and in Between." That same year, she gave the South American premiere of Ottorino Respighi's Violin Concerto No. 1 in Brazil and made her debut with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. In 2019, she returned to Carnegie Hall with Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, receiving a standing ovation, and will return as a soloist in May 2026 to perform Vaughan Williams's "The Lark Ascending," conducted by Salvatore Di Vittorio with the Chamber Orchestra of New York.

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Recognized as an acclaimed chamber musician, she has shared the stage with musicians such as Enrico Bronzi, Dénes Várjon, Izabella Simon, Jürg Dähler, Gilles Vonsattel, Heinz Holliger, Felix Renggli, Julian Prégardien, Corina Belcea, Rosanne Philippens, Thomas and Patrick Demenga, Giampaolo Bandini, Hiroko Sakagami, Roberto González-Monjas, Hanna Weinmeister, and the Merel Quartet.

 

Her deep interest in contemporary music has led her to collaborate with composers such as Heinz Holliger, Xavier Dayer, Richard Dubugnon, Nadir Vassena, David Philip Hefti, Mischa Käser, and Daniel Schnyder. She has premiered numerous compositions—many of which were dedicated to her—which have been broadcast on major radio stations or recorded on CD.

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Similarly, Irene also devotes herself to historically informed performance practice, under the guidance of Enrico Onofri, occasionally performing on a rare original baroque violin by Jacobus Stainer.

 

A graduate of the DAMS (Department of Music and Performing Arts) program at the University of Turin, she is the creator of innovative projects that intertwine music, education, and well-being: the non-profit association POURQUOIPAS, which promotes socially oriented artistic initiatives; the Lucignano Music Festival, which combines concerts and inclusive community activities; and the Italian Swiss Music Society, which fosters cultural exchange between Italy and Switzerland under the patronage of the Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute.

 

Since 2023, she has taught violin at the Winterthur Conservatory, where she leads the talent development program and the Pre-College violin class.

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He plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (Milan, 1758) and a bow by François Xavier Tourte, formerly owned by Iona Brown, both generously donated by a private patron.

www.ireneabrigo.com

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She has participated in the following projects:

#LMF21: There Were Three - July 23, 2021

#LMF21: A Quattr'Occhi - July 24, 2021

#LMF21: 2+2=5 - July 25, 2021

#LMF22: Clara - July 22, 2022

#LMF22: Bacco & Arianna - July 24, 2022

#LMF22: Matryoshka - July 24, 2022

#LMF23: There's No Two Without Three - July 20, 2023

#LMF23: Four Friends at the Bar - July 21, 2023

#LMF23: Goodbye, Love, Hello - July 23, 2023

#LMF24: Paganini: The Mystery Room - September 26-28 2024

#LMF24: Artist Mysteries - September 25, 2024

#LMF24: Grand Finale - September 25, 2024

#LMF25: A Farewell to Arms - September 17, 2025

#LMF25: Bread, Love, and Fantasy - September 18, 2025

#LMF25: The End of Time - September 19, 2025

#LMF25: Life is Beautiful - September 21, 2025