Irene Abrigo, violin

Winner of the Respighi Prize in 2015, Irene has made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2016 with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, performing the NY premiere of the violin concerto by Dirk Brossé "Black, White and in Between". In 2016 she has performed in Brazil the South America premiere of Respighi's violin concerto No.1. In the same year she had her debut with the West Czech Symphony Orchestra in Prague, with Mozart’s violin concerto No.5. In November 2019 her interpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Season at Carnegie Hall was praised by a long standing ovation. Today she’s a regular guest in music festivals and concert series all over Europe.

Deeply convinced about the social responsibility of the art, Irene founded in 2015 POURQUOIPAS, a musical no-profit association organizing concerts, mastercalsses and projects with social commitments. Truly passionated since young age about Niccolò Paganini, Irene created with POURQUOIPAS an educational  experience titled „Niccolò Paganini - Le Mystère“: a one hour itinerary discovering truth and mysteries of the composer’s life, ending with a final concert.

Italian violinist Irene Abrigo started playing the violin at the age of 4 at the Aosta Suzuki School. She continued her education with Marie-Annick Nicolas in Geneva, with Pierre Amoyal in Lausanne and Salzburg and with Corina Belcea in Bern. Furthermore she took part in masterclasses with Zakhar Bron, Thomas Füri, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Viktor Pikayzen, Mayumi Seiler und Benjamin Schmid. Thanks to a dissertation about Niccolò Paganini, she received a PhD in Art, Literature and Performance (DAMS) from the University of Turin.

Since 2011 she’s the founder and artistic director of the Lucignano Music Festival in Tuscany (Italy). She’s currently playing on a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Milano 1758, generously on loan to her from a private collector.