The Annual

 Glebe Music Festival

In conjunction with The Glebe Society Inc

Special Autumn Concert

Sunday 21 April 2024 3pm
Margaretta Cottage
6 Leichhardt Street, Glebe NSW 2037
(disabled access at 18A Cook Street)

Duo Evocaciones
Martina Biondi • cello
Pietro Locatto • guitar

Tickets: $20 includes afternoon tea
Click the link to order tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/CPMBA

Martina Biondi is one of Italy's most promising young cellists.
At the age of 17 she made her solo debut with the Orchestra conducted by Donato Sito performing Schumann's concerto. Since then she has been regularly invited to important musical settings such as: Ravello Festival, Alfredo Piatti International Festival in Bergamo, Teatro di Tradizione A.Rendano, M. Quintieri Music Association, Mendelssohn Remise in Berlin, Cantiere Internazionale d ́Arte in Montepulciano, Berlin Philharmonie, Piano Salon Christophori, Appassionata music association in Macerata, Asolo Music festival, Lerici Music Festival, ICMF Garda Lake, Herbst Musicaux Festival in Verona, Accademia dei cameristi in Bari, Como Classica…

Born into a family of musicians, Martina began her studies at the age of four. At only 17, she graduated at the Stanislao Giacomantonio Conservatory with highest honors.

In 2014 she perfected her studies with honors at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Giovanni Sollima. She then continued her training with Antonio Meneses at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona and with Peter Bruns at the Hochschule für Musik "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in Leipzig. In 2016 she moved to Berlin to continue her master's studies at the prestigious Hochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Nicolas Altstaedt.

Her education was enriched through Masterclasses given by Jens Peter Maintz, Antonio Meneses (Accademia Chigiana), Gary Hoffmann in the famous Kronberg Academy, Franz Helmerson, Torleif Thedéen, Norman Fischer.

Martina is the winner of international prizes including Pirazzi Stiftung Prize in Frankfurt, First Absolute Prize "Premio Crescendo" including also the Prize for the best performance of Cassadó's Suite and " Best Cellist" prize, Second Prize Francesco Geminiani, semifinalist of Antonio Janigro Competition.

Prestigious appointments include her debut with the “Orchestra dei Pomeriggi musicali” of Milan with Beethoven's triple concerto under the baton of Pavel Berman, in 2020 she was a guest of Daniel Hope in the Hope@home TV program for the French-German "Arte" television.

In 2020, in collaboration with guitarist Pietro Locatto, she formed the “ Duo Evocaciones” with a focus on the figures of Cassadó, Albeniz, Granados and De Falla. This project has been released in 2022 by the label Stradivarius. The disc is well received by critics both in Italy and abroad (Rai Radio 3, Discover Classical, Amadeus Magazine, Musica magazine etc.).

Martina plays an 1881 Antonio Guadagnini entrusted to her by Gianni Accornero.

Pietro Locatto received his music education under the guidance of Stefano Grondona and perfected his skills with Frédéric Zigante, Oscar Ghiglia and Lorenzo Micheli, receiving scholarships and special awards, including five Diploma di Merito from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. During his studies he was a scholar at the Associazione "De Sono" and he stood out by winning several international competitions in different countries, of which we would like tomention the first prize at the "Gianni Bergamo Music Award" in Lugano (in the only edition dedicated to the guitar).

Golden guitar as "youngpromise" at the Convegno Internazionale di Chitarra di Milano, he performed the Concierto de Aranjuez with the Orchestra Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma. Invited by the pianist Michele Campanella to perform as the only guitarist at Festival Spinacorona he held solo recitals in international festivals in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, England, Croatia, Belgium, Greece, Australia and Mexico.

His profound interest for Spanish music for guitar from the first half of the '900 brought to a first monographic album based on the work from Federico Moreno Torroba (Stradivarius) and a second album focused on the characters of Llobet, Asencio and Mompou, greatly received by the critics both in Italy and internationally (Rai Radio 3, American Record Guide, Discover Classical, Gendai Guitar, Guitar Classique,Musica, Amadeus…). His research on Iberian music was expanded thanks to the partnership with the cellist Martina Biondi, with whom he started Duo Evocaciones and a program on the music of Cassadó, Albéniz,Granados and De Falla. Concurrently, invited by the magazine Seicorde, he created an album dedicated to bachian transcriptions from harpsichord, lute, and cello, published for the series "I Maestri della chitarra".

In 2019 he was the only guitarist to win a collaboration with the Teatro Regio of Turin. He has been interested in teaching for many years and he is currently working as a teacher at the Conservatorio di Bergamo, as a visiting professor at the LPMAM of London, besides being invited to hold masterclasses in several Italian festivals and other occasions.

Pietro Locatto plays instruments built by Luigi Locatto, his father and luthier: one inspired by the Enrique Garcia from 1904 played by Francisco Tarrega in his last concert and an other one derived from Francisco Simplicio.

Click here to find out more about the Glebe Music Festival