© Rita Mascagna 2015

Was born at Castel S. Pietro Terme, Bologna, Italy in 1984, and began studying violin at 8 years of age with Medardo Mascagni.Besides her Classics Liceo Diploma, she has obtained her musical Undergraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma at the Conservatorio “G. Nicolini” in Piacenza ,both with full marks, honors and a “menzione d’onore”, under the guidance of Prof. Maria Caterina Carlini. She graduated with Distinction and Dip RAM from the Royal Academy of Music in London, under the guidance of Prof. Erich Gruenberg. Her début as a soloist, at the age of 14, was with the Philharmonic of the “Teatro Comunale di Bologna”. She has followed specialization courses, both in violin and chamber music, in Italy at the “Scuola di Musica di Fiesole”, Florence, under the guidance of M° Pavel Vernikov and abroad with Pavel Berman, Igor Oistrach, Ilya Grubert, Zakar Bron, Edward Wulfson, Boris Kushnir, Mayumi Fujikawa, Thomas Brandis, Mauricio Fucks, Salvatore Accardo, Sylvia Marcovici, Israel Chorberg, Kostantin Bogino (Tchaikovsky Piano Trio), Piero Farulli (Quartetto Italiano) , Isabel Carisius (Alban Berg Quartet) and Milan Skampa (Smetana Quartet). She has held various scholarships and won national and international prizes including, in 1994, the “Most Promising Player” prize from the British Federation for Music, Dance and Speech in England, the “Cleto Tomba” prize at Castel S. Pietro Terme, Bologna, the 1st “Vittoria Caffa” International Prize at Cortemilia (Cuneo), the “Giannino Carpi” and “Emma Petterle Tandura” scholarships at the “Rassegne Nazionali d’Archi” (National Meeting of Strings) at Vittorio Veneto, (Treviso), 1st Prize at the National “City of Ortona” Competition (Chieti), 1st Prize in her class at the “Arcangelo Corelli” competition at Riccione (Rimini), a scholarship at Takasaki University in Japan. She won 2nd place at the National Competition held by the “Soroptimist International d’Italia”, a scholarship from the “Societa' Umanitaria” in Milano, awarded to the best Conservatory students. From Uto Ughi, she received the 1st International Prize for the Arts at the “Auditorio Pio dell’Accademia Santa Cecilia” in Rome offered by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR). In 2004 she was awarded the title of “Excelsius Musicae et Nuntius Pacis” at the Eurofestival “Concertisti Emergenti” at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome under the auspices of the European Parliament and Unipax. She was also awarded 1st prize as soloist for strings at the XVth “Citta’ di Cento” National Competition as well as the Special “Bartolomeo Campagnoli” Prize winning a scholarship and a violin made by the violin maker B. Tosello. Recently she has been awarded 1st Prize “Scuola Musicale di Milano” and 1st Prize at the “Concorso Mozart 2006” organised by the Arturo Toscanini Foundation in Parma. Her awards also include numerous prizes won at Chamber Music competitions amongst which the 1st Prize at the “Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera Val Tidone” in 2004. In concert, she has played violin solo, violin duo, violin and piano duo and as soloist with the ‘Amilcare Zanella’ Orchestra of Piacenza,’I filarmonici del Teatro Comunale’ of Bologna, the ‘Toscanini’ Orchestra of Parma and the “State Orchestra Klassika” of St. Petersburg. She has played in various European cities including Paris (Salle Richelieu de l’Universite de la Sorbonne, Conservatoire Russe de Paris Sergej Rachmaninoff, Salle Pleyel), Stuttgart (University of Stuttgart), Salzburg (Mozarteum), London (Duke’s Hall of the Royal Academy of Music, St. John Smith Square), Basel etc. ,as well as in Russia (University of Arts and Glinka Academy in St. Petersburg), in China (Expo 2010 in Shangai, Auditorium of Performing Arts in Beijing) and in Japan (University of Takasaky). She has also played as leader of first violins of the “Amilcare Zanella” Orchestra in Piacenza, of the “Orchestra Freixinet” of the Encuentro y Academia de Musica da Camera in Santander, of the “Orchestra Sinfonica Giovanile dei Conservatori dell’Emilia Romagna”, of the “Orchestra 1813” in Como and of the “Luigi Cherubini” Orchestra, founded by M° Riccardo Muti, under the baton of conductor such as V. Ashkenazy, R. Muti, P. Csaba, S. Bychkov, Z. Metha, V. Gergiev, E. P. Salonen, D. Harding, D. Baremboim, I.P. Tortellier and Sir C. Davies. She is regularly invited to play with Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala in Milan as tutti violin. She has been invited at many important festivals in Italy and Europe, as the “ Gubbio Festival”, the “Eurofestival” in Rome, the “Estate Musicale di Portogruaro” in Portoguaro (Venice) and the “Encuentro y Academia de Musica da Camera” in Santander. She has collaborated with artists such as Pavel Vernikov, Alain Meunier, Radovan Vlatkovitch, Guido Corti, Andrea Lucchesini, Klaus Thunemann, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Michel Arrignon, Isabel Carisius and Claudio Martinez- Mehner. Since 2005, she is first violin in the “Quartetto di Firenze” with which in November 2006 she has played in a RAI (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio3 broadcast from the Palatina Chapel in the Quirinale (Italian Presidential Palace), invited by the president of Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano. At the Royal Academy of Music in London, she has been awarded the “Wilfrid Parry Prize”(2007) for a duo of strings and piano by Brahms, the “Harold Craxton Prize”(2008) for piano trio, the “Delius Prize”(2008) and the “Barbara Kesterton Award”(2009). She recorded for Tactus and Brilliant.

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biography

RITA MASCAGNA violin

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