Do you like live music? Here is the chance to kick back, enjoy a live performance on a variety of instruments and chat to the performers over tea and cake (included in the tickets price).
This event is intended to present the life and works of Elisabetta de Gambarini, an Italian musician, composer and entrepreneur.
Timing
• 4:00pm - 4:45pm: Chat to the artists over tea and cake
• 4:45pm - 5:00pm: Overture by an artist supported by Continuo Foundation (tbc Emanuele Addis, lute)
• 5:00pm: Concert begins
• 6:00pm: Concert ends
• 6:00pm - 6:30pm: Greetings
Description
Elisabetta de Gambarini was an 18th-century Italian-English composer, harpsichordist, and singer. The narrative weaves together her personal journey and artistic achievements against the backdrop of a time when women faced significant barriers in the musical world and society.
Gambarini represents a very modern figure of her time, going against the social and cultural norms of 18th-century Europe, challenges faced by women in the arts. Gambarini's background, family, and musical influences shaped her musical career, so much so that she navigated the male-dominated music scene, earning recognition as both a composer and performer.
The performance will include a selection from Gambarini's harpsichord works and songs, as well as compositions by contemporary composers:
E. De Gambarini:
• Sonata in C major, Op. 1 n°5 (Vivace- Siciliana- Spiritoso)
• Song “ Behold and Listen” (from Lessons Op.2 )
• Sonata in G major, Op. 1 n°4 (Gavotta-March-Non troppo presto)
G. F. Handel:
- Flute Sonata in F major, FWV 369 (Larghetto, Allegro, Siciliana, Allegro)
B. Galuppi:
- Piano Sonata Illy 32 (Andantino- Allegro)
D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas:
• K.132 (andante espressivo)
• K.118 (non presto)
• K.32 (aria)
• K.515 (allegro)
E. De Gambarini: Songs from Lessons op.2
• Canzonetta
• Se dir non lice al mio tesoro
• Se mai fosse la mia forte
• Un giorno più chiaro
• Lover go and calm thy sight
Artists
Margherita Torretta, piano
Jasmine Flicker, soprano
Enrica Mondo, cello
Giulia Nigra, flute
For queries, please email the event organiser Maria Puleio at music1@kcwc.org.uk
Additional information on each Artist:
Margherita Torretta is an Italian pianist and ex- classical dancer born in 1986. After her debut at the Carnegie Hall in New York in 2016 with D. Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas (following her first CD recording with Academy Productions label D.Scarlatti-20 Keyboard sonatas), she performed in over twenty countries around the globe, in Europe, England, the United States, Asia and Australia, included concert halls as London’s St.Martin-in-the-Fields, Vienna’s Ehrbar Saal, Warsaw’s Fryderyk Chopin Institute, the Conservatory Maurice Ravel in Paris, the Steinway Hall in Dubai, Sala Verdi in Milan and many others. She graduated with honors at the Conservatory in Piacenza and at the G.Verdi Conservatory in Milan. Supported by the Theo Lieven Foundation she entered the Performance & Interpretation Masters Program at Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano ad she was a student at the prestigious International Lake Como Academy directed by William Grant Naborè, studying with Dimjtri Bashkirov, Fout's Ong and Stanislav Ioudetich. Margherita has released a second album with Baldassare Galuppi’s piano sonatas (2023, Academy Classical Music). She's the first pianist to record the complete piano works composed by Italian-British composer Elisabetta De Gambarini (2024, Brilliant Classics) and in March 2024 she released her first novel Rimmel inspired by her personal story (2024, edizioni Pendragon). Her Interviews and reviews have appeared in music magazines including Gramophone, BBC music magazine, Gramophone, Classics Today, The Art Desk, Pianist Magazine and International Piano. She has performed live concerts and given interviews over major broadcast networks including BBC Radio 3, RAI Radio 3, Rai Radio 2, RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera, France Musique, Radio France, Luxembourg 100.7, ORF1 Austria and Radio Romania Muzical. She currently lives in London.
Jasmine Flicker is a British classical singer and violinist who studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and is now at The Royal Academy of Music, supported by the Leverhulme Scholarship. Operatic experience includes The Six of Calais/Ruth (Pegasus Opera), Papagena, The Magic Flute (Nevill Holt Festival), Belinda, Dido and Aeneas (Longborough Festival Opera), and Drusilla/Fortuna, L’incoronazione di Poppea (Hampstead Garden Opera). Work in theatre includes the titular role in The Immortal Henrietta Lacks (Theatre Peckham). As a Vache Baroque Young Artist in 2021, performances included Paradise & Pandemonium and later being a featured soloist for the VB Showcase: Women of the Baroque. Jasmine Flicker has been appointed to their board of Trustees. Other chorus work includes the Hanover Band’s Messiah UK Tour 2021, Chineke! Voices at the BBC Proms, and performances with The Opera Makers as well as the Black British Classical Foundation. From 2023-24 she was a mentee on the Pegasus Opera Mentoring Scheme with Glyndebourne and supported vocally through the National Opera Studio’s Diverse Voices Programme. Work in film includes being the violin soloist for Marvel’s Black Widow (2021), with music composed by Lorne Balfe. Work in TV includes Netflix’s Bridgerton (2024) and Take Me to the Opera on BBC (2023).
Enrica Mondo began her musical journey at the age of four, studying the cello at the Suzuki Academy of Turin under the guidance of Maestro Antonio Mosca and later with Liviana Pittau. At twelve, she obtained her Suzuki Diploma and subsequently continued her studies with Maestro Marco Mosca, followed by further training with Maestro Stefano Cerrato. She won first prize and performed in a duo at the Gala Concert of the "Play'n'Play" competition in 2015. In 2018, she was awarded first prize at the prestigious “XVIII International Musica Insieme Competition for Young Performers in Chamber Music, Orchestra, and Choir. From a young age, she has performed extensively in orchestral ensembles across Piedmont, including with the “Orchestra Suzuki di Torino,” with whom she participated in prominent festivals such as the “Wratislavia Cantans Festival” in Wroclaw. In 2019, she was admitted to the Vivaldi Conservatory of Alessandria, where she currently continues her studies under Maestro Claudio Merlo. In 2022, she was awarded second place at the "International Musical Competition City of Alessandria”. In 2023, she graduated with distinction from the Vivaldi Conservatory of Alessandria, earning her Bachelor's degree with the highest honors. She is currently completing her Master there. She has attended masterclasses with renowned cellists such as Stefano Cerrato, Massimo Macrì, Enrico Bronzi, Asier Polo and Jeroen den Herder.
Giulia Nigra began studying the flute under the guidance of teacher Bruna Querio. She obtained her first-level academic diploma in flute with top marks under the guidance of Maestro Stefano Parrino. She is currently enrolled in the first year of the two-year specialization program at the Conservatory of Alessandria.In 2023, she attended the LeAltreNote masterclass, where she participated in lessons withPeter-Lukas Graf. She has further refined her skills with Tom Andreassen, Vincens Prats, Pepe Sotorres, Juliette Hurel, Matej Zupan, Wissam Boustany, Sarah Rumer, Sarah Louvion, Monika Streitová, Paul-Edmund Davies, Carlos Cano, Mariano Bas, and Antonio Nuez. In 2017, she recorded a CD as a member of the Giovanile TAKKA Band orchestra. Alongside her studies and performances, she is also dedicated to teaching: she teaches musical grammar at the Associazione Liveo Musicale in Rivarolo Canavese, flute at the Casa della Musica in Portacomaro, and at the Filarmonica Association in Bosconero. She won the "Vivaldi" scholarship in 2023 and the LeAltreNote award in 2024. She is a member of the flute quartet Inedito Flute Quartet.
