Sara Mingardo - Tamiri

One of the rare voices of genuine contralto of the music scene today. She is regularly invited by the most important music institutions all over the world, thus collaborating with many of the most prominent artists of our time. Her operatic repertoire includes works by Gluck, Monteverdi, Handel, Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi, Cavalli, Mozart, Donizetti, Schumann and Berlioz. Particularly active as a concert singer, she has a vast repertoire ranging from Pergolesi to Respighi, through Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak and Mahler. She was awarded the Premio Abbiati 2009.

Future plans include: Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria (Penelope) in Paris and Turin (both under Rinaldo Alessandrini) and in Zurich (under Ivor Bolton); L'Orfeo in Paris (under Rinaldo Alessandrini); Petite Messe Solennelle at the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome under Antonio Pappano; Mozart’s Weisenhaus-messe and Schubert’s E-flat Mass with Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado in Bologna; Mozart’s Requiem at the Lucerne Festival under Claudio Abbado; Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno with Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini on a European tour; Kindertotenlieder in Antwerp under Dmitri Jurowski; concerts in Paris, Lisbon, Prague and Belgrad.

Mary Ellen Nesi - Berenice Regina di Cappadocia

Acclaimed interpreter of baroque operas by Handel, Monteverdi and Vivaldi. Her repertoire also includes the roles of Orfeo, Adalgisa, Rosina, Dorabella, Cherubino, Hänsel, Carmen and Octavian. She regularly collaborates with the Greek National Opera and performs in major musical institutions of Europe and America such as the Carnegie Hall, the Théâtre de Champs-Elysées, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Theater an der Wien, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Her discography includes many recordings of operas by Händel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti and Gluck for such labels as Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Sony and her first solo album has just been released by Sony/DHM.

Future plans include: Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans in Dortmund; Vivaldi’s Farnace in Mulhouse and Montecarlo; Gluck’s Il Trionfo di Clelia in London; concerts in Berlin, Athens, Naples, Ancona and L’Aquila.