Born in Lugano, Chiara Banchini is one of the major interpreters of seventeenth and eighteenth century violin music. After completing her studies, earning the Virtuoso award from the Geneva Conservatoire, she specialized under Sandor Vegh and for several years dedicated herself to the creation of contemporary works as a member of the Contrechamps Ensemble. Her acquaintance with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Sigiswald Kuijken led to her enthusiasm for performing music from the 17th and 18th centuries using the original instruments. She has cooperated with important orchestras including La Petite Bande, Hesperion XX, La Chapelle Royale, initiating her international career as a soloist. In 1981 she founded Ensemble 415, considered one of the reference and most prestigious European groups for the 17th-18th century repertoire. Chiara Banchini taught Baroque violin at the Early Music Centre in Geneva before becoming Professor at the Schola Cantorum in Basel from 1992 to 2011. She has to its credit a large discography, over 50 award-winning recordings by international critics. Chiara Banchini is one of the permanent conductors of Theresia since 2014.
Born in Rome in 1961, Alfredo Bernardini moved to The Netherlands in 1981 to specialize in baroque oboe and early music with, among others, Bruce Haynes and Ku Ebbinge. In 1987 he received his soloist diploma from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He has performed all over Europe, in Russia, U.S.A., Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Egypt, Israel, South America and Australia as a member of prestigious baroque ensembles such as Hesperion XX, Le Concert des Nations, La Petite Bande, The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Das Freiburger Barockorchester, The English Concert, Bach Collegium Japan and others. In 1989 he founded the ensemble ZEFIRO together with the brothers Paolo and Alberto Grazzi. As a director, he has worked with orchestras throughout the world and with the European Union Baroque Orchestra. From 1992 to 2015 he taught baroque oboe at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and since 2014 he is professor at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. He also taught from 2002 to 2009 at the Escola Superior de Musica de Cataluña in Barcelona. He has been one of the permanent conductors of Theresia since 2016.
Claudio Astronio is a versatile musician who accompanies his soloist organ and harpsichord recitals with the role of orchestra conductor. He conducts the Harmonices Mundi ensemble, performing at the most important early music festivals around the world.
In 2007 he made his debut as opera conductor for Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydicedirected by Graham Vick.
He has recorded for the Stradivarius label and currently records for Brilliant Classics: his CDs have been honored with many awards from the most important Italian and foreign specialized magazines including Alte Musik Aktuell, Amadeus, Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique. Goldberg, Grammophone, Repertoire. His interests also encompass jazz and fusions between different musical worlds. He supplements his concert activities with educational activities at the Trapani Conservatoire where he teaches harpsichord and historical keyboards. He has been one of the principal conductors of Theresia from 2012 to 2019.