In May 2024, the ensemble was honored to participate in Amandine Beyer — Gli Incogniti Academy and subsequently reached the finals of the CIMA Early Music Competition, which earned them a 2025/2026 residency with the renowned conductor William Christie at Thiré, Centre Culturel des Arts Florissants. In summer 2024 they presented a program in the Singelkerk Utrecht as part of the Utrecht Early Music Festival.
Most recently the ensemble won both the top prize and the “Rovereto, City of Peace“ special audience prize at the Premio Bonporti in Rovereto, Italy. Il Parrasio will bring its programs and passion to venues in The Hague (Musica Antica, NL), Maribor (Carpe Artem, SLO), Utrecht (Early Music Festival, NL) in 2025.
They were recently selected among the 88 applications from all over Europe for the prestigious European S-EEEmerging program for 2026 and 2027.
The name Il Parrasio is derived from “Il Bosco Parrasio”, the hilly grove of trees overlooking the city of Rome. Every summer, the great and varied artistic minds of the Arcadian Poets met in this grove to discuss strategies for influencing all facets of Italian art culture away from the overindulgence of the high baroque and towards a return to more simple and natural styles. These self-proclaimed “Arcadians”– a group of luminaries of various areas of expertise–drew both nomenclature and values from the celebrated Greek region of Arcadia in antiquity, fabled for its peaceful idealistic people and their harmonious relationship with the unspoiled nature.
Since the ensemble’s inception, it has focused largely on the Venetian repertoire, staying engrossed by the vibrant and expressive styles that played crucial roles in the development of various musical forms throughout the continent.
Distribution
- Eriko Nagayama baroque violin
- Ajda Porenta baroque violin
- Luka Stefanović baroque cello
- Alessandro Papa harpsichord