Choirs

​The Polyphonic Choir of Ruda

Founded in 1945, it has given concerts all over the world, including the Philippines, Mongolia, the United States, Canada, Russia and almost all the countries of Europe. Their commitment towards the quality of the music played, and their attachment to local traditions have always been their distinguishing features, enhanced by participation in about fifty regional, national and international competitions. Through the years they have won a number of prizes, with different Maestros, in Arezzo (1970, 1978, 2005), Gorizia (1981), Orvieto (1966, 1967, 1968), Ravenna (1972, 1974, 1976, 1979), Rome (1968), Vittorio Veneto – where in Spring 2004, the Polifonico won no less than four first prizes, something that no other choir had done before – and Tallinn (2005).

Gregorian chants, sacred and profane polyphonic music, romantic and contemporary music are the areas which most interest the choir and in which the Polifonico has always competed with the most talented and dynamic European choirs. Over the years they have taken part on several occasions in artistic projects with the leading orchestras of Friuli Venezia Giulia. In particular, they performed in the productions of Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in D minor, the Messa solenne by Alberto Mazzucato, Daniele Zanettovich’s Stabat Mater, the Te Deum by Orlando Dipiazza, the Deuxième Messe by Charles Gounod and other historic pieces of symphonic and choral literature.

The Polifonico – which has held more than two thousand concerts since its foundation – has recorded part of its repertoire for Italian and foreign television, as well as making about ten compact discs under different recording labels. In 2002, the choir – which has been recognised by the Regional Council as an “institution of great artistic interest”– began publishing a series about the organs of the four dioceses of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, while books about Friulan composers, works by Bartolomeo Cordans, Giovanni Battista Tomadini, Alberto Mazzucato, Giacomo, Domenico and Giovanni Rampini have been recovered and publicised for the Quaderni.

To mark their fiftieth anniversary in 1995, they produced the four-scene theatre performance La strada di Levata – texts by Silvano Colugnati, music by Daniele Zanettovich – which was honoured with the Great Jubilee logo in 2000. In 2005, for their sixtieth anniversary, the choir recorded a set of compact discs containing about seven hours of music, selected from their entire musical and artistic career from the 1940s up to today.

Besides their concert activity, they have always been highly committed to exchanges with Italian, European and world choral groups. Special projects have brought to Italy and Friuli Venezia Giulia choirs from Senegal, Norway, the United States, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, France, Serbia and Slovenia as well as from almost all the regions of Italy. In the last few years, the Polifonico began an interesting activity of music production with programmes organised in various towns in Friuli Venezia Giulia. These projects - Concerti aperitivo, Quaresima in Musica, Cororgano, Note d’estate, Sacre meditazioni and Canta Natale – have become major events in the cultural production of Friuli Venezia Giulia, featuring solo artists and regional, Italian and foreign music groups. This ceaseless artistic activity on the local, national and international scene has recently earned the choir the awards Nonino Risit d’aur, Croce di Malta and Moret d’aur.

Fabiana Noro graduated brilliantly in pianoforte at the J. Tomadini Music Academy of Udine, under the guidance of Prof. U. Tracanelli. At the same time she attended the courses in composition held by Maestro D. Zanettovich and choral music and choir direction.

She was the “other” choir maestro at the Ente Lirico “Pierluigi da Palestrina” in Cagliari for the following opera and symphonic productions: Carmen, La Bohéme, The Pearl Fishers, La Forza del Destino, Mahler's Second Symphony, Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Don Pasquale, etc.

She directed the Diapason Chamber Choir, a professional choir with whom she won the first prize – Diploma of Excellence – at the C. A. Seghizzi international choral singing contest (1998) presided by Roman Vlad.

She has a busy concert schedule both in Italy and abroad (Slovenia, Switzerland, France, Hungary, China, Russia, Latvia, Estonia etc...) as a pianist for singers of international repute, including Bonaldo Giaiotti, Alfredo Mariotti, Vincenzo Bello, Katia Ricciarelli Mirna Pecile, Lella Cuberli, Giuseppe Taddei and others.

She was Collaborator Maestro on a number of courses of specialisation for opera singers, including the course held by Maestro Claudio Desderi on Mozart’s operas and at Katia Ricciarelli’s Opera Academy in Desenzano del Garda.

She is master-class pianist to Raina Kabaivanska, with whom she performs in concerts.

As from January 2003 she has directed the Coro Polifonico di Ruda.

With this group she won the following awards at the choir competition of Vittorio Veneto 2004: first prize – polyphony, first prize – folklore, prize for the most interesting project, Efrem Casagrande Gran prix.

She also won the absolute first prize in the international competition in Tallin (Estonia) and second prize at the Gran Prix.

In August 2005 she won second prize in the Polyphony Class at the 53rd international competition in Arezzo.

The same year she received the Moret d'Aur, a prize for arts and performance, assigned by a jury of journalists from Friuli Venezia Giulia.

​Ensemble Orlando Fribourg

The Ensemble Orlando Fribourg was founded in 1994 by Laurent Gendre. Initially the ensemble concentrated exclusively on the works of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, later focussing also on composers such as Bach, Händel or Buxtehude, besides contemporary works.

After touring Russia in 1996, the ensemble won the first prize of the class Ensemble Vocali at the International Contest in Arezzo in 1997. The following year they gave a number of concerts in Germany. In 1999 they gave a series of concerts on tour in Spain. In spring 2000 the ensemble presented a tribute to Francis Tregian with the collaboration of the writer Anne Cuneo. They subsequently performed in Switzerland, Belgium and France.

The Ensemble Orlando Fribourg has been invited by a number of festivals, including the Festival de Musiques Sacrées de Fribourg (1994 & 2000), the Festival Bach de Lausanne (1997 & 1998), the Festival des Chœurs Lauréats de Vaison-la-Romaine (1998), the Festival de Chant Choral du Pays Basque (1999), the Festival Agapé de Genève (2000 & 2002), the Festival International de l’Orgue Ancien de Valère in Sion (2000 & 2003), the Festival des Flandres de Bruges (2003), Organum Novum in Brussels (2003), the Festival Bach en Combrailles in the Auvergne (2003, 2005 & 2006), the Concerts J.S. Bach de Lutry (2003), the Fêtes musicales de Bulle (2004), the Festival Les Voix Sacrées du Monde (2004), the Fondation Gianadda in Martigny (2006), and Freunde alter Musik Basel (2006).

It collaborates with leading musical ensembles such as La Cetra, Concerto Palatino, Capriccio Basel and Die Freitagsakademie. Their performances are often broadcast on radio.

Under the Cascavelle label, the Ensemble Orlando Fribourg has recorded the Hieremiae Prophetae Lamentationes by Roland de Lassus as a world premiere in the version for four voices (1999), and in 2001 a monographic work dedicated to the work of the Swiss composer Ludwig Senfl (1486-1542), to great acclaim from international critics (10 Repertorio and 5 Diapason). Their most recent recording is dedicated to the Vêpres à la Vierge by Monteverdi and Grandi. The Ensemble has also recorded the Cantique des cantiques which will soon be available.

​Grex Vocalis

Grex Vocalis - ( The Singing Flock) – was formed in 1971. The repertoire spans from renaissance to contemporary Norwegian music. The choir has been awarded the Norwegian "Grammy" for two of its thirteen albums and won 1st prizes in national and international contests: Arezzo, Gorizia, Tolosa and Marktoberdorf.

In 1999 Grex Vocalis was awarded "Il Gran Premio Città di Arezzo" as the best choir in that years contest.

In 2003 Grex Vocalis was in the final in the BBC contest "Let the Peoples Sing".

Over the years Grex Vocalis has commissioned and premiered works by several Norwegian composers, but also performed important baroque works like Handel: Messiah, Bach: Christmas Oratorio, Rameau: In convertendo, Quam dilecta, Charpentier: Te Deum, Lully: Te Deum, Delalande: Te Deum etc with orchestra and soloists.

The first Norwegian recording of Handels Messiah was released in 1997 with Grex Vocalis and Oslo Baroque Orchestra.

Grex Vocalis three latest CDs "Crux" with Norwegian music from the 20th century, "Liberté" with works by Francis Poulenc and "Magnum Mysterium" has been highly acclaimed both home and abroad.

The conductor Carl Høgset founded the choir in 1971.

​I Piccoli Cantori delle Colline di Brianza

The Choir "I Piccoli Cantori delle Colline di Brianza" was founded in 1996 and is made up of about fifteen choristers aged between eight and fifteen years old. The choir has won prizes in a number of national and international choral contests and performs pieces ranging from the Medieval age to the sacred and profane compositions of twentieth century and contemporary composers. The following awards on their curriculum are particularly worthy of mention:

•--1st Prize at the 33rd and 38th national choral contest in Vittorio Veneto 1998 and 2003

•--3rd Prize at the 47th G. D’Arezzo international polyphonic contest 1999

•--1st prize at the Competition of Music Performance "Lario in Musica" – Varenna 2000

•--Special Prize at the international choral competition "R. Helfer" – Malè (Trento) 2000

•--Special prize for merit (Fascia Oro) at the 23rd "F. Gaffurio" national choral contest in Quartiano 2005

•--Special prize for merit (Fascia Oro) at the 9th international choral contest in Riva del Garda 2006.

They have performed in Italy and abroad at a number of acclaimed concerts of sacred and profane music and collaborate with various orchestra formations together with the Ensemble Giovanile Femminile Fonte Gaia and the Gruppo Corale Licabella in Rovagnate.

They recorded a number of CDs in 1997 – 2000 – 2003 - 2005 and as winner of the Contest in Vittorio Veneto 2003 were included in the CD “Cantari” published in 2006.

In October 2006 they performed at Milan's Teatro Alla Scala as part of the "Vivacipertalenti" event, created and presided over by Elisabetta Armiato, prima ballerina at the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan. The Choir was founded and is directed by maestro Flora Anna Spreafico.

Flora Anna Spreafico completed her studies in music at the Conservatory of Milan, gaining her diploma in choral music and choral conducting, where she also studied Composition with G. Colardo, S. Bo and N. Castiglioni.

With the choirs she has founded and directs, she has performed in Italy, Switzerland and Poland and has won a number of awards including: prize for the best direction at the 9th International choral contest in Riva del Garda 2006 and prize for the best choral performance at the 31st national choral contest in Vittorio Veneto 1996.

She has taken part in major events such as the Festival Lodoviciano in Viadana, the Perosiano in Tortona, the G. Zelioli European choral Festival in Lecco, Perugia Choir Festival, the "Virgo Lauretana" International Festival of Sacred Music in Loreto, and in October 2006 she performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan as part of the "Vivacipertalenti" event. She is artistic director of the Licabella Music Association in Rovagnate and member of the artistic commission of Usci Lombardia. She is often invited to be a member of the judging committees in national choral events and contests.