June 11 | 7.30pm (Doors at 5pm) Casaloma
Tickets $30 for Adults
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto presents:
Italian Beatrice Venezi Conductor
Mendelssohn Italian Symphony, Rossini Il Signor Bruschino Overture, soprano Sara Papini to perform Italian arias
BIO:
Beatrice Venezi was born in Lucca in 1990, the hometown of Giacomo Puccini, who she feels a special bond with. “I grew up on bread and Puccini”, Beatrice always says. She’s particularly inspired by the strong female themes in Puccini’s operas, and, when possible, incorporates them in her own work.
Beatrice started studying piano at 7 years old. Many years later, in the summer of 2009, she worked on her first opera production abroad, in Germany, as the rehearsal accompanist and vocal coach. The opera? Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, of course.
Under the guidance and mentorship of Maestro Gaetano Giani Luporini, Beatrice started studying composition and this became a turning point in her career. Luporini challenged and encouraged Beatrice to follow her heart and do what she was born to do. Conduct.
In 2012, she returned home to debut with the orchestra Lucca Philharmonic. Soon after, a series of concerts with Italian and international orchestras followed, such as Sofia Philharmonic, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Orchestra of Madeira, the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, the Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti, the Orchestra della Toscana, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, the Magna Grecia Orchestra, the Florentine Chamber Orchestra, the Campana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Benevento Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dedalo Ensemble.
Over the years, she has worked on several renowned theatres and festivals, including the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, the Bolshoi Theatre in Minsk, the State Opera House of Georgia, the National Theatre Ivan Zajč in Rijeka, the National Opera and Ballet in Sofia, the New European Festival of Stuttgart, the Bellagio and Lake Como Festival, the Pontino Festival of contemporary music, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, the Al Bustan Festival in Beirut and the Lucca Classica Music Festival in her hometown.
In November of 2014, Beatrice performed with the “Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti” for the first time and it was the start of something magical. In 2016, she was appointed Principal Conductor of the “Orchestra Scarlatti Young”, and began using technology and new media to create a fresh way for the orchestra to interact with young people. In 2016, further to the Aram Khachaturian Conducting Competition, she was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2016 she also debuted at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago with Ferruccio Busoni’s opera, “Turandot”. And in 2017, Beatrice was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Puccini Festival. What could be better for someone who grew up in his hometown?
In 2015 she was selected, together with other world-famous Italian personalities, such as Eleonora Abbagnato and Carlo Cracco as defender of a vision so innovative it has been included in the Audi Innovative Thinking project, created to gather ideas and testimonials from modern-day pioneers.
Corriere della Sera included her in the list of the 100 women of the year 2016 and in that of the 50 women of the year 2017 in the world who stood out for their professionalism and were revolutionary, resilient, nonconformist, forerunner, champion of creativity, femininity and innovative resources.
In 2018, she was selected as one of the 100 Young People Under 30 to watch by Forbes Italia, giving her an opportunity to lend her voice to the causes she believes in most.
In May 2017, she acted as rapporteur of the TedTalk “Avanti, Maestro!” for TEDxBergamo.
Warner Classics will release Beatrice’s first CD on Puccini’s symphonic repertoire in Spring 2019.
AWARDS
● 2015 “Premio Donna 8 Marzo – La Musica per la Vita” by ASSAMI – Amici del Conservatorio di Milano.
● 2015 “Audi Innovative Thinking Program” – a project create by Audi
● 2016 “Premio Michelangelo Cupisti” for young artists by Fondazione Festival Pucciniano and Associazione Culturale Michelangelo Cupisti.
● 2017 100 Most Significant Women of 2016 by Corriere della Sera.
● 2017 “Scala d’Oro” for her great artistic skills and for her commitment for the spreading of musical culture into new generations.
● 2017 “Targa d’argento Luciana Pardini” which is given to the young talents of classical music.
● 2017 she acted as rapporteur of the TedTalk “Avanti, Maestro!” for TEDxBergamo.
● 2017 50 Most Significant Women of 2017 by Corriere della Sera.
● 2018 “Ethic Award” by the Oscar Pomilio Blumm Foundation in Pescara.
● 2018 100 Young People Under 30 by Forbes Italia in the section Italian Young Leaders of the Future.
● 2018 International Prize “San Francesco and Chiara d’Assisi”
● 2018 Premio Nazionale Gentile da Fabriano – XXII edizione 2018 – sezione “Carlo Bo per l’arte e la cultura.