Laura Faoro,
Roberta Gottardi
Flutes and clarinets
“…touching and getting to know one another; / greeting and arguing with shouts (but also with kissing noises…); / singing, playing and tongue clicking around each other; / speaking with each other through the instruments; / seducing each other; / weeping and cheering up again; / yearningly sighing, at last dancing with each other and uniting”. Karlheinz Stockhausen
> Video-concert with Laura Faoro and Roberta Gottardi on the IIC Melbourne Vimeo channel: click here
Laura Faoro. Eclectic flutist, already defined in 2015 by Fabio Francione of Il Manifesto as “one of the most promising Italian flutists”, emerged on the international scene in 2019 when she was awarded with the Stockhausen Prize 2019 – a recognition never achieved before by an Italian flutist – by the Stockhausen Foundation for her interpretation of KATHINKAs GESANG from SAMSTAG aus LICHT in the rare version with electronics; Laura has been the first Italian flutist to perform integrally this arduous masterpiece by heart and in scenic form, with a wide appreciation by audiences and critics.
She has been performing in Italy and Europe since 2014 with an intense solo concert schedule: Teatro Lirico, Milan; soloist for MA/IN Matera Intermedia Festival 2021; guest performer with her own electronics for RAI national italian radio television channel, during the Celebration Conference 2021 of the international event “Stem in the City”, Milan; Festival Novecento 2021 with A. Corti (orgue) and Virgo Vox Ensemble; soloist for Milano Musica Festival 2019 in PARADIES by Stockhausen and Tracce by L. Francesconi; soloist in KATHINKAs GESANG by Stockhausen at Festival Aperto 2019 (Teatro Valli) and for Padua Art Centre, season 2019; soloist for Serate Musicali since 2018; leading musician and actress at Piccolo Teatro of Milan in the 2016 season (pièce “The Merry Wives of William”); soloist at LAC in Lugano with her “Blue Tube” project in 2016; soloist in the 2nd Concerto for flute by A. Jolivet at RSI in Lugano, 2015; selected by GAI Young Italian Artists and Italian Ministry of Culture for a concert tour in Belgium in 2016; invited by the Italian Cultural Institutes of Stuttgart and Strasbourg and Melbourne since 2015.
She also collaborates with AGON, Tempo Reale, MMT, Syntax Ensemble, mdi ensemble, Ensemble Horizonte (DE), SIMC Italian Society of Contemporary Music, Jeunesse Musicale, Morphosis Ensemble (ES), Der Blaue Ritter Ensemble (DE); she also plays frequently with many italian versatile musicians such as M. Viel, W. Prati, R. Gottardi, S. Cignoli.
A musician with a multidisciplinary background (she graduated in flute at Verdi Conservatory in Milan while obtaining a degree in Archaeology at Catholic University of Milan both cum laude), L. Faoro studied with D. Formisano, J. C. Gerard, M. Marasco; she specialized at the CSI of Lugano in contemporary repertoire both as soloist (cum laude) and as a chamber musician with M. Caroli, A. Tamayo and O. Zoboli and later with A. Morini.
Since 2014 she has created several projects aimed to enhance contemporary musical language combining it with other artistic forms: the home-video performance COMFORT ZONE, created during COVID19 following a commission from Padua Art Centre, also selected as a video installation among the best Italian works produced during lockdown 2020, for Festival Aperto / I Teatri grand opening 2020 at Teatro Valli (RE); the site-specific installation sound project “Profumo di suoni al sapone”, winner of the Artistic Director’s Mention at the 1st Edition of the International Call for Proposals “Festival del Tempo” 2020 in Sermoneta, to be carried out in 2021; the site specific installation BlueTube, defined by scholar V. Valentini as an “intermedia concert” (World Water Day 2016; Lugano, LAC 2016 and Serate Musicali 2018); the sound dramatization “Arianna: il suono de’ bei lamenti” (PACTA dei Teatri 2021; Monteverdi 450 Festival 2017; Villa Ghirlanda 2019); the musical theatre piece The Merry Wives of William as musician and actress (directed by L. Pasetti; music by R. Andreoni; prod. Piccolo Teatro di Milano 2016; Rome Sala Umberto 2018; Bari Shakespearean Month 2016; Bonacina Award 2016); the theatrical concert Alice: 88 tasti nella storia (with Note di Quinta, PACTA 2014, musician and actress; Fersen Award 2013).
Since 2015 she has also worked on her own soundscapes for flute and electronics (Milan, Stem in the city event 2021; Festival Vapore d’Estate 2020 and Change of Season 2020, for Padua Art Centre and Arcella Bella Festival in duo with W. Prati; Flute 2.0, 2019, seminar/concert for Contemporary Music Hub with K. de Fleyt and C. Rees; Teatro Arsenale, Parade Electronique 2018, for MMT; Festival Subsculture 2018 Treviso; Suoni in cammino 2019).
In November 2021 she released her first CD for flute and electronics for Stradivarius label, entitled “Ceci n’est pas une flûte”, in collaboration with AGON with Massimo Marchi as sound director. This recording has obtained several awards from the specialized press, from Blow Up to the Anglo-Dutch magazine specialized in extended techniques Flute colors, to Radio 3 Suite, reviewed with 5 stars by Amadeus, 5 stars by Classic Voice and winner of 5 stars and disc of the month of the magazine MUSICA. Reviewing it, E. Garzia of Percorsi Musicali says: “Faoro’s interpretations are always very effective, perfect vehicles for transposing the authors’ thoughts but also demonstrations of incredible timing. Laura makes damn difficult things for a flutist sound easy and she is able to explore any situation while maintaining natural control over the instrument.
Laura Faoro, a pupil of Mario Caroli and Annamaria Morini, is one of the most talented and reckless, because without fear she immediately tried her hand at very difficult pieces, immediately perceiving the changes that the interdisciplinary nature of the arts has also imposed on flutists.”
She has also recorded for RAI, Radio 3, ORF, RTSI, Radio Popolare and Radio Festival Gwenstival (music/poetry project “Liturgia Horarum” with Eufonè Trio) produced by Radio Gwendalyn (CH). In 2006 she graduated in Scienze dei Beni Culturali at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (110/110 cum laude) discussing the thesis “Musical instruments in high-medieval society”.
Since 2021 she is artistic director of “SPIRITO DEL TEMPO | Teatri del suono d’oggi” festival, which will debut in Milan with its first edition in June 2022, entitled “Stockhausen in Milan”.
Roberta Gottardi. Roberta’s interests range from late Baroque repertoire on period instruments to present-day music, performed in ensembles and as a soloist. She plays the clarinet as well as all the other instruments of its family, from Eb clarinet to basset horn and bass clarinet.
Born in Trento, after graduating with honors at her city’s Conservatory, she studied with Antony Pay.
She has played for many years in orchestras, first as a member of the Italian Youth Orchestra and then with Rai Orchestra, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro di Genova, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Orchestra Haydn di Trento e Bolzano, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, Orchestra of Tiroler Festspiele in Erl, to name but a few. She also plays classical clarinets, collaborating with La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Bozen Baroque Orchestra, L’Arte dell’Arco, Ausermusici and, currently, with Merseburger Hofmusik.
In parallel, she has always devoted herself to chamber music playing, among others, with Quartetto Prometeo, Quartetto di Torino, pianist Cristiano Burato, cellist Claude Hauri, and with various ensembles including Windkraft, I Virtuosi Italiani, Musica ‘900, Accademia Bizantina, I Cameristi di Trento e Verona, Nuovo Ensemble Europeo, Pocket Opera, Ottetto Classico Italiano.
As a soloist she has performed with Haydn Orchestra of Trento and Bolzano, Chamber Orchestra of Alpe Adria, Orchestra of the Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza, Ensemble Serenade. In 2007 she has been soloist in the first performance of Ankaa, concerto for clarinet and orchestra by Fabio Cifariello Ciardi, commissioned by the Haydn Orchestra of Trento and Bolzano. She has always dedicated herself with passion to the contemporary repertoire for clarinet, she has been is a member and soloist of Algoritmo and today of Ensemble Prometeo.
She has performed in some of the most important festivals in Europe (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Festival Pontino, Münchener Biennale, South Bank Centre of London, Bologna Festival, Biennale di Venezia, Autunno Musicale di Como, Società Filarmonica di Trento, Acquario Romano, Festival di Nuova Consonanza, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Autunno di Varsavia, Leizhalle di Amburgo, Musik-Triennale di Colonia, Holland Festival, Ravenna Festival…), and she has collaborated with many composers such as Stockhausen, Sciarrino, Kagel, Cifariello Ciardi, Fedele, Biasioni, Battistelli, Traversa.
Reference performer for the musical theater work HARLEKIN by K. Stockhausen, conceived for a single clarinetist-dancer-mime, she performed it more than twenty times in Italy and abroad, including festivals such as Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Ravenna Festival, Autunno Musicale in Como, Tallinn and Milan Conservatories. In 2001, for her interpretation of Harlekin, she received from the composer himself the first prize in the competition promoted annually by the Stockhausen Foundation.
In 2010 she participated in the complete performance of Stockhausen KLANG organized by MusikFabrik at the MusikTriennale in Cologne, premiering “Treue”. She also played the mime part of INORI in the opening concert of the Venice Biennale 2017 and the part of Busa in EVAs LIED at the Holland Festival 2019.
She has recorded for Edipan, Symposion, Stradivarius, Altri Suoni, Stockhausen Verlag, Neos, as well as for several broadcasts of RAI Radio 3.
She has been Antony Pay’s assistant at the masterclasses in Sermoneta and teaches clarinet at Bolzano Conservatory.