Biography

Founded in 2007 by lutenist and composer Paolo Rigano and harpsichordist Cinzia Guarino, the Arianna Art Ensemble focuses on the interpretation of early music using original instruments and historically informed performance practices, with particular attention to the research of unpublished Sicilian manuscript repertoire.

Arianna Art Ensemble was established within the MusicaMente association in Palermo, with which it has organized an early music concert season in Palermo since 2011 and the Ancient Music Festival of Gratteri in the heart of the Madonie mountains since 2007.

The ensemble regularly collaborates with internationally renowned artists such as Enrico Onofri, Fabio Biondi, Giovanni Sollima, Dmitry Sinkovsky, Alfredo Bernardini, Giulio Prandi, Giovanni Antonini, and Sandrine Piau. They have performed in some of Italy’s most important concert seasons as well as in various European festivals and events (Trigonale Festival in Austria, Festival de Música Antigua de Úbeda y Baeza and Festival de Música Antiga de Manacor in Spain, Neuviller-la-Roche Festival in France, Victoria International Arts Festival, and Valletta International Baroque Music Festival in Malta).

The ensemble’s strength lies in the eclecticism and versatility of its members, many of whom are multi-instrumentalists. Its formation is flexible, ranging from purely chamber ensembles to small opera orchestras. Since 2023, with this latter formation, the ensemble has initiated a multi-year collaboration with the Manoel Theatre in Malta, aimed at historically informed performances of Classical period operas.

The ensemble’s discography is musically diverse: in 2016, together with Giovanni Sollima, they recorded the Sonatas and Symphonies of Giovanni Battista Costanzi for the Glossa label; in 2021, they released the album ‘Cimbalu d’Amur’ in collaboration with Almendra Music, a project inspired by 17th-century Sicily; in 2022, they recorded ‘Music for Archlute, Guitar, and Harpsichord’ for the Tactus label, which was awarded 5 stars by Amadeus magazine. Also for Tactus, in 2023, they worked with The Italian Consort to record the album ‘Ex tempore,’ featuring music for a consort of dulcians. Their 2024 CD release for Da Vinci Classics is titled “La chitarra alla spagnola.”