Claudio Mondini & Anna Pecora
Biography Claudio Mondini & Anna Pecora
Claudio Mondini
Born in 1967, Claudio Mondini grew up in Milan, Italy. At the age of six, he began studying violin with Paolo Borciani (first violin of the “Quartetto Italiano”) at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory of Milan. After Borciani’s death, he continued his lessons with Giovanna Polacco. He graduated from the Conservatory in 1988. In 1993, he enrolled in the Utrecht Conservatory to study with Eeva Koskinen, Philippe Hirshhorn and Viktor Liberman. He received his Performance Degree (U. M.) diploma in 1994.
Mondini received the Premio “Enrico Minetti” in 1994 and 1998 aworded by the Teatro alla Scala. In 1986, he won the Competition organized by the “Sergio Dragoni association of Milan. From 1986 to 1990, Mondini played in string quartet under guidance of Franco Rossi, cellist of the Quartetto Italiano. For five years, he was a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra (E.C.Y.O.), taking part in the major festivals in Europe, America and India. The conductors he played with included Vladimir Ashkenazy, Claudio Abbado, Erich Leinsdorf, Zubin Metha, James Judd, James Conlon, Bernard Haitink. Mondini served as leader and coleader in “The Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano” orchestra from 1990 until 1993. He was a featured a soloist with that orchestra in 1989, 1990, 1991, playing Bach, Haydn and Mozart. In 1994 he is starts his collaboration with the European Camerata ( Chamber Orchestra ) with which he tours mainly in England, Spain and France. For three years, he performed regularly in violin piano duo giving recitals all over Italy. In January 1994, he performed Kurt Weill’s violin concert as a soloist with the Utrecht Blazers Ensemble. In December 1994, he was the soloist in the world premiere of the violin concert written by the Italian composer Roberto Hazon with Sanremo Simphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has been playing in many different ensembles, giving concert in Spain ( Bilbao music Festival ), Italy, Germany ( Berliner Philarmonie ), Luxemburg and France. In 1993 he founded a Piano Trio (Trio Pantoum) under the guidance of Charles Andrè Linale, Kioko Hashimoto and Jan Panenka with which he won the 1995 edition of the “Nederlands Impresariaat Competitie”, one of the leading management agency in Holland. Following this result, the Trio will debut in the Kleine Zaal of the Concert Gebouw in Amsterdam. Several concerts will follow in different associations in Holland and Europe(West Brabant Festival, Breda Music Festival, Kassel Musik Festival, Società del Giardino di Milano) and few recordings for the Dutch Radio.
In 1997 Mondini founded the Gaudeamus Ensemble looking mainly at the string quintet and sextet repertoire. In the last years the group has been recocnized as one of the most distinguished ensemble in Italy. Claudio Mondini is also interested at the baroque repertoire, collaborating with the Swiss Baroque Orchestra “I Barocchisti“ of Lugano , participating in several CD recordings.
Anna Lee
The South Korean violinist was born in 1995 and as a very young child caused something of a sensation by making her orchestral debut with Paganini's Violin Concerto No 1 conducted by LanShui. At the age of six, she was admitted to Masao Kawasaki's class at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division. In 2013 she concluded her studies at Masao Kawasaki and Cho-Liang Lin.
After successfully participating in the Junior Division of the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in 2010, she won second prize in the Senior Division just two years later. In 2011 she was awarded the Prince of Hesse Prize and in 2013 the Mania and Bernhard Hahnloser Prize for Violin at the Verbier Festival Academy.
Anna Lee can already look back on solo performances with renowned orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Park Avenue Chamber Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She has played in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. For some time, the young artist has also been attracting attention as a conductor. In 2010 she made her debut with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra and in 2011 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Anna Lee plays the ex-Tadolini/ex-Liszt Stradivari (Cremona 1706) which is on loan to her from the Rin Collection.
In 2012 Anna Lee took part in Chamber Music Connects the World, where she played with Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer and Steven Isserlis. In 2015 she took part in both the Violin Masterclassesand the Kronberg Academy Festival. 2016 she took part in the chamber music project Mit Musik-Miteinander as a tutor. Since 2014 she has been studying at Kronberg Academy with Ana Chumachenco. These studies are funded by the Yehudi Menuhin Stipendium.
