Irene Abrigo
Irene Abrigo (born 3 December 1988) is an Italian classical violinist. Education. Abrigo started the violin at age 4 at the Aosta Suzuki School with Adriano Coluccio. At age 10 she continued her studies with Fabrizio Pavone and graduated at the Turin Conservatory at age 19. She moved then in Switzerland to study at the HEM Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève in the class of Marie-Annick Nicolas where she had her Master of Performance (2009–2011). She continued her studies with Pierre Amoyal in the HEMU Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne and Mozarteum Salzburg (2012–2014). She  obtained the Pedagogy Master at the HKB Hoschule der Künste Bern in the class of Corina Belcea (2016–2018). Graduated at Liceo Classico “XXIV February” in Aosta, she had in 2015 the Degree in Art, Literature and Performance (DAMS) at the University of Turin with a thesis about Niccolò Paganini. Competitions and scholarships. Abrigo has won over 10 National and International Music Prizes, and was Finalist laureate of the Italian National Violin Competition 2015 "Città di Vittorio Veneto" . Premieres. Winning the 2015 Respighi Prize, Abrigo made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2016 with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, performing the  NY première of the violin concerto by Dirk Brossé “Black, White and in Between”. In 2016 she also performed in Brazil the South America Premiere of the Respighi’s Violin Concerto No.1 and she had her debut with the West Czech Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic, with the Mozart Violin Concerto No.5. Social engagement & Artistic Director. Abrigo is the Artistic Director of POURQUOIPAS , a non-profit association organizing concerts, masterclasses and projects with social commitments, which she founded in 2015 with the Swiss violinist Madeleine-Murray-Robertson. With POURQUOIPAS she created in 2017 for Pully Sound Sound Festival an  educational experience titled "Niccolò Paganini: the mystery": a one hour itinerary discovering truth and mysteries of the composer's life, that ended with a final concert. In February 2021 POURQUOIPAS launched the crowdfunding campaign in support of the violinist Corinne Chapelle, affected by a rare form of cancer. The campaign raised +200.000 Euro in three weeks, involving dozen of Classical Music Stars (Nicola Benedetti, Renaud Capucon, Vilde Frang, Steven Isserlis, Igudesman and Joo, Corina Belcea..) and many International Newspaper, Radio and Media (The Times, Radio France, Le Figaro, The Strad, The Violin Channel...). Tragically, Corinne Chapelle died five weeks later , after an intensive care in Germany. Abrigo launched in July 2021 the Lucignano Music Festival, a chamber music festival in Tuscany, Italy. Discography. Abrigo appears in the following CDs: Instruments and bows. Between 2016 and 2018 Abrigo performed on a violin by Gaetano Antoniazzi and occasionally on a Guarneri del Gesù and Antonio Stradivari. Since June 2018 Abrigo plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Milan 1758, on loan to her from a private collector. She plays on bows by F.X. Tourte (ex-Iona Brown), Nicolas Maline, Jean-Jacque Millant and Arnaud Suard. Private life and passions. Abrigo married in  2018 the Viola player and Entrepreneur Jürg Dähler. They are currently living in Winterthur, Switzerland. Abrigo has been a vegan for 10 years (2008–2018). Today she practices Hashtanga Yoga and Reiki.