Abruzzo Symphony Orchestra

The inauguration of the Istituzione Sinfonica Abruzzese (Abruzzo Symphony Institute) in 1970 was seen as the most important part of a huge project conceivedby Nino Carloni in 1946. He intended to create a centre of musical culture in L’Aquila that could become a reference point for the production, distribution and teaching of music in theentire region, to then extend to neighbouring regions and exchange at a national and international level. After a few years of preparation, the Istituzione Sinfonica Abruzzese (ISA) Orchestra made its debut in 1974, bringing Carloni’s project to completion, together with other important institutions created previously, the opening of the “A. Casella” Conservatory and the establishment of a chair in the History of Music at the University of L’Aquila.
TheISA, which is one of thirteen Italian Concert Orchestra Institutes (ICOs) recognised by the Government, opened the symphonic repertoire to Abruzzo through its orchestra in years when only imported orchestras could be heard in those latitudes, while also providing a prestigious professional outlet for the generation of instrumentalists that were studying in the regions’ conservatories.
In almost forty years of activity, the Orchestra has reached virtually all of the towns in Abruzzo, in accordance with its institutional and statutory mandate, also extending its activities to other parts of Central Italy, and has worked to create an ensemble that could be featured on posters in major Italian cities and for the most prestigious music institutions (the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Teatro Grande in Brescia and a host of other cities, including Naples, Vicenza, Trieste, Palermo, Catania, Messina, Reggio Calabria, Terni and Ascoli Piceno). The orchestra of the ISA has also made a significant number of tours in Spain and France.  Its programmes, which range from the traditional symphonic repertoire to contemporary music, and even a fusion of genres and new musical languages, have featured conductors on the podium such as Riccardo Muti, Carlo Zecchi, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Bruno Aprea, Piero Bellugi, Donato Renzetti, Massimo Freccia, Nino Antonellini, Philippe Bender, Mario Gusella, Renè Klopfestein, Massimo De Bernard, Alvise Casellati and many more. Artists of international renown have also performed with the Abruzzo Symphony Orchestra, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Barbara Hendriks, Katia Ricciarelli, Milva, Renato Bruson, Placido Domingo, Carmela Remigio, Andrea Bocelli, Ivo Pogorelich, Salvatore Accardo, Uto Ughi, Ilya Grubert, Milan Turcovic, Maurice André, Hermann Baumann, Danilo Rossi Nina Belina, Severino Gazzelloni, Enrico Rava, Rudolf Firkusny, Leonid Kogan, Pierre Amoyal, Bernard Soustrot, Paul Tortellier, Gabriel Tachinò, Stefano Grondona, Massimiliano Damerini, Michele Campanella, Bruno Canino, Maria Tipo, Jorge Demus, Mario Brunello, Sylvano Bussotti, Boris Petruschansky, Massimo Quarta and Pavel Berman.
The Orchestra has made recordings for several major recording companies (BMG Ariola, Amadeus-Paragon, Arts, Rugginenti, Sonzogno and Bongiovanni) and has recorded on several occasions for RAI – Italian Radio Television, including programmes with world premieres dedicated to them by numerous contemporary composers.
Since October 2009, the principal soloist has been Maestro Fabrizio Meloni, first clarinet with the Teatro alla Scala Foundation Orchestra of Milan. Maestro Vittorio Antonellini, Artistic Director of the ISA since its foundation, was succeeded in his role by Maestro Ettore Pellegrino in January 2011. The principal guest conductor is Maestro Marcello Bufalini.