Irene Abrigo


Irene Abrigo 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. She continued her studies with Pierre Amoyal in the HEMU Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne and Mozarteum Salzburg. She obtained the Pedagogy Master at the HKB Hoschule der Künste Bern in the class of Corina Belcea.
Graduated at Liceo Classico “XXIV February” in Aosta, she had in 2015 the Degree in Art, Literature and Performance 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".
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.
Abrigo founded POURQUOIPAS in 2015 with the Swiss violinist Madeleine-Murray-Robertson, a non-profit association organizing concerts, masterclasses and projects with social commitments.
Abrigo created with POURQUOIPAS 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.

Discography

Abrigo appears in the Swiss Chamber Concerts "Xavier Dayer" CD, released in 2020 for Claves Records / CD 3007.

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 Jean-Jacque Millant and Edwin Clément.

Private life and passions

Abrigo is currently living in Winterthur, Switzerland.
Abrigo has been a vegan for 10 years. Today she practices daily meditation and martial arts as Hashtanga Yoga, Taichi and Qigong.