ENRICO ONOFRI
Full Biography

Enrico Onofri is an artist whose multifaceted career has led him over the years to lead positions as principal or associate conductor with orchestras in four different countries, as well as a large number of invitations as a guest or in-residence conductor. Conductor, violinist, teacher, grown up in his parents' antiquarian atelier in Ravenna, surrounded by the beauty of the past from the beginning of his musical studies, Enrico has developed a deep passion for historical performances, exploring the repertoire from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, and thus creating its own personal language through the knowledge of ancient practices, intended as extraordinary sources of inspiration for new ideas and panoramas in interpretation. Enrico thus continues to develop new connections, conducting new programs ranging from the seventeenth century to contemporary music.

He is the Associated Conductor of the Münchener Kammerorchester, the Artistic Partner Conductor of the Haydn Philharmonie and Associated Conductor of the Orchestre National d'Auvergne, Former Principal Conductor of the Filarmonica Toscanini in Parma, as well as Founder and Director of Imaginarium Ensemble and Music Director of the Real Câmara. After his youthful beginnings alongside Jordi Savall and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, he was among the founders and concertmaster of the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico until 2010. In 2002, he began his conducting career with symphonic, chamber and historical orchestras such as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik, the Camerata Bern, the Bochumer Symphoniker and the Festival Strings of Lucerne. Others also included the Kammerorchester Basel, the Tafelmusik Toronto, the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, the Orchestra dell'Opéra de Lyon, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, the Orchestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, the Real Filharmonia de Galicia, the Riga Sinfonietta. Since 2006 he's guest conductor with the Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, and former principal conductor of the Academia Montis Regalis orchestra. He founded the chamber group Imaginarium Ensemble to perform the great Italian solo violin repertoire from the early Baroque until the Age of the Enlightenments. Imaginarium Ensemble's CDs have been awarded many prizes. Among them, the prestigious French Diapason d'or de l'année 2020 for “Into Nature, Vivaldi's Seasons and other sounds from Mother Earth” and Choc! Classica & Diapason d'or 2021 for “Seicento!".

He has also distinguished himself in opera productions at the Lyon Opera, at the Opernhaus Zurich, at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, at the Halle Staatstheater, collaborating with directors such as Alessio Pizzech, Mariame Clément, David Marton and Stephen Lawless.

Enrico has performed in the world's most famous concert halls, including the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Philarmonie and Unter den Linden Opera in Berlin, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Wigmore Hall and Barbican in London, Tonhalle in Zurich, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Oji Hall in Tokyo, Osaka Symphony Hall, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, alongside artists like Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Christophe Coin, Cecilia Bartoli, Katia and Marielle Labèque and more. Many of Enrico's recordings with Teldec, Decca, Astrée, Naive, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / Sony, Passacaille, Nichion, Pentatone, Winter & Winter, Opus111, Virgin, Zig Zag Territoires etc., have been awarded prestigious international prizes, such as the Gramophone Award, Grand Prix des Discophiles, Echo-Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Premio Caecilia, Premio Fondazione Cini of Venice, La Nouvelle Academie du Disque and numerous Diapason d’Or, Choc de la Musique, 10 de Répertoire des disques compacts.

In 2019 he has been awarded the prestigious Premio Abbiati as best soloist of the year.

Enrico has been professor of baroque violin and interpretation of baroque music at conservatoire A.Scarlatti in Palermo since 1999, currently at conservatoire G.Rossini in Pesaro. He has been invited to give master classes throughout Europe, Canada, USA (Juilliard School, New York) and Japan. He’s been tutor and conductor with the EUBO (European Union Baroque Orchestra).