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Rosita Frisani (soprano)

After studyng piano and singing, she has attended master classes taught by Enzo Battaglia, Jessie Norman and Magda Oliviero. She has won several singing competitions such as the “Catalani” in Senigallia and the “Belvedere” in Vienna. She has made her debut with a baroque repertoire in Stradella’s “Moro per amore”. She has subsequently continued her career under the direction of Alan Curtis, Sergio Varatolo, Esteban Velardi and Alessandro de Marchi, and performed in several important festivals, such as Settembre Musica in Turin, Sagra Malatestiana, Settimana Musicale Senese, Bologna Festival, Genoa’s Carlo Felice Theatre, and the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu. With Francesco Cera and the Ensemble Arte Musica, she has recorded Monteverdi’s Scherzi Musicali and Monteverdi and Grandi’s motets for the “Ghirlanda Sacra” anthology. For Naxos she has also recorded Monteverdi’s Orfeo and, for Bongiovanni, cantatas by Scarlatti, Porpora and Perti.

Loredana Bigi (soprano)

Born in Reggio Emilia. After studying singing at the Music Institute “Peri” in her native town, she specialized in Venice under Randolph Mickelson. From 1995 onwards she has appeared in various opera pieces in several Italian theatres and at Verona’s Arena. She has appeared in Verdi’s Traviata and Nabucco, Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Giordano’s Madame Sans-Géne, Corghi’s Rinaldo &C. She has toured Italy and Europe performing Rossini’s le Soirèes Musicales, lieder from the German Romantic repertoire, cantatas and motets by Haendel, Vivaldi and Bach. Since 1999, she has been collaborating with Francesco Cera and the Ensemble Arte Musica. With the Ensemble, she has performed cantatas by Scarlatti, Pergolesi and Haendel as a soloist at the Musica Antiqua Festival in Bruges, at the Bologna Festival, at the Feste di Apollo in Parma and at the Milan Arte Musica. Directed by Diego Fasolis, she has also sung Mozart’s Requiem and the “Oratorio Davide Penitente”.

Manuela Custer (mezzo-soprano)

Born in Novara, she has studied singing under Enzo Battaglia and specialized under Randolph Mickelson. She begun her artistic career in 1985, and has subsequently performed at the Teatro Regio in Turin, at Verona’s Arena, at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, at the Opera in Montecarlo, in Siviglia. She has also taken part in Festivals in Bregenz, Bruges, Lucerna, and Salzburgh under the direction of Richard Bonynge, Gustav Kuhn, Claudio Sciamone, and presented a Baroque repertoire with Fabio Biondi, Andrea Marcon and Christophe Rousset. With Francesco Cera and the Ensemble Arte Musica, she has recorded Gesualdo’s madrigale, Monteverdi’s Lamento di Arianna (Cactus), and Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas, published as a supplement to the Italian magazine Amadeus. She has also recorded Haendel’s Arminio (Virgin), Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans (Warner), and Rossini’s Zelmira (Opera Rara).

Lucia Napoli (mezzo-soprano)

A first honors graduate in violin and singing of Perugia’s and Fermo’s conservatories, she has continued her singing studies under Alain Billard and specialized under Danton Baldwin and Michael Aspinall. In 2007 she won third prize at the Baroque singing competition held by the Pietà dei Turchini Institute for Ancient Music in Naples. She has recorded Giovanni Paolo Colonna’s motets from Opera 3 for Tactus. She currently collaborates with the ensembles Musica e Drama, L’Arte dell’arco, Ricercare Ensemble. She has sung under the direction of Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Marco Balderi, Michael Radulescu and Gustav Leonhardt. She has performed in operas by Monteverdi (Orfeo), Purcell and Charpentier. With the ensemble Arte Musica, she regularly performs madrigals 16th century madrigals for the Ferrara Dames’ Concert.

Gianluca Buratto (bass)

He has studied singing at “Giuseppe Verdi’s” conservatory in Milan under Margaret Hayward, and subsequently attended master classes taught by Sara Mingardo, Ernesto Palacio, Giacomo Aragali and Dal ton Boldwin. In 2006 he won the junior prize in the “Ferruccio Tagliavini” competition, and made his debut in Milan at the “Music and Poetry in San Maurizio” festival and at the Bregenz festival, where he performed Verdi’s Requiem. In 2007 he performed Bach’s cantatas under the direction of Christophe Coin, Buxtehude’s “Membra Jesu Nostri” with the “Suonar Parlante” ensemble and Vittorio Ghilemi’s, and German Baroque cantatas at the 2007 Ravenna Festival.

the Ensemble Arte Musica on the balcony of the renaissance organ in Trevi (Umbria)

Gabriella Martellacci (contralto)

Born in Rome, she started as a flautist, but then gradually approached Baroque repertoire singing studies. She actively collaborates with Concerto Italiano, Cantar Lontano, La Risonanza, the Accademia Bizantina, Padova and Veneto’s Orchestra. She also works with directors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Sergio Balestracci, Fabio Bonizzoni, Ottavio Dantone, Marco Mencoboni, Howard Shelley and Sergio Vartolo. Since 2002 she has collaborated with Francesco Cera. Together, they have recorded Monteverdi and Castello’s motets. In 2007 at the Valle d’Itria Festival, she performed the leading singer role in Sciro di Domenico Sarro’s Achille. She has recorded for Stradivarius, Brillant (as Arnalt in “Incoronazione di Poppea” and as Penelope in “Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria” - both works by Monteverdi), Naive (Monteverdi’s IV Book of Madrigals) and Dynamic (Sarro’s “Achille in Sciro).

Baltazar Zuniga (tenor)

An artist of mexican origin, he is a graduate in singing of the Mexico City Fine Arts Academy. He has studied under Irwing Gage, Francesco Araiza, Nicholas Mc Gegan, Gloria Banditelli and specialized under Michael Aspinani and Gioacchino Zarrelli. In 2002 he moved to Italy and started carrying out an important artistic activity in Europe, both as an ancient music singer and in the Italian opera repertoire. He has sung the leading role in Orfeo and the Testo in the Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, both works by Monteverdi, as well as performing different roles in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Un viaggio a Reims, and in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Idomeneo. As for his repertoire of sacred music and madrigals, he currently collaborates with Accademia Bizantina, Ensemble Arte Musica, La Veneziana, Swiss Italian Radio Chorus, and l’Arte dell’Arco.