Riccardo Pes was born in 1987 in Spilimbergo, Italy. He graduated with outstanding from the Royal College of Music on the Artist Diploma course under the tuition of professor Melissa Phelps. He was an RCM Scholar, supported by the Soiree d'Or Award, Pauline Hartley Award and the Kathleen Trust. Riccardo previously studied at the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia and attended the High Specialization Music Courses held by Giovanni Sollima at Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia in Rome. He graduated the highest mark and the congratulations of the jury. Riccardo has attended international masterclasses with Franz Bartolomey, Frans Helmerson, Ludwig Quandt, Michael Sanderling, Johannes Goritzki, Gustavo Tavares, Julian Arp, Maria Kliegel, Enrico Dindo, Michael Flaksman and Jelena Ocic.
As a soloist, Riccardo has played with I Solisti Veneti conducted by Claudio Scimone, and performed the Tartini Cello Concerto in A in Padua and with the Ensemble Serenissima, and the Vivaldi Concerto in B flat, unpublished, at the Theater Zancanaro in Sacile. He has played music for solo cello from Bach to Morricone at the Aha! Festival at the University of Gothenburg, Terre di Maremma Festival, High Notes Festival in Lucca, Biennale of Venice - in important venues in London, such as: St James’s Piccadilly, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Royal Academy of Arts and Linconln’s Inn Chapel, the King’s Place and the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall.
As chamber musician Riccardo has worked with important musicians such as Mario Brunello, Giovanni Sollima, Drum and Cello, 100 cellos of Teatro Valle Rome and Triennale of Milan. He regularly plays in a cello and piano duo with Matteo Andri, and also with I Solisti Veneti in Padua performing works by local composers, Ferruccio Busoni Orchestra in Trieste with the pianist Roberto Plano on various recording projects.
As a collaborative cellist, Riccardo has worked with the scientist Margherita Hack, writer Alessandro Marzo Magno, poet Morten Sondergaard, photographers Giuliano e Gianni and Cesare Borghesan, as well as actors and contemporary circus artists. Riccardo played as part of the commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the Founding of Italy (broadcast live on Mogliano TV) and has collaborated with the electronic artist and European competitions winner Jens Thomsen (Suns festival, 'Nordic Matters' at Southbank Centre in London).
Riccardo has studied composition with Battista Pradal and recently published his first solo album called Cellina Work. He has made recordings for the music labels Velut Luna, Concerto (Milan), Irene (Spilimbergo) and for the national magazine Amadeus.
Riccardo has won First Prize (concerto competition category) and Second Prize (recital category) at the Richmond Festival Competition; Second Prize at both the Hatfield and District Festival Competition and Piove di Sacco Competition.
Riccardo plays a cello made by Edgar Russ in Cremona, 2014.
Austrian-born pianist Irina Vaterl is a graduate from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz where she studied under the guidance of Lioudmilla and Alexandr Satz and with Milana Chernyavska. She finished her Master Degree in June 2017 with the highest grades and with unanimous distinction. In 2018/19 she was doing the prestigious Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music with Vanessa Latarche and Dmitri Alexeev, where she was a William Mealings Scholar, supported by the George Thornton Award.
Furthermore Irina holds a scholarship for studying at the International Musicacademy in Liechtenstein and she is the winner of the Martha Debelli Scholarship Graz as well as the winner of a scholarship of the Hildegard Maschmann Stiftung Austria. For her outstanding bachelor thesis about the French woman composer Louise Farrenc, Irina was awarded the Gender-prize of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and in December 2017 she was selected for winning the Würdigungspreis of the university an award of excellence going to the best graduates. Irina Vaterl is the winner of many prizes in national and international piano competitions in Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Spain, Serbia, Croatia, Norway, Sweden and France. She is performing on stage as a soloist as well as a musician in various chamber music groups in national and international music festivals.
Recent appearances as a soloist with orchestra include collaborations with the orchestras I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and Sinfonietta dell'arte.
Besides her various activities as a pianist, Irina Vaterl is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and she is teaching a piano class at the Johann-Joseph-Fux Conservatory Graz.
Free recital with retiring collection