Sandrine Piau
A renowned figure in the world of baroque music, French soprano Sandrine Piau regularly performs with celebrated conductors such as William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Christophe Rousset, Gustav Lleonhardt, Ivor Bolton, Ton Koopman, René Jacobs, Marc Minkowski and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Sandrine Piau embraces different roles on international stages. The roles she has previously performed include Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Morgana (Alcina) at the Opéra de Paris, Dalinda (Ariodante) at the Salzburg Festival, Alcina, Mélisande, Sandrina, (La Finta Giardiniera), Sœur Constance (Dialogue des Carmélites) at the Monnaie, Alcina and Dalinda (Ariodante) in Amsterdam, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Sœur Constance at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Despina (Cosi fan tutte) and Tytiana (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at the Festival d’Aix en Provence. As a celebrated recital singer of both French and German repertoire, Sandrine Piau performs with renowned accompanists including Jos van Immerseel, Roger Vignoles and Susan Manoff.

She regularly gives recitals and has appeared in concert in New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Munich, Zurich, and Salzburg, and recently in Hamburg for the opening of the Elbphilharmonie.

In recent years she has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Covent Garden Festival, Musikverein, Salle Pleyel, Festival de Saint Denis, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Teatro Communale in both Florence and Bologna and with the world’s most prestigious orchestras including Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Sandrine Piau has an extensive discography, including four CDs of Haendel and Mozart and two recitals albums; “Apres un rêve” and “Evocations”, which she recorded with renowned accompanist Susan Manoff, with whom she has a privileged relationship and performs regularly. Together they have performed in Europe, across America, in Japan and most recently at Wigmore Hall. ‘Desperate Heroines’, a stunning selection of Mozart’s arias recorded with the Orchestre du Mozarteum Salzburg and Ivor Bolton, has been a critically acclaimed recording.

Sandrine Piau now records exclusively for “Alpha Classics” and her first CD under this label, released in 2018, is a recital disc recorded with Susan Manoff entitled “Chimère”.The disc includes a selection of German Lieder, French Mélodies, and Art Songs.

The 2018/19 season saw her return to the Lincoln Centre with Les Arts Florissants, tour Europe with the Freibüger Barockorchester, her ‘Desperate Lovers’ tour of Europe with the Concert d’Astrée and her return to the Salzburg Festival with Alcina (Morgana).

The 2019/20 season includes Les Arts Florissants’ 40th anniversary tour, a European Tour with Teodor Currentzis and a return to the Festival d’Aix en Provence for the creation ‘Innocence’ by Kaija Saariaho.

Sandrine Piau was given the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2006 and was named “Lyrical Artist of the Year” at the Victoires de la Musique Classique award ceremony in 2009.

Giulio Prandi
In 2003 Giulio Prandi founded the Ghislieri Choir and Orchestra animated by his passion for the Italian vocal and sacred repertoire of the 18th century, which he regularly conducts in the major European concert halls (Philharmonie Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, BOZAR Brussels) and in prestigious international festivals (Festival d’Ambronay, Besançon and Chaise-Dieu, Oude Muziek Utrecht, MaFestival Bruges, Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen, Festival Monteverdi di Cremona, Mito Settembremusica, Wratislavia Cantans and many others). In 2019 he is Artist in residence at the Oude Muziek Festival of Utrecht, dedicated this year to the Neapolitan repertoire.

He is artistic director of the Centro di Musica Antica della Fondazione Ghislieria, awarded the “Abbiati” Prize of the Italian Music Critics as “best musical initiative” 2018. He carries out a constant research activity, which over the years has led him to the rediscovery of numerous rare or unpublished works by authors such as Galuppi, Jommelli, Perez, Perti, Durante, Astorga, Leo. He also devotes his work to the great sacred works of Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Händel, Johann Michael Haydn, Joseph Haydn and Mozart.

He recorded for Arcana – Outhere Music, with which in 2018 he issued a volume dedicated to two unpublished Pergolesian works, the Messa in re maggiore and the Mottettone Dignas Laudes. The next release, scheduled for 2020, is dedicated to Niccolò Jommelli’s Requiem.

He has made a series of discs for Sony – Deutsche Harmonia Mundi in which he was able to propose the fruits of his research on Baldassarre Galuppi, Niccolò Jommelli and Davide Perez, as well as a live volume dedicated to Händel’s Roman production. He also published three records dedicated to Perti, Jommelli and Händel (Dixit Dominus and Messiah) in the Italian magazine Amadeus, which in 2017 dedicated the 25th anniversary issue to him.

Giulio Prandi graduated in Conducting under the guidance of Donato Renzetti, after studying Composition with Bruno Zanolini and Choral Music and Choir Conducting with Domenico Zingaro at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan. He also has a diploma in Singing and a degree in Mathematics.

He regularly holds masterclasses and workshops on the 18th century Italian sacred repertoire and is invited to take part in the juries of important international competitions. He devotes himself with passion to the diffusion of music and teaching. He teaches Choral Education at the ISSM F. Vittadini in Pavia; since 2018 he has held the Laboratory of Sacred Polyphony at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan.