Maria Vittoria Crotti
violin
Raised in Reggio Emilia, Maria Vittoria Crotti began her musical studies with her grandfather, a pianist, and later took up the violin, studying at the Fiesole School of Music and graduating under the guidance of L.P. Horvath. At the same time, she earned a diploma with top marks in the three-year chamber music program (violin-piano duo) at the International Piano Academy of Imola, in the class of Pier Narciso Masi.
Awarded a scholarship, she continued her studies in Philadelphia with violinist Lenuta Ciulei (Paganini Prize 1976), then in New York with Lewis Kaplan, also attending his masterclasses at the Juilliard School, and finally in Lucerne with Giuliano Carmignola, where she earned a Master of Advanced Studies.
She has attended numerous prestigious academies and festivals, including the Russian Academy of Advanced Studies in Portogruaro, where she was admitted at the age of 14 into the class of Pavel Vernikov, the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, and the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, where she was awarded a scholarship and received special mention. She refined her skills with some of the most renowned violinists on the international scene, such as Zakhar Bron, Igor Voloshin, Matis Vaitsner, Ilya Grubert, and Mariana Sirbu; and in chamber music with Milan Škampa, Piero Farulli, Antonello Farulli, Renato Zanettovich, Alain Meunier, Boris Baraz, Andrea Nannoni, and Guido Corti.
She made her public debut at a very young age, winning several competitions including the National Showcase in Vittorio Veneto and the L. Perosi Competition in Biella, and from an early age embarked on an intense concert activity.
At just 15 years old, and strongly supported by Piero Farulli, she joined the Italian Youth Orchestra (OGI), followed by the Gustav Mahler Academy in Bolzano, the International Orchestra Institute Attergau (IOIA) – sponsored by the Vienna Philharmonic – and the Academy of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where she served as Concertmaster and Principal. As a finalist for the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), she performed for several years with the ensemble SIXE ‘Suono Italiano per l’Europa,’ with which she toured in Italy, Egypt, and Greece.
She has been conducted by some of the most important conductors, including Carlo Maria Giulini, Eliahu Inbal, Yuri Ahronovitch, Claudio Abbado, Daniele Gatti, György Györiványi Ráth, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Piero Bellugi, Donald Runnicles, Riccardo Chailly, Zubin Mehta, James Conlon, Axel Kober, and Adam Fischer. She has collaborated with the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan, the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden and Schlossoper Haldenstein, I Cameristi della Scala, Teatro Regio di Parma, Essener Philharmoniker, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, and as Associate Concertmaster with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. She regularly performs with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, WDR Funkhausorchester, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, and the BR Münchener Rundfunkorchester. She is currently performing with the Duisburger Philharmoniker and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
She plays the “TITANUS” violin, made in 1970 by Gian Carlo Guicciardi.
