2025 Festival Guest Artists

Raffaele Trevisani’s virtuosic technique and brilliant musical personality are consistently praised by the public and critics. Raffaele Trevisani studied with Sir James Galway who regards him as “…one of the best flutist of the day for his beautiful singing tone, perfect technique and dedication to the art of music…”. “The singing flute” and ” prodigious flutist” (Corriere della Sera), “colorful playing and expressive singing sound” (Markische Allgemeine), “…Mr. Trevisani enchanted the full audience with excellent technique and incomparable tone” (The flute, Tokio), “he has a perfect breathing technique, a rich, flexible sound, an impeccable finger technique and his intuition for poetry and dramatic moments is very convincing” (Der Bund), “…extremely musical flutist ” (La Nazione), “Great musicality and very intense sound ” (R.N.Zeitung), “Mr. Trevisani has inherited many of Galway’s qualities and added some of his own ……… thrilling sound and splendid technique ……. electrifying clarity sculpted with great artistic precision” (Pan Magazine, London Wigmore Hall debut). A graduated with excellent marks from Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Milan, he began his career as orchestral player with Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala under the direction of Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti and as a chamber musician with I Solisti Veneti conducted by Claudio Scimone. He was the winner of the “Società dei Concerti” competition in Milano and he start his solo career performing solo concerts with “I Solisti Veneti” in Italy and abroad. He has also performed as a soloist with the Orchestra da Camera di Padova e del Veneto, I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, I Cameristi della Scala, I Solisti della Scala, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Kammerorchester “Arcata” Stuttgart, Bielefelder Philarmoniker, Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo, Orquestra Sinfonica do Paranà, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Adana Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, Israel Strings Ensemble, Suk Chamber Orchestra, Silesian Symphony Orchestra of Katowice and many others. Maestro Trevisani has played in Japan, USA, Canada, South America, Russia, South Africa England, Spain, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel as well as in Italy for the most important musical Societies and Festivals. He performed in many prestigeous halls such as Teatro alla Scala di Milano, KKL Luzern, Wigmore Hall in London, Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Bunkakaikan and Suntory Hall in Tokio, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Museum Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Philarmonie of Stuttgart, Musichalle in Amburg, Rudolf-Oetker-Halle in Bielefeld, Sala San Paolo and Memorial de America Latina in San Paolo, Baxter Hall in Cape Town, State Theater of Pretoria, Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Detroit Simphony Hall, Trinity Church in New York, Bohuslav Martinu Hall and Palify Palace in Prague, Milano Conservatory Hall, Catania Teatro Bellini, Bergamo Teatro Donizetti, Vicenza Teatro Olimpico, Sanremo Teatro Municipale etc. He has participated in well-known music festivals such as Settimane Musicali in Stresa, Settembre Musica in Turin, Firenze Musica, Palaces of St. Petersburg International Music Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Campos de Jordao Music Festival, Veneto Festival, Europaishes Music Festival, International Music Festival in Maputo Mozambique, Miagi Music Festival and for the celebrations of “Ten years of freedom” in Sout Africa, Festival Musica nas Montanhas in Pocos de Caldas (Brazil), International Festival “Le Corde dell’Anima ” in Cremona and Gumusluk Music Festival in Bodrum (Turkey). He has been invited to play and give master classes in Europe, Japan, USA, South Africa and in the most prestigious flute festivals around the world (Boston, Frankfurt, Detroit, Chicago, Rome, Las Vegas, Milano, New York). Raffaele Trevisani has performed and recorded world concerto premieres dedicated to him by composers Carlo Galante, Alberto Colla, Hendrik Hofmeyr and Ernani Aguiar. Maestro Trevisani recorded a number of Cds for Delos, Hanssler Classic, Stradivarius, AS Disc and Da Vinci Classics and he has been on the cover of five issues of the Italian national monthly music magazine “Amadeus” with the cd included. He has recorded also for the Italian RAI, the German SDR, the Japanese NHK, the English BBC, the Russian Television and the Brazilian Television; moreover, Globo Brazilian Television and RAI Corporation Television in New York (for the program “Italiani in America”) have dedicated to him specials with interviews and live concerts. He has been invited to play duo concerts with Maxence Larrieu and with Sir James Galway for the Italian Television.

Currently he is a flute professor at the Civica Scuola di Musica “Claudio Abbado” of Milan. He has been invited as a juror in many international flute competitions as Theobald Boehm International Flute Competition 2011, Carl Reinecke International Flute Competition 2013, Domenico Cimarosa International Flute Competition 2013, the 2014 Carl Nielsen International Flute Competition and the Moscow Conservatory International Flute Competition 2017. Raffaele Trevisani holds a summer flute seminar since 1991 in Briosco at the prestigeous Villa Medici Giulini. Raffaele plays a gold 14k Muramatsu flute belonged to Sir James Galway and given to him in 1992 for his artistic talent.

The Milanese pianist, Paola Girardi, studied at the “Civica Scuola di Musica” in Milan with Lucia Romanini Marzorati, graduating with honors, in 1978, from the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan at the young age of 17. She won numerous competitions for young artists, among which: The National Young Pianist Competition in Bari and the International Competition in Senigallia. She then completed postgraduate studies with Maria Tipo and Konstantin Bogino, and also studied with Paul Badura-Skoda attending the “O. Respighi” Academy in Assisi and the Chigiana Academy in Siena, where she received a diploma with honors. Pursuing her interest in chamber music, Ms. Girardi has studied with the Tchaikowsky Trio, the Quartetto Academica, the Fine Arts Quartet and the Trio of Trieste. During her career, she has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Maxence Larrieu and Ilya Grubert, of which she has also been pianist for their postgraduate courses in Italy and abroad. Ms. Girardi has also been official pianist, together with Phillip Moll, for James Galway’s International Summer courses held in Weggis (Switzerland) and Dublin from 1990 to 2008. She plays regularly with Raffaele Trevisani, giving concerts in Europe, USA and Japan. She is also her partner in several CDs recorded for Delos International. She’s piano teacher at the “International Academy of Music” of the Foundation of the Civic School of Milan.

A native of Chile, Alberto Almarza previously held the position of Principal Flute of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Santiago, and currently serves on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon as Professor of Flute. Additionally, he is the founder and Artistic Director of Carnegie Mellon’s The Consummate Flutist.
His skills as a pedagogue, lecturer and recitalist have led to invitations from major conservatories and international festivals around the world. He is a flute faculty at Atlantic Music Festival, and has offered curses at Tonebase Flute Online. Former students have won national and international competitions, have been appointed to major orchestras in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia, and occupy prestigious academic positions.

He has served at the National Flute Association Advisory Board for New Music and the Career and Artistic Development Committees, and is currently a member of the NFA Flutist Quarterly Editorial Board, and was appointed Progrmam Chair for the 2024 NFA Convention. Mr. Almarza has appeared as soloist with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Memphis Symphony, BachFest Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonic, National Symphony and National Chamber Orchestras of Chile, National Orchestra of Colombia, and was invited to performed at a TED TALK Conference, among many others.
In addition, he has collaborated with such artists as Julius Baker, Andrés Cárdenes, Alex Klein, Lionel Party, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, and the Arianna String Quartet. As a leading proponent of new music for the flute, Mr. Almarza has been instrumental in expanding the repertoire with numerous commissions and premieres of works by composers from around the world. Pieces written for him include six flute concerti and dozens of solo and chamber works. He can be heard on radio broadcasts of International Music from Carnegie Mellon throughout North and South America, on compact discs from New Albion, Elán, Albany Records, Centaur Recordings and Naxos Records. He and his vast flute collection were also featured on the PBS program Horizons.
During his free time Mr. Almarza enjoys adventure motorcycling, and has ridden to some of the most remote places around the world, including Patagonia, the Atacama Desert, the Arctic Circle in Alaska, and secluded areas in New Zealand. He is also an avid bird-watcher and photographer, and a private pilot.

I-Ling Emily Ho is a flutist from Taiwan, currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Flute Performance at the University of Iowa under the guidance of Professor Nicole Esposito. She is also studying Piano Performance as a secondary with Dr. Alan Huckleberry. From 2020 to 2021, Emily served as a full-time flutist with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra, and prior to that, she worked as a substitute musician with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra from 2018 to 2020.
Emily holds a Performance Certificate from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy (2018) and a Master’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music (2019). She was twice selected to participate in the Asian Youth Orchestra Music Camp and the YMCG Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area, performing widely across Asia.
In recent years, Emily’s accomplishments include being named Final Alternate in the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition (2023), winning first place in the San Diego Young Artist Competition (2023), and winning first place in both the Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition and the Philadelphia Young Artist Competition in 2024.