In 1989, following extensive work with specialist ensembles, Biondi founded Europa Galante, which quickly became the foremost Italian period ensemble. Biondi and his ensemble have forged a reputation for “fresh, vibrant performances” (New York Times) and breathed new life into Baroque, Classical and early Romantic repertoire, performing at leading international festivals and stages including the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Wiener Konzerthaus, Enescu Festival and Edinburgh International Festival.
Biondi brings this authentic and engaging approach to modern symphony and chamber orchestras, which he both conducts and directs from the violin. Recent and future highlights include the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, RAI Torino, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Helsinki Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Mahler Chamber orchestras, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He was Artistic Director for Baroque Music at the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra for eleven years until 2016.
Biondi’s passion for opera takes him to major houses including Opernhaus Zurich, Berlin's Staatsoper unter den Linden, Grand Théâtre de Genève and Theater an der Wien. From 2015-18 he was Music Director of Valencia's Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, where he conducted productions of Donizetti, Rossini, Haydn and Verdi. As a violinist, he is respected as a virtuoso “beyond reproach” (The Guardian), performing in recital across the world including at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid and Cité de la Musique. In the 2023/24 season, Biondi performed in recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, as well as in Geneva and Seville. This season, he is set to appear at the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Filharmonie Brno, the Polish National Opera, with the Orchestre Métropolitain, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
His broad discography on Warner Classics, Virgin and Glossa has earned Biondi numerous awards, including the Diapason d'Or de l’Année and Choc de Musique; his widely acclaimed recording with Europa Galante of Vivaldi Four Seasons was named Disc of the Year by organisations in over five countries; and he has recorded with Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Philippe Jaroussky, Vivica Genaux and Rolando Villazón. His recording of Paganini: Sonatas for Violin and Guitar was named Editor's Choice by Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. Signed exclusively with Naïve Records, Biondi recently released his albums of Vivaldi (2023), Mendelssohn (2022) and the Carlo Monza Quartets (2022), following the release of his first recording of Bach's complete Sonatas and Partitas (2021).
Biondi has been an academician of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia since 2011, and was named in 2015 an Officer of the National Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2019 he was awarded the medal of Courage and Veracity by the Polish Government, in recognition of outstanding cultural achievements. Biondi is the Artistic Director of Farnese Festival: International Festival of Ancient Music, and launched the Festival in Teatro Farnese in 2023, gathering the most prestigious specialist ensembles in celebration of the Italian and European tradition of the 17th- and 18th- centuries. He plays a 1768 Gennaro Gagliano, owned by his teacher Maestro Salvatore Cicero and kindly lent to him by the Salvatore Cicero Foundation in Palermo, where he was born.
2024/25 season / 624 words. Not to be altered without permission.