The Ensemble

Fraynni Rui is a Swiss-Venezuelan violinist. She began her musical education at the age of 13 with Rubén Camacho at the Conservatorio de Carabobo and continued her studies at the Mozarteum Music School in Caracas. She went on to complete her studies at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, graduating with distinction.

As a chamber musician, Fraynni Rui is deeply devoted to ensemble playing. She studied with renowned figures such as Gerhard Schulz, Anton Kernjak and the Casals Quartet.

She is a founding member of the Taru chamber music ensemble and also maintains a varied programme with other chamber ensembles. Her artistic activities also include her long-standing work at Theater Basel, where she has performed for years in various casts and productions.

From 2017 to 2019 she held a scholarship from the Pirolo Foundation and in July 2018 was awarded the Culture Prize of the Kiwanis Club Basel. Since 2022 she has taught at the Musik-Akademie Basel; from 2018 to 2026 she also taught at the Konservatorium Bern music school.

Fraynni Rui regularly takes part in international festivals, combining her passion for performance, teaching and community engagement into a vibrant and multifaceted artistic career.

Fiore Favaro studied in Italy with Luisa Guariglia, Alessandro Commellato and Riccardo Zadra. Between 2009 and 2013 she completed two master's degrees at the Hochschule für Musik Basel with pianist Filippo Gamba.

She has won numerous prizes, both as a soloist and in duo, at the VI. "Premio Fondazione CRT" competition, the national "Città Piove di Sacco" competition, the "Dino Caravita" chamber music competition, and the "Nuovi Orizzonti" competition in Arezzo. She has performed concerts as both a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and in Mexico. In 2013 she performed at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in duo with Italian pianist Aleck Carratta. From 2011 to 2013 she held a scholarship from the Hirzen-Pavillon Ensemble.

Together with cellist Joonas Pitkänen she won prizes at the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition, the Basel Orchestra Society's music competition, and the August Pickard Duo Competition; in 2014/2015 the two of them recorded a double CD of the complete Beethoven cello sonatas.

She now performs increasingly in different ensembles, following her interest and passion for the chamber music repertoire. Since 2017 she has taught piano at the Musikschule Basel.

Alessandro D'Amico, born in Caracas in 1986, attended the Music School Montalbán in Caracas. In 2002 he began studying with Prof. Gérard Caussé and Prof. Rainer Schmidt at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid), followed in 2004–2006 by studies with Prof. Peter Langgartner at the Mozarteum University (Salzburg).

From 2002 to 2009 he played viola with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, working with conductors including Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado, Christoph Eschenbach, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Heinrich Schiff, Stefan Lano and Sir Simon Rattle.

He took part in masterclasses with Nobuko Imai, Veronika Hagen, Atar Arad, Wolfram Christ, Gérard Caussé, Rainer Schmidt, Ralf Gothóni, Rudolf Barshai, Ferenc Rados and Benjamin Zander.

In 2009 he continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik der Stadt Basel in the Graduate Course for String Quartets with Prof. Walter Levin, Prof. Günter Pichler and Prof. Rainer Schmidt, and studied with Silvia Simionescu.

He is a member of the Merel Quartet, Camerata Variabile, Ensemble Phoenix, Capella Andrea Barca and the Taru Ensemble.

Joonas Pitkänen is a Swiss-Finnish, second-generation cellist and a conductor by great passion. He completed his instrumental studies with Prof. Thomas Demenga at the Hochschule für Musik Basel and received his Soloist Diploma with distinction in 2013.

As a chamber musician he has performed with Rainer Schmidt, Helena Winkelmann and Sergej Istomin, among others, and is a prizewinner of the Swiss Musicians' Association, the Friedl Wald Foundation, the 2013 Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition, and the 1st August Pickard Duo Competition with his duo Favaro & Pitkänen.

As a conductor he is regarded as one of the most versatile and interesting Finnish conductors of his generation. In 2023 he won 1st prize at the "Città di Brescia – Giancarlo Facchinetti" conducting competition and an award at the Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors.

He has made significant debuts with renowned orchestras including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Slovak Chamber Orchestra, and the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, with whom he performed at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 2024. He was selected for the LEAD! Foundation's Excellence Platform for Young Artists, where he is closely mentored by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. He completed his conducting studies at the Würzburg University of Music with Ari Rasilainen.

In Basel he also directs the Finnish concert series "Feeling Blue & White", which he co-founded in 2014. Joonas Pitkänen is a member of the Taru Ensemble.

Aleck Carratta, born in Novara, Italy, graduated with distinction in 2011 under A. Commellato at the "G. Cantelli" Conservatory. He went on to continue his studies at the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel with Filippo Gamba, at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Ralf Nattkemper, and at the Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Eckart Heiligers. He took part in numerous masterclasses, including with Lilia Zilberstein, Roberto Plano, Aleksandar Madžar and Christian Zacharias.

In 2013 he performed in chamber music ensembles at the renowned Teatro La Fenice in Venice and as a soloist at the Auditorium "G. Verdi" in Turin; he toured Finland, Mexico, Hungary and Switzerland as a piano duo with his wife, Fiore Favaro. His "Aléan Duo" with cellist Ana Turkalj won the Orpheus Competition in 2019 and in 2022 recorded the complete cello sonatas of C. Reinecke for Brilliant Classics. In 2020 he also toured Japan with his "Alman Trio".

Since 2021 he has taught piano at the Regionale Musikschule Liestal.