Diego Fasolis

Recognised worldwide as one of the foremost interpreters of art music ranging from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, Diego Fasolis has collaborated as a guest conductor with some of the world’s leading ensembles and soloists, including Cecilia Bartoli, Plácido Domingo, Nathalie Stutzmann, Sonya Yoncheva, Max Emanuel Cenčić, and Philippe Jaroussky.

A leading exponent of historically informed performance on period instruments, he is renowned for his philological research, stylistic rigour, versatility, and virtuosity. He has appeared at some of the world’s most prestigious concert seasons and festivals, both as a guest conductor and at the helm of the Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera and I Barocchisti.

He completed his studies in Zurich, Paris, Cremona, and Vienna, earning four diplomas with distinction. He began his international career as an organ recitalist, performing complete cycles of works by Bach, Buxtehude, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Franck, and Liszt on several occasions.

Fasolis began working with RSI (Radiotelevisione della Svizzera italiana) in 1986 and became choirmaster in 1993. Three years later, together with his late wife Adriana Brambilla and Duilio Galfetti, and building on the pioneering work of Edwin Loehrer, he founded the period-instrument ensemble I Barocchisti. Through this ensemble, he has made a major contribution to the international concert and recording scene, producing more than 120 award-winning titles. This remarkable body of work has brought Southern Switzerland international renown.

Diego Fasolis has appeared regularly at the Salzburg Festival, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Parco della Musica in Rome, Lincoln Center in New York, the Berlin Philharmoniker, and Teatro alla Scala. The renowned Milanese theatre entrusted him with the creation of its orchestra on original instruments. Nikolaus Harnoncourt invited him on several occasions to conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Concentus Musicus Wien and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor.

He has received numerous distinctions, including the Disc d’Or, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Echo Klassik, the ICMA, the Diapason d’Or, and the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, as well as several Grammy Award nominations.

In 2013, he founded the Fondazione Adriana pro Musica et Natura in memory of his prematurely deceased wife, with the aim of supporting young musicians and promoting respect for nature.

In 2023, he received the Doron Prize, and in 2024 he was awarded the Forlì Musica Prize on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Associazione Amici dell’Arte.

Pope Benedict XVI awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his dedication to the performance of sacred music, in particular the works of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, known as the Princeps Musicae.