Four instruments,
one conversation.

Violinist and first violin of Quartetto Guadagnini since 2012, Fabrizio Zoffoli has performed in many of Italy’s leading concert halls and appears regularly throughout Europe. Concerts and masterclasses have also taken him to Japan, China, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Colombia and South America.

With Quartetto Guadagnini, recipient of the Piero Farulli Prize at the 2014 Franco Abbiati Awards, he has been invited by institutions and festivals including the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Sion Festival, Società del Quartetto di Milano, Amici della Musica di Firenze, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, Stradivari Festival in Cremona, Bologna Festival, ProQuartet in Paris, Ravenna Festival, IUC in Rome and Concerti del Quirinale. The ensemble is also a regular guest on Italian and international radio and television, including RAI Radio 3, RAI 3, RAI 5, RSI, Radio France, Radio Classica, Vatican Radio and Sky Classica HD.

His artistic collaborations include Louis Lortie, Beatrice Rana, Avi Avital, Enrico Bronzi, Giovanni Gnocchi, Danusha Waskiewicz, Federico Colli, Krzysztof Jablonski and Giorgia Tomassi. In music communication he works with Giovanni Bietti, Sandro Cappelletto and Oreste Bossini. Contemporary music holds a particular place in his work: exchanges with composers such as Chaya Czernowin, Fabio Vacchi, Paolo Cavallone, Stefano Gervasoni, Silvia Colasanti and Luis de Pablo have also led to two albums devoted to the music of our time. Further recordings for Brilliant Classics, Tactus and Amadeus have received international exposure and critical attention.

He trained at the Milan Conservatoire, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the International Academy of Imola with Pavel Berman, graduating with highest honours. His chamber music studies took him to the “W. Stauffer” Academy in Cremona, Hatto Beyerle and ECMA; he also attended Günter Pichler’s masterclasses at the Chigiana Academy in Siena and ProQuartet in Paris.

After teaching chamber music, string quartet and violin at several Italian conservatoires, he is now a professor at the “Maderna-Lettimi” Conservatoire of Cesena-Rimini. He plays a 1962 Marino Capicchioni violin made in Rimini and is a Jargar Strings – Thomastik-Infeld endorser.

Cristina Papini began studying the violin at the age of five with Nicoletta Del Carlo. She graduated with highest honours from the “L. Boccherini” Institute in Lucca under Alberto Bologni, later completing her postgraduate degree with him. She continued her training with Paolo Chiavacci, Pavel Vernikov, Salvatore Accardo, Marco Rizzi and Uto Ughi, and earned an advanced violin diploma at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sonig Tchakerian.

Her passion for chamber music led her to co-found the Aeonium Piano Trio. With the ensemble she completed advanced studies at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Carlo Fabiano’s class and a postgraduate master’s degree at the Parma Conservatoire with the Trio di Parma and Pierpaolo Maurizzi. She has received prizes in solo and chamber music competitions and was awarded the “Carol MacAndrew” scholarship by the Associazione Musicale Lucchese in 2013.

She joined Quartetto Guadagnini in 2017 and has since performed extensively with the ensemble in Italy and abroad. Her work within the quartet is complemented by an ongoing engagement with solo and chamber repertoire and a strong commitment to teaching younger musicians.

After teaching chamber music at the conservatoires of Trapani and Livorno, she is now professor of violin at the “N. Paganini” Conservatoire in Genoa.

Born in Rome, Matteo Rocchi began studying the violin at the age of ten and graduated with highest honours from the “S. Cecilia” Conservatoire, receiving the “A. Giannuzzi” scholarship as the outstanding graduate of his year. He continued his studies with Francesco Fiore, Bruno Giuranna, Simonide Braconi and other distinguished teachers, and in 2018 completed the advanced chamber music programme at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

At a young age he joined both the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana and the European Union Youth Orchestra. His path later focused firmly on the viola, bringing awards in national and international competitions and studies with Bruno Giuranna at the “W. Stauffer” Academy in Cremona. With a particular interest in contemporary music, he has served as principal viola of Imago Sonora and worked with ensembles including PMCE and Divertimento Ensemble.

He has been the violist of Quartetto Guadagnini since 2015. With the ensemble he performs in leading Italian concert series and abroad, combining the central quartet repertoire with a sustained interest in twentieth-century and contemporary music. In other chamber formations he has collaborated with musicians including Franco Petracchi, Salvatore Accardo, Enrico Bronzi, Federico Colli and the Quartetto di Cremona.

Alongside his concert activity, he gives viola and chamber music masterclasses in Italy and internationally.

Alessandra Cefaliello began studying the cello at the age of five with Massimo Mannacio. She graduated with highest honours from the “N. Piccinni” Conservatoire in Bari under Vito Paternoster, then earned advanced diplomas in both cello and chamber music at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Giovanni Sollima and Carlo Fabiano.

From her earliest years of training she pursued solo repertoire, orchestral playing and chamber music in parallel. She continued her studies with members of the Quartetto di Cremona, Alexander Bonduryansky, Christophe Giovaninetti, Dalia Balsyte and Heime Müller. She has received first prizes in national competitions, including the “Igor Stravinsky” and “Luigi Russo” competitions in Bari, as well as the international “Don Vincenzo Vitti” competition as a member of a piano trio.

In 2012 she co-founded Quartetto Guadagnini. With the ensemble she has performed in major Italian halls and concert series and throughout Europe, Asia and the United Arab Emirates, developing a repertoire that embraces the classics, the twentieth century and contemporary music. Her chamber music training continued at the “W. Stauffer” Academy in Cremona and through work with Hatto Beyerle, Patrick Jüdt and Günter Pichler.

She teaches chamber music at the “Maderna-Lettimi” Conservatoire of Cesena-Rimini. She plays a 2016 Filippo Fasser cello modelled after Pietro Giacomo Rogeri and is a Jargar Strings endorser.