The ensemble FIORI MUSICALI AUSTRIA was founded by the harpsichordist Marinka Brecelj with the idea of playing early music from Italy. The program has been expanded over the years and even if the focus has remained on Italy, crossover elements are currently enriching the musical spectrum. The ensemble’s repertoire is constantly opening up to elements of traditional Italian, Sephardic, Turkish, Syrian or South American music.
MARINKA BRECELJ Harpsichord, Direction and Arrangement
Marinka Brecelj is passionately committed to enriching historical performance practice with fresh impulses. Her captivating performances are skillfully infused with a pronounced sense of creative innovation, expertly blending various styles and cultures.
Born in Bolzano, Marinka Brecelj discovered her passion for music at an early age. She received a diploma in piano and then continued her education as a harpsichordist and pianist in Vienna and Milan. Simultaneously, she studied musicology at the University of Bologna, where she earned her doctorate with honors, completing a dissertation on modern harpsichord music. Her extensive repertoire includes not only Baroque works but also contemporary compositions, with some pieces dedicated to her.
Irene Coticchio Vocalist
Irene Coticchio is a Sicilian actress, performer, and singer. She completed her studies in modern languages and literature at the University of Palermo and later attended the Philippe Gaulier Theatre School in London. She has participated in numerous international productions. From 2000 to 2018, she was part of the Vienna-based performance group Toxic Dreams. As a singer, she has experimented with various styles. For years, she has been dedicated to exploring ancient Sicilian songs and performs with her ensemble Continente Liquido.
Since 2013, she has been a founding member of cowbirds, a collective that explores and performs monophonic and polyphonic songs from Corsica and Sicily, among other places. Since 2021, she has been a member of the collective Sirenen. In 2020, she co-founded the duo ControCanto with Verena Brückner. Since 2020, she has been collaborating with the ensemble Fiori Musicali Austria.
Alenka Brecelj Baroque Violin
Born in Vienna into a family of musicians, received her first violin lessons at the age of five and was accepted into the class of Univ.- Prof.in Mag.a Ulrike Danhofer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) in 2015. Graduated in March 2020 She completed the bachelor’s degree in instrumental and vocal pedagogy at the mdw and was admitted to the master’s degree, which she started with Ludwig Müller and has been with Univ.-Prof. David Fruehwirth continues. Her artistic activity has led her, among other things, to participate in the stage orchestra of the Vienna State Opera in various opera productions, to numerous concerts and concert tours of the Schubert Academy (stage orchestra of the Vienna Boys’ Choir) in Vienna, India and Hong Kong, as well as to appearances with the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra, the Synchron Stage Orchestra, Nova Orchestra Vienna, Black Page Orchestra. She discovered her enthusiasm for Viennese music and the Schrammel Quartet through working with Roland Neuwirth and Manfred Kammerhofer (Neuwirth Extreme Schrammeln). This led, among other things, to performances in the Wiener Konzerthaus, as part of the Wienerlied Festival “Wean Hean” and the Waldlesungsviertel 2021. She deepened her knowledge of baroque music and especially the baroque violin with Enrico Gatti, Ryo Terakado and members of the baroque ensemble “La Risonanza”, as well as with Jocelyne Rainer, Johannes Weiss and Eugène Michelangeli at the mdw.
Carles Muñoz Camarero Baroque Cello, Nyckelharpa
Born in Barcelona, cellist Carles Muñoz Camarero took his first steps in music at the age of five with the cello. In 2012, he successfully completed his concert studies in cello, with viola da gamba as a secondary instrument, at the Catalonia College of Music (ESMuC). After finishing his classical studies, he focused mainly on other musical realms: ethnomusicology, jazz, free improvisation, and baroque music, where improvisation always plays a central role. For this reason, between 2015 and 2019, he studied IGP Jazz Cello with Andreas Schreiber and Peter Herbert at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz.
After more than 25 years of intense engagement with the cello, the desire to expand his instrumental repertoire grew. Since the beginning of 2020, he has been experimenting with a new instrument for him, the Nyckelharpa or “keyed fiddle,” as he is a great enthusiast of Scandinavian music.
Karin Hageneder Recorder
The recorder and flute player studied at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität in Linz (BA), the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (BMus) and the Kunst und Musik Privatuniversität in Vienna (MA). She played in symphonic orchestras (Brucknerorchester Linz, Tonkünstler NÖ), in early music ensembles (Austrian Baroque Company, The Royal Wind Music, Quadriga Consort), as stage musician (Staatsoper Wien), as soloist, in competitions and in international tours (Australien, Asien). 2015-2016 Karin was asked to replace the recorder teacher at the Joseph Haydn Konservatorium in Eisenstadt. www.karinhageneder.com
Adriaan Lauwers (BE) is a professional musician, specialised in early plucked instruments. As a soloist or ensemble member, he has played concerts in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. He cultivated his artistry and knowledge with Rolf Lislevand at the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse de Lyon.
Throughout the years, Adriaan has followed masterclasses with, among others, Hopkinson Smith, Paul O’Dette, Vincent Dumestre (lute) and David Russell, Roland Dyens, Roberto Aussel (guitar).
Besides a heart for music, Adriaan also has a profound love for foreign languages and the smell of coffee in the morning. He likes cooking recipes by Ottolenghi, traveling by bike with a backpack, spending time in nature or just hanging out with friends.
Pat Feldner is a multi-percussionists in the field of World Music, Jazz, Rock, Folk and Early Music. He started as percussionist, taking lessons with Dieter Herfert (Vienna Conservatory), focused later Hand Percussion and studied in Varanasi/India the classical Indian Tabla with Nandlal Mishra, Ramchandra Sharma (All India Radio & TV) and Chauggan Lal Mishra. He discovered the world of the frame drum and is interested in historical and oriental percussion as well.
