Celebrated for her sonorous tone, compelling interpretations and flawless technique, Francesca Dego is one of the most sought-after young violinists on the international scene. Signed in 2012 by Deutsche Grammophon, she released her highly anticipated first concerto disc featuring works by Paganini and Wolf-Ferrari alongside the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Daniele Rustioni in 2017, garnering widespread praise. Autumn 2018 sees the release of her latest recital disc ‘Suite Italienne’, in which she pays homage to the aesthetic and influence of twentieth-century Italian musical style.
Born in Lecco, Italy, to Italian and American parents, Francesca regularly appears with major orchestras worldwide, and recent and forthcoming highlights include performances with the Philharmonia, Hallé, Ulster, Royal Philharmonic and Royal Scottish National Orchestras, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Tokyo Metropolitan and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Orquesta de Sevilla and de la Comunitat Valenciana at Palau de les Arts, Auckland Philharmonia, Het Gelders Orkest and the Orkest van het Oosten. In her home country she regularly collaborates with ensembles such as the Orchestra della Toscana, with whom she tours to Munich, Bregenz and Linz in spring 2019, Milan’s “La Verdi” Orchestra, Parma’s Filarmonica Toscanini, the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano, and the Genova, Bari, Bologna, Trieste, Verona and La Fenice Venice Theatre Orchestras.
Her international career to date has allowed Francesca to work alongside many esteemed conductors, Karen Durgaryan, Christopher Franklin, Paul Goodwin, Christopher Hogwood, Yoel Levi, Grant Llewellyn, Wayne Marshall, Diego Matheuz, Shlomo Mintz, Gemma New, Sir Roger Norrington, Daniele Rustioni, Dalia Stasevska and Xian Zhang, to name a few. An outstanding collaborative artist, Francesca thrives in chamber settings, and instrumentalists with whom she has performed include Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Giuranna, Mahan Esfahani, Piers Lane, Jan Lisiecki, Mischa Maisky, Antonio Meneses, Domenico Nordio, Martin Owen and Kathryn Stott, as well as her regular recital partner, pianist Francesca Leonardi. Summer 2018 saw the inaugural season of the Gravedona Chamber Music Festival at Lake Como, a celebration co-founded by Francesca. In the 2018/19 season, chamber collaborations and recitals take her to Athens, Beirut, Ede, Pisa, Rome, Siena, Turin and Venice, among others.
Francesca is the winner of numerous national and international competitions, and in 2008 attracted widespread attention for being the first Italian female prize-winner of the renowned “Paganini Competition” in Genoa since 1961. In addition she was awarded the “Enrico Costa” prize for having been the youngest finalist. She was selected to perform as soloist at the 2014 and 2015 Remembrance Day concerts in Rome, broadcast worldwide by RAI. In June 2014 she performed at Rio de Janeiro’s Teatro Municipal at the opening of the Football World Cup in Brazil. She is a frequent contributor to specialist music magazines, penning a monthly column for Suonare News among others, and has written articles and option pieces for the BBC and Classical Music Magazines, The Strad, Musical Opinion and Strings Magazine.
Francesca is based in London and plays on a precious Francesco Ruggeri violin (Cremona 1697) and the ex-Ricci Guarneri del Gesù (Cremona 1734) courtesy of Florian Leonhard Fine Violins. She is supported by Comitato Nazionale Italiano Musica (CIDIM), SIAE, S’Illumina and MiBACT.