Laura Gorna
Born into a family of musicians, Laura Gorna graduated with top marks from the "G. Verdi" Conservatory in Milan under the guidance of Gigino Maestri, and then continued her post-graduate studies with Salvatore Accardo at the "Walter Stauffer" Academy in Cremona.
Winner of the 22nd Violin Competition "Città di Vittorio Veneto", she made her debut at a very young age playing the Khachaturian Concerto with the RAI Orchestra in Milan. She has since performed in the main Italian and international venues, and has played as guest soloist with several important orchestras under the direction of the most prestigious conductors.
Driven by her passion for chamber music, in 1992 Laura Gorna became a member of the Accardo Quartet and has since performed in various ensembles with Bruno Giuranna, Toby Hoffmann, Rocco Filippini, Bruno Canino, Michele Campanella and Franco Petracchi.
Together with cellist Cecilia Radic and pianist Laura Manzini, in 2005 Laura co-founded "EsTrio", which was later described by music journalist Lorenzo Arruga as "Three flawless musicians, who have released an outstanding and intense record: steadiness and imagination, culture and instinct in the beauty of sound".
Over the years she has also performed the complete chamber works of J. Brahms, F. Mendelssohn, R. Schumann and P. I. Tchaikovsky for the most prominent institutions in her country, while renowned composers such as Silvia Colasanti, Fabio Vacchi and Adriano Guarnieri have dedicated some of their works to her.
Laura Gorna is amongst the founders of the “Notti Trasfigurate” Festival in Vicenza and one of the creators of the performance “Pochi avvenimenti, felicità assoluta”, dedicated to the artistic and human bond between Robert and Clara Schumann, staged with EsTrio and actress Sonia Bergamasco for the first time in Milan in 2010.
Her most important record releases for Fonè and Decca include several monographic albums recorded as a soloist with the Orchestra da Camera Italiana (Piazzolla, Vivaldi), a recital with pianist Filippo Faes (Schumann, Paganini-Szymanowski, Ravel), and two records with EsTrio, respectively featuring the works of Schumann and Shostakovich and the Mendelssohn's Trios.
Her latest release for the Dynamic record label is Schumann's complete works for trio.
She has also appeared on several radio and television recordings for RAI and ARTE, including concerts by Bruch, Chačaturjan and Prokofiev.
First chair violinist with the Orchestra da Camera Italiana, over the years Laura Gorna has devoted herself to teaching, and is now a professor at the "G. Verdi" Conservatory in Milano. Many of her students have won first and second prizes of some of the most important international competitions.
Her teaching activity also includes "Beethoven: Presente!", a project conceived by Laura Gorna in collaboration with Salvatore Accardo and the Monteverdi Conservatory of Cremona, held in Cremona in November 2020 and broadcasted on Corriere della Sera TV.
Laura Gorna plays the superb "Giorgio III" violin by Giovanni Paolo Maggini (Brescia, 1620).