“an ensemble blessed with a magnificent togetherness, rich in music talent and whose members are all individually laudable”.
Pier Narciso Masi

Brought together by a common passion for chamber-music, violinist Elio Orio, violist Manuela Matis, cellist Laura Manca and pianist Maria Grazia Petrali founded the Athenaeum Quartet in 1993.
The Quartet was soon to become a distinguished ensemble, collecting awards at national and international competitions and getting a mention in Podium, a periodical dedicated to winners of international awards within the musical scene, issued by the Italian National Committee for Music (CIDIM). Alongside the classic repertoire, the Quartet have retrieved and brought back into concert halls works by composers who had unjustly been neglected – and seldom heard elsewhere. Amongst these, the Suite-Divertissement by Alexandre Tansman certainly stands out. The work was performed for the first time in Italy by the Athenaeum Quartet in a climatic episode of their own formative path within the prestigious Accademia Chigiana in Siena, where they were ultimately awarded a scholarship and a Merit Diploma, in addition to being selected to perform a series of concerts. The Quartet have devoted themselves to a thorough research on Italian authors, thus winning the appreciation, amongst others, of the celebrated composer Bruno Bettinelli, whose response to the Quartet’s performance of his Divertimento for piano quartet was indeed gratifying. A pivotal moment in the Quartet’s history was their encounter with Pier Narciso Masi, at the Imola Academy, and with Mihai Dancila. The classes of Bruno Giuranna, Paul Badura-Skoda, Alain Meunier, Boris Petrushansky and Felix Ayo (who would later award the Quartet a Diploma of Honour), were also of great influence. The Quartet have performed in front of outstanding audiences (organisations such as Amici della Musica in Perugia, Amici della Musica in Campobasso and the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna), in prestigious concert halls and historical settings such as Sala dei Notari in Perugia, the Theatre in Todi, the Sala dei Giganti in Padua, the Teatro della Rocca Ubadinesca in Sassocorvaro, Fregoli Theatre in Turin, Staffarda Abbey in Saluzzo, Agora Theatre in Rome, Cennina Castle in Arezzo. They have recorded Quartet op. 87 by A. Dvorak and Quartet op. 13 by R. Strauss. One of their most enchanting and evocative performances was the one the Quartet gave at the Vittorio Alfieri Theatre in Asti, where they played J. Brahms’s complete chamber-music works and performed, in addition to works no. 25, 26 and 60 of their own repertoire, most of the remaining pieces for other parts. The four Quartet members are active performers and concertmasters in other ensembles as well as the Athenaeum (piano duo, string ensembles, string and wind ensembles), and have played as piano quartet with Bruno Canino and Pier Narciso Masi. They teach at Conservatories in Adria, Bolzano, Riva del Garda and the Music High School in Cuneo; their enthusiasm for teaching has led them to run summer classes and master classes in Italy and abroad, both on their own and as a quartet.

ELIO ORIO
As a graduate in Violin and Viola Performance, Elio Orio had studied with Camillo Grasso, Corrado Romano and Franco Gulli. He then went on to specialise under the guidance of Enrica Cavallo, Paul Badura-Skoda, Bruno Giuranna, Alain Meunier, Boris Petrushansky, Norbert Brainin, Mihai Dancila, Mariana Sirbu, Felix Ayo and Enzo Porta.
At a very young age he was already playing with orchestras of the highest calibre, such as those, amongst many others, at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, the Teatro Regio and the RAI National Orchestra in Turin, and the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa.
A versatile performer, he pursued a musical career both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, alongside with serving as a teacher in master classes in Italy, Spain, France, Slovakia, Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, Romania, China, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Austria.
He is an Honorary Professor at the Normal Infant College in Xuzhou (China).
Elio Orio was awarded a tenured professorship in Chamber Music to teach at Conservatories. Since 2009, he has been the headmaster at the Conservatory in Adria.

MANUELA MATIS
Both a violin and a viola performer, Manuela Matis studied violin under the guidance of Camillo Grasso and Maja Ioconovich, and viola with Armando Burattin and Reiner Schmidt. She later completed a three-year advanced course in Chamber Music and was eventually awarded a Diploma in Chamber Music from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, under Felix Ayo.
In 2009-2010 she performed twice the entire corpus of Sonatas for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, in duo with pianist Alberto Magagni.
She explored Violin Pedagogy under the guidance of Enzo Porta at the Music School in Fiesole, and she has recently been exploring the baroque violin with Renata Spotti.
After winning a national competition, she was awarded a tenured professorship in Chamber Music at the Conservatory Monteverdi in Bozen, and has since been involved in projects dedicated to R. Schumann, F. Busoni and to twentieth century’s composers, thus performing in various ensembles, from duos to quintets.
In 2013 she performed the entire corpus of the Suites BWV 1007-1012 by J. S. Bach for viola solo.
Since 1999 she has been teaching advanced courses and master classes in Italy and abroad.

LAURA MANCA
A graduate cellist of the Conservatory in Cuneo, where she studied under the guidance of Paola Mosca, Laura Manca then specialised with Franco Rossi at the Scuola di Perfezionamento Musicale (School for Advanced Musical Studies) in Saluzzo, and she attended classes with Richte van der Meers, Luca Simoncini and the Trio di Trieste.She has worked with numerous orchestras, such as the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana in Fiesole, the RAI National Orchestra in Turin and the Baroque Orchestra Montis Regalis, together with conductors and soloists of the calibre of Carlo Maria Giulini, Riccardo Muti, Lu Ja, Gyorgy Rath, Michele Campanella, Maria Tipo, Uto Ughi, Jordi Savall, Chiara Banchini, amongst many others.
Laura Manca boasts a broad chamber-music experience, ranging from duos to sextets.
Together with the chamber-music ensemble Gli Affetti in Turin, she has recorded two CDs dedicated to Gian Battista Platti, produced by the music label Agora.
In 2010 she completed her Master’s degree in Music Studies at the Conservatory in Cuneo.
Laura teaches violoncello at the Music High School in Cuneo and runs classes in advanced musical studies and master classes both in Italy and abroad.

MARIA GRAZIA PETRALI
Maria Grazia Petrali graduated in Piano Principal at the Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi in Milan under the guidance of Edda Ponti. She then attended a three-year course in advanced musical studies at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese, where she studied with Paolo Bordoni, and from which she graduated with full marks.
As a chamber musician, she has been involved in various master classes and with different ensembles, and for the last few years she has been performing in duo with pianist Andrea Turini, while perfecting her artistry in Rome under the guidance of Konstantin Bogino and Bruno Rigutto.
Both as a soloist and as a part of chamber ensembles, Maria Grazia Petrali has been winning numerous awards at national and international competitions.
As a solo pianist in orchestra and solo piano works, she performed concerts K595 and K466 by W. A. Mozart and concert op. 54 by R. Schumann.
She has performed in key concert halls in Italy and abroad, in Konstanz (Germany), Celerina (Switzerland), Prague, Amsterdam (at the Italian Cultural Institute) and in Salzburg.
Moreover, she has appeared with the orchestra of the radio station Radio Svizzera Italiana, and with the Symphonic Orchestra in Emilia Romagna A. Toscanini.
In 2000 she served as piano accompanist in violin and cello classes at the Musica Riva Festival.
In 2005 she worked together with the Italian Philarmonic Orchestra and the Ballet Ensemble at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, with Carla Fracci, at the staging of the ballet Maria Stuart (music by R. Schumann), performed at the Teatro Municipale in Piacenza.
In 2009 she was awarded, magna cum laude, her Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the Istituto di Alta Formazione Musicale ‘F. Vittadini’ in Pavia.
She currently teaches Piano Principal at the Conservatory Bonporti in Riva del Garda (TN), and runs summer workshops in Piano Performance together with pianist Andrea Turini.