"Outstanding Artist"
- Enrico Onofri
“A fascinating play of emotions magnificently performed"
- Aargauer Zeitung
"Rare perfection of phrasing, excellent intonation, a dialogue that goes far beyond words… (...)
gave me moments of deep happiness”
- Enzo Restagno, musicologist and music critic
Dicembre 2018, Turin Cathedral
“Irene was spectacular. I had tears in my eyes.
It was the best Four Seasons I have ever heard. Truly virtuosic”
- Maren Montalbano, Soprano Grammy Winner
Novembre 2019, Carnegie Hall, New York
Italian violinist with Swiss citizenship, Irene Abrigo began studying the violin at the age of four at the Suzuki School in Aosta. After completing her diploma, she pursued advanced studies with Marie-Annick Nicolas (HEM Geneva), Pierre Amoyal (HEM Lausanne / Mozarteum Salzburg), and Corina Belcea (HFM Bern), and participated in international masterclasses with renowned pedagogues such as Zakhar Bron, Thomas Füri, Viktor Pikayzen, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Ani Schnarch, Mayumi Seiler, and Benjamin Schmid. She also attended the IOIA Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic and Keshet Eilon masterclass in Israel.
Winner of the Respighi Prize in 2015, finalist of the Città di Vittorio Veneto Prize in 2014, and laureate of several national and international competitions, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in New York in 2016 with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, performing the U.S. premiere of Dirk Brossé’s violin concerto Black, White and in Between. In the same year, she gave the South American premiere of Ottorino Respighi’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in Brazil and made her debut with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. She returned to Carnegie Hall in 2019 with The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, receiving a standing ovation, and was invited again as a soloist in the renowned New York venue in May 2026 to perform The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams.
A highly regarded chamber musician, she has performed with distinguished artists such as Dénes Várjon, Izabella Simon, Jürg Dähler, Gilles Vonsattel, Heinz Holliger, Felix Renggli, Julian Prégardien, Corina Belcea, Rosanne Philippens, Thomas and Patrick Demenga, Enrico Bronzi, Hiroko Sakagami, Roberto González-Monjas, Hanna Weinmeister and the Merel Quartet.
Her strong commitment to contemporary music has led to close collaborations with composers such as Heinz Holliger, Xavier Dayer, Richard Dubugnon, Nadir Vassena, David Philip Hefti, Mischa Käser, and Daniel Schnyder. She has premiered numerous works, many of which were dedicated to her and broadcast by major radio stations or recorded on CD.
In parallel, Irene is also devoted to historically informed performance practice, working under the guidance of Enrico Onofri and playing occasionally a rare original baroque violin by Jacobus Stainer.
Graduated in DAMS with a thesis on Paganini, she is the creator of innovative projects combining music, education, and well-being. In 2015, she founded the non-profit association POURQUOIPAS, which promotes socially driven artistic initiatives, and in 2021 the Lucignano Music Festival, which brings together concerts and inclusive activities for the community. She is the artistic director of the Italian Swiss Music Society, promoting cultural exchange between Italy and Switzerland under the patronage of Italian Consulate and Institute of Culture, and of the holistic project Fast Fingers Slow Life.
Since 2023, she has been teaching violin at the Conservatory of Winterthur, where she leads the talent development program and the Pre-College violin class.
She plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin (Milan, 1758) and a François Xavier Tourte bow ex-Iona Brown, both generously loaned by a private patron.
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