ORCHESTRA OLIMPIA
Orchestra Olimpia is a female ensemble founded in 2018 by Roberta Pandolfi and Francesca Perrotta, respectively the Artistic Director and the Music Director of the project. Through concerts, events, podcast, lectures, and the dissemination of lesser-known repertoire in synergy with the performing arts, it aims to promote gender equality, the right to music education, and human rights.
Its debut concert took place on March 8, 2019, at the Rossini Theatre in Pesaro, on the occasion of International Women's Day. The proceeds from the evening were donated to scientific research (Department of Medicine and Surgery - Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna).
Hundreds of artists have already worked with Orchestra Olimpia, including young talents and established orchestra members from all over Italy and abroad (Italia, Olanda, Grecia, Albania, Malta, Serbia, Repubblica Slovacca, Polonia, Spagna, Bulgaria, Finlandia, Germania, Austria, Svizzera, Argentina,Venezuela, Colombia, Georgia, Ucraina, Russia, Kazakistan, USA, Giappone,Corea). Olimpia has hosted renowned soloists such as Valentina Mastrangelo, Anastasyia Petryshak, Elena Denisova, Iva Miletich, Haerim Elisabeth Lee, Noriko Ushioda, and many others.
On January 2024, Orchestra Olimpia performed at the Vitrifrigo Arena in Pesaro for the inauguration of Pesaro 2024 Italian Capital of Culture, in the presence of President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, political and cultural authorities, and 8,000 spectators. The ceremony was broadcast on national TV channels and received wide public and critical acclaim.
On March 2024, Orchestra Olimpia performed at the Paolina Chapel for "I Concerti del Quirinale di Radio3", by direct invitation of the President of the Republic, as the closing event of the celebrations for International Women's Day organized by the Quirinale.
On April 2024, Orchestra Olimpia performed with the renowned Italian singer Big Mama for an evening against gender-based violence, broadcast live on Rai Radio 2, with the participation of actor Vinicio Marchioni and the Una Nessuna Centomila Foundation.
A prominent project for Orchestra Olimpia in the last five years has been "Musicians from the World - Olimpia Meets Zohra", born from the desire to support the studies and careers of Afghan female musicians of the Zohra Ensemble, the only all-female orchestra in the Islamic world. Through collaborations with the Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM), Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, and the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO), numerous initiatives have been launched to support female music education in Afghanistan, establishing a bridge that serves as a true cultural exchange between the two musical realities.
Conferences, including TED X at the Chigiana Academy in Siena (2021), Chigiana 100 (2023), fundraising campaigns, online shared concerts, thematic exhibitions, are just a few of the activities carried out by Orchestra Olimpia while awaiting the opportunity to meet Afghan musicians.
On January 2024, Orchestra Olimpia promoted the historic concert MUSIC FOR FREEDOM - Afghan Youth Orchestra meets Orchestra Olimpia, hosting the first Italian concert of the Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO), now in exile in Portugal after the Taliban's return to Kabul.
In the presence of the Afghan ambassador of the exiled government, Dr. Sarmast, who had survived a suicide bombing for "corrupting the Afghan youth," the concert was publicly dedicated to all women in Afghanistan, condemning the Taliban government and the inhumane conditions in which the population lives, including the denied right to make music, now a crime punishable by imprisonment or death.
Orchestra Olimpia is the producer of the DiClassica podcast, with 8 episodes dedicated to female composers and musicians of classical and contemporary music. The project was conceived by Margherita Macrì (text author), with the artistic direction of Roberta Pandolfi and the musical direction of Francesca Perrotta.
Among other initiatives by Orchestra Olimpia, we highlight the concert-performance “Eravamo il Suono” (We Were the Sound) - the history of the female orchestra of Auschwitz, the Concerto per la Pace (Concert for Peace) with the special participation of M° Yurij Yanko (Conductor of the Kharkiv Philharmonic), the proceeds of which were donated to Ukrainian refugees and to a scholarship for a refugee violinist who is now a student at the Pesaro Conservatory. The Musica, Maestra! interview series, which featured guests such as Marin Alsop, the American conductor, the concert-performance “Renata nel canto la mia vita” (Renata in Song, My Life) produced for the centenary of Renata Tebaldi, participation in the XXIV FVG Music Meeting with the world premiere of Il Bacio della Croce (The Kiss of the Cross), an opera commissioned by the Festival from composer Danilo Comitini, and the Notturno Contadino (Peasant Nocturne) concert cycle, dedicated to research into the folk music of the Marche region, which culminated in the commission of a piece by Comitini dedicated to Olimpia.
The activities of Orchestra Olimpia have recently attracted national media attention, including some of the major newspapers (Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, Repubblica, Avvenire, Il Manifesto, Grazia, Classic Voice), all major TV and radio networks, particularly Rai Radio3, which has repeatedly featured the orchestra in its programs such as Radio3 Suite, Momus, and Fahrenheit.
Orchestra Olimpia was awarded the Premio Giovanni Santi 2024 - Communicators of Values for "its efforts in spreading artistic values through music, with particular attention to the musical repertoire of multicultural female composers. For its determined interpretation of musical projects performed by an orchestra rigorously composed of professional women musicians. For its identity research related to music and women’s music."
The award, established by Ars Urbino Ducale, recognizes artistic qualities and significant contributions in the fields of social issues and communication. The prize was presented to Orchestra Olimpia by Professor Ilvo Diamanti
