When I was only 3 years old, my mother, who was a solfeggio teacher at Milan Conservatoir, took me to a concert at Verdi Music Room , where she met the director at the time, Marcello Abbado. He asked me to sing something and seemed to like my “performance”, because he literally obliged my mother to enrol me on the Conservatoir : I was the youngest pupil in Italy! One thing led to another ; after the violin I studied the piano and finally composition. I took a diploma in both instruments with full marks, ***** laude and honourable mention when I was 17, in a month's time. Afterwards, I passed the seventh in Composition ; if I think about that, I still cannot realize how I could have carried out such an enterprise! I have been performing for years not only in Italy but also in Europe, playing both instruments in the same evening. In 2011 I won the competition for the Regional Orchestra of Emilia Romagna Philarmonica Toscanini and I have been a permanent member since September 2012. The orchestral activity is very demanding and, of course, I had to make some choices. The piano became less important and nowadays I seldom play it during concerts. A lot of people may think that playing in an orchestra is a makeshift for those who did not become successful; maybe it was like that a lot of years ago, when Italian music groups toured abroad and accepted anyone ; otherwise, if you got your diploma, you entered the orchestra automatically. Now, it has become even harder than winning an international competition. First of all, in a competition there are not 200 candidates for just one post, then you are not behind a curtain with 5 minutes' time available to do your best. In an international competition you can start badly and then you have time to correct yourself and win the jury. How is it possible behind a curtain, if you are number 67 and no one is paying much attention to you? Of course, the repertoire required is different and, of course, not everyone can play a Paganini's concert with an orchestra. Anyway, I challenge a lot of the present aspiring soloists to make a perfect step in “The Nutcracker” and remain anonymous , with its pros and cons. Playing in an orchestra may be less exciting and ambitious than performing as a solo player. However, I prefer by far seeing the same faces every day, sometimes getting bored or angry because things are not done as I would have wished ; at the end you play lots of good music TOGETHER and you do not live in perpetual movement , almost always alone, in continuous “performance anxiety”, without the possibility of planning. Nothing is more beautiful than coming back home after work and finding the person you are in love with wating for you, as usual. My aims , at the moment, are getting along with my career as a violin player focusing on chamber music and on competitions for another orchestra, for second violin, who knows....I am looking for a violin which meets my ambitions, with a soft and not too ringing sound. It is really difficult to describe a camera orchestra violin... To make the bass instruments a little bit more resonant, I use Vision Titanium only on D and G; on the other hand, I wish A to be soft and I have just found Eudoxa Article, calibre 13 and ¼; finally I use Piiastro Gold for E. The violin must stand out and, at the same time, have the capabilty of fusing with the other instruments. I am determined to win new challenges in my orchestra and to be in a position to play good music with the other ones. For this reason, I have added to my study as a soloist with Maestro Abbado an orchestra practice with the second violins. I love Brahms and....Verdi, an absurd juxtaposition, but I am a living oxymoron.