Master's Curriculum

Luca Braga studied at the G. Verdi Conservatory with U. Oliveti.
After advanced studies with teachers such as Felice Cusano, Zinaida Gilels, Alexandre Brussilowsky, M. Jokanovich, M. Sirbu, and F. Rossi, he began a brilliant solo and chamber music career that also led him to collaborate with prestigious ensembles and distinguished musicians, performing in some of the world’s most important concert halls, including the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Salle Garnier in Monte Carlo, the Musikverein in Graz, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, and the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, among others.
He has made numerous recordings for Decca, Velut Luna, Tactus, and Teldec.
In 2004, he received four stars for the CD dedicated to the works of Martucci and Sgambati for violin and piano, recorded in duo with Lucia Pittau.
He has collaborated as concertmaster or principal player with major orchestras such as I Pomeriggi Musicali, the Arturo Toscanini Orchestra of Emilia-Romagna, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra, Bergamo Musica Festival – Teatro Donizetti, Musica Riva Festival, and others.
He is first violin of QuartettOCMantova, the string quartet of the Mantua Chamber Orchestra, an Italian excellence recognized worldwide.
He has been invited to give masterclasses and recitals at American universities including Montclair State University, Kansas State University, the University of North Dakota, Concordia University in Fargo, Macalester College in Minneapolis, and the University of Las Vegas, serving as a visiting professor.
He is frequently invited to serve on juries for national and international music performance competitions.
He is currently a professor of Chamber Music and String Quartet at the G. Verdi Conservatory of Milan.

Introduced to the study of counterpoint and composition at the age of four by her mother, Odelia, she graduated from the “L. Marenzio” Conservatory in her hometown with diplomas in Flute (1991, under the guidance of Prof. Simona Valsecchi), Jazz, and Composition (with highest honors and distinction).
She subsequently perfected her studies with internationally renowned teachers including Eugenia Soregaroli, Peter-Lukas Graf, Glauco Cambursano, Bruno Cavallo, William Bennett, and Julius Baker. Under the guidance of Maestro William Bennett, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London, earning the prestigious DIP-RAM (highest distinction) in 1995. In the same year, she served as Professor of Flute at King’s College of Music, London.
She has won prizes in numerous national and international competitions, including the “A. Ponchielli” Flute Competition (Cremona), Internationaler Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen, Jeunesses Musicales Music Competition (Bucharest, Romania), Maria Canals International Competition (Barcelona), and—at a very young age—the International Competitions of Stresa (multiple times), Viareggio, San Bartolomeo al Mare, and Taranto. As a composer, she was awarded at the Lago Moro Talenti Competition organized by the Conservatory of Darfo (2019).
As Principal Flute with numerous opera houses and symphony orchestras, she was personally selected and invited by Maestro Zubin Mehta to perform the full season of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, both in Florence and on tour in Japan.
In London, she was invited by Maestro Vladimir Jurowski to collaborate and record with the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Principal Flute.
She has held the position of Principal Flute at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Arena di Verona, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, I Filarmonici di Verona, Orchestra Filarmonica Toscanini of Parma, Orchestra dell’Opera Giocosa of Savona, and, of course, I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano. Under the direction of conductors such as Gatti, Mehta, Temirkanov, Imball, Reck, Maazel, Oren, Feddeck, Bellincampi, Ceccato, Yurovsky (father and sons), Adams, Inkinen, Pelivanian, Santi, De Bernard, Campori, and many others, she has consistently received acclaim from both conductors and critics.
She has been particularly devoted to chamber music, performing in prestigious venues including Teatro Dal Verme, Teatro Bibiena of Mantua, Teatro Grande of Brescia, Belveglio Flute Festival, St. Cecilia Auditorium of Edinburgh, the Sala Maffeiana of the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, the International Festival of the Island of Elba, and the Third International Flute Convention in Manchester (1999), by invitation of Trevor Wye.
For four years, she collaborated with Yuri Bashmet in the chamber concerts of the Elba Island Festival, performing with artists such as François Leleux, Yuri Bashmet, Marisa Tanzini, Mario Brunello, Natalia Gutman, Gidon Kremer, Uto Ughi, Victor Tretiakov, Vadim Repin, and ensembles including I Solisti di Mosca, Kremerata Baltica, as well as composers Carlo Boccadoro, Giovanni Sollima, and Kancheli.
She founded and directed the Ensemble Mulieres Aulosque (five flutes and harp), for which she composed and arranged the entire repertoire, performed in numerous concerts between 2005 and 2012, and the Elfran Quartet (flute and string trio) with her sister Elisa Citterio, Francesco Lattuada, and Marco Perini, active from 1995 to 2001. With other ensembles, she regularly performs her own music in concert (e.g. Trio Alua: flute, viola, cello).
She regularly performs with Les Indes Galantes, a chamber group she co-founded with harpsichordist Edmondo Savio, with variable formations ranging from trio (flute, cello, harpsichord) to a small chamber orchestra with one player per part.
She has given masterclasses at the Conservatory of Novara, Associazione Culturale Alchechengi, Piceno Classica, Villa Magni in Pistoia, the Portogruaro Summer Music Courses, and the International Academy “Incontri col Maestro” in Imola, where she served as faculty in 2008.
A passionate jazz musician, she earned the Advanced Diploma in Jazz and Improvisation from the L. Marenzio Conservatory of Brescia and is active in this field as both performer and composer.
She has conducted orchestras such as the Cantelli Orchestra of Milan and Les Indes Galantes. She is currently dedicated to composition and publishes with Eufonia Publishing House.
She has written extensive literature for children and young performers, including trios for flute, viola, and cello; sextets for five flutes and harp; 7 Studies for solo flute; two Sonatas for flute and piano; exercises and pedagogical studies included in the published methods of Maestro Cavallo; and The Seasons for flute/piccolo and piano, frequently included in Italian conservatory graduation recitals. 

Umberto Ruboni is an Italian pianist born in Genoa in 1996, who graduated with honors and distinction from the "Verdi" Conservatory in Milan.

A versatile musician, he combines his concert career with that of an accompanist pianist; since 2025, he has been a permanent faculty member at the "Vivaldi" Conservatory in Alessandria. Over the years, he has collaborated with some of the greatest musicians in the international scene, particularly in the fields of violin and flute, both for concerts and as an assistant in masterclasses. Among these musicians are Maxim Vengerov, Uto Ughi, Ning Feng, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Sergej Krylov, Daniel Stabrawa, Peter-Lukas Graf, Marina Piccinini, Michael Cox, Silvia Careddu, Sarah Louvion, Juliette Hurel, Vicens Prats, and Tom Ottar Andreassen.

As a soloist, he has won several international piano competitions, including the Orbetello Piano Master Competition (1st Prize), YAMAHA International Piano Competition (1st Prize), and the Thalberg International Piano Competition (3rd Prize). He has performed in various countries, including South Korea, Tunisia, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and Germany, in prestigious venues such as the Seoul Arts Center (IBK Hall), Sala Verdi in Milan, and the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, and has accompanied several orchestras conducted by Marcello Rota, Filipe Cunha, Nikolay Lalov, Pietro Mianiti, and Fabrizio Dorsi.

From 2022 to 2024, he was an Artist in Residence at the Ingesund Piano Center in Arvika (Sweden).