KOBALT
Founded in 2021, the Trio Kobalt is one of the most promising Italian chamber music ensembles of its generation. Born from the encounter of Irenè Fiorito (violin), Lorenzo Guida (cello), and Riccardo Ronda (piano), the Trio has earned a remarkable series of national and international accolades, including the European Chamber Music Competition “Gasparo da Salò” (2023), the Premio Giubergia (2024), AMUR for Young Talents (2024), the Filippo Nicosia Chamber Music Award (2024), and the 45th Italian Music Critics’ Award “Franco Abbiati” (“Piero Farulli” Prize 2026). Of particular distinction is the invitation extended to the Trio — the first Italian ensemble — to serve as Ensemble in Residence (2024) at the prestigious Festival International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron (France).
The Trio maintains an active and wide-ranging concert schedule at leading musical institutions in Italy and abroad: the Parc du Château de Florans (La Roque d’Anthéron), the Società del Quartetto di Milano, the Unione Musicale di Torino, the Società del Quartetto di Vicenza, the Salle Cortot in Paris, the Musica Insieme Festival in Bologna, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the Filarmonica di Trento, the Società dei Concerti di Trieste, and the Associazione Scarlatti in Naples — all to unanimous critical acclaim.
In 2025, the Trio began a significant collaboration with the renowned “Premio Paganini” International Violin Competition in Genoa, accompanying the semi-finalists in the chamber music round alongside violist Danusha Waskiewicz.
Trained under the guidance of Pavel Berman at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano — where the three musicians first studied and met — the Trio Kobalt continued its artistic development with the Trio di Parma at the Accademia Perosi in Biella, graduating with distinction. The Trio currently pursues advanced studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris (Elite Program) with the Trio Wanderer, and at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, under the direction of Ivan Rabaglia.
In 2025, the Trio recorded the Elegiac Trios by Sergei Rachmaninoff for the DaVinci Classics label. The Trio Kobalt is a member of the Dimore del Quartetto network.
IRENÈ FIORITO plays a Joseph Ceruti violin from 1848 kindly loaned by the ProCanale Foundation of Milan.
LORENZO GUIDA plays a cello attributed to the English luthier Wulme-Hudson from the late 1800s.
Irenè Fiorito
Graduated with honors and honorable mention from the Conservatory of Music S. Cecilia in Rome, she continued her studies at the Accademia Stauffer in Cremona with S. Accardo and obtained three Masters at the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland with P. Berman. She participated in prestigious masterclasses including those at the Kronberg Academy and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Awarded in numerous international competitions, including the 26th Postacchini International Violin Competition and the Rodolfo Lipizer Prize International Competition; she regularly performs in important concert halls including the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Palazzo del Quirinale and the Teatro Verdi in Trieste. She plays as a soloist with prestigious orchestras including the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana .
www.irenefiorito.com
Lorenzo Guida
He graduated at the age of sixteen with honors and honorable mention in Turin with Dario Destefano. He continued his studies with Natalia Gutman, Johannes Goritzki and Asier Polo. He attended masterclasses held by David Geringas, Mischa Maisky, Asier Polo, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Jens Peter Maintz, Thomas Demenga, Peter Bruns. Winner of national and international competitions, including the New York International Cello Competition, the Vittorio Veneto Competition, the Concurso Soncello , he performed in prestigious halls including the Carnegie Hall in New York. He plays as a soloist with prestigious orchestras including the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia , the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (OSI), Chursächsiche Philarmonie, collaborating with conductors such as José Trigueros, Arturo Tamayo, Johannes Goritzki, Marc Kissoczy, Florian Merz, his father Guido Maria Guida. He was a De Sono and Lyra Stiftung scholarship holder.
Riccardo Ronda
He studied at the Conservatory of Parma with Roberto Cappello and Francesco Guideri. He graduated with honors at the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland in the class of Anna Kravtchenko. He studied also with Leonid Margarius at the Academy of Imola and with Alberto Miodini in Parma. He won the first prize at the Giovannini Competition in Reggio Emilia and the Prix du Jeune Jury (Lausanne) at the CIML in Lausanne. He has an intense concert activity with particular attention to chamber music. He has performed in important concert institutions in Italy and abroad such as the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, the Misano Piano Festival, in duo with Roberto Cappello (Busoni Prize 1976), the Trimontiada Festival, Amici della Musica in Padua, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Hall del Lac in Lugano and others.