Volterra Project Trio
“Parole in Musica”
(“Words in Music”)
March 20, 2026 – 7:30 pm
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church – Parish Hall
22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave – Chestnut Hill – Philadelphia 19118
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“Deep use of colors and dazzling arrangements.”
— Soundboard Magazine
The Volterra Project Trio transforms three guitars into a miniature orchestra, drawing on European impressionism, Mediterranean folk melodies, and cinematic drama.
Antigoni Goni (Gr), Eleonora Perretta (It) and Maarten Vandenbemden (Be) breathe fresh life into the guitar, treating it as a miniature orchestra and exploring its unique sounds, dynamics, and colors. (Luca Isolani will welcome the birth of his first child in March 2026; the trio is joined for these performances by Eleonora Perretta.)
In 2022, the trio released “Medio Siglo”, an album dedicated to the renowned luthier Jose’ Luis Romanillos, recorded using his last four guitars. The album has been praised by Soundboard Magazine for “the deep use of colors and the dazzling arrangements”. In June 2023, the trio made its US debut at the 50th Guitar Foundation of America Convention in New York after playing extensively in Europe.
In 2025, the trio will release their second album, “Parole in Musica”. The album, distributed by NAXOS, presents the trio’s daring arrangements of classical masterpieces, ranging from orchestral music by Edvard Grieg and Maurice Ravel to Leonard Bernstein’s swinging “West Side Story.” “Parole in Musica” is an adventurous exploration of the narrative power of music and the classical guitar.
Enrique Granados (1867-1916) Valses Poéticos *
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) Scenes from Peer Gynt *
- Prelude (in the wedding garden)
- Arabian Dance
- Anitra’s Dance
- Dance of the Mountain King’s Daughter
Manos Hadjidakis (1925-1994) Our Lady of Patissia
INTERMISSION
Maurice Ravel (Fr) Ma mère l’Oye *
- Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant
- Petit Poucet
- Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes
- Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête
- Le Jardin féerique
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) Scenes from West Side Story *
- Prologue
- Mambo
- Maria
- America
- Tonight
* All arrangements by Maarten Vandenbemden except ** by Luca Isolani
Concert will be held in the Parish Hall
Doors will open at around 6:45 pm
Free seating
Antigoni Goni
Widely praised for her profound artistic sensitivity, her exquisite sound and her unique palette of colours and dynamics, the Greek guitarist Antigoni Goni is internationally acclaimed as a true ambassador of the guitar and a sought-after pedagogue.
Her international performing and recording career blossomed in the mid 90’s after winning the Guitar Foundation of America Competition. Since then she has been enjoying a busy concert career both as a soloist and chamber musician, performing regularly in concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall in London, and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Acropolis (Athens), as well as the Philharmonic and the Cappella Sale in St. Petersburg and Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in New York, to mention just a few.
Her recordings for Naxos, Koch, and Timespan records have been praised as “expressively poetic and technically exciting,” and received with great enthusiasm by the international musical community. Antigoni performs on “La Boda” by José L. Romanillos, ever since acquiring this guitar in 1989.
Eleonora Perretta
Described as a “young guitarist of extraordinary talent, ” and acclaimed for her great versatility, immaculate sound and remarkable technique, Italian guitarist Eleonora Perretta has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals. A recording artist for Naxos and Da Vinci Records, her international career continues to flourish, most recently highlighted by a concert tour across eight cities in China.
A EuroStrings Artist, she is a top-prize winner of numerous international competitions.Perretta is also an active researcher and serves as a professor assistant to Antigoni Goni at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel.
Maarten Vandenbemden
Maarten Vandenbemden grew up in a house full of guitars and began studying the instrument with his father. In 2011, he was accepted to the guitar class of Antigoni Goni at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Brussels where he obtained his masters degree in guitar and music writing summa cum laude.
He has played in a wide variety of chamber music ensembles and as a soloist throughout Belgium and abroad, from Jordan to China. Since 2016, Maarten has been actively involved in the Volterra Project, for which he and Luca lsolani have created an improvisation workshop. He regularly plays for Music Projects for Brussels, a social-cultural initiative that brings children, prison inmates and psychiatric patients in contact with classical music.
Maarten is professor of Applied Harmony for Guitarists and Instrument didactics at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and professor of guitar at KASK & Conservatorium Ghent (Belgium).
He plays a 2024 Paolo Coriani guitar.