Italian conductor and violinist Federico Guglielmo was born in Padua in 1968. He began studying the violin with his father and later graduated in the class of Giuliano Carmignola at the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice. He later refined his training through numerous masterclasses in violin, chamber music, and orchestral conducting with distinguished musicians including Salvatore Accardo, Vladimir Spivakov, Isaac Stern, the Beaux Arts Trio, the Trio di Trieste, the Amadeus Quartet, the Quartetto Italiano, the La Salle Quartet and Gianluigi Gelmetti.
A prizewinner in several international violin and chamber music competitions, he gained international recognition after winning First Prize at the 1991 Vittorio Gui International Competition in Florence.
Encouraged by Christopher Hogwood, Guglielmo developed a deep interest in the historically informed performance practice, performing on baroque and classical violins. He has appeared both as soloist and conductor with leading period instruments ensembles such as The Academy of Ancient Music (London), The Handel and Haydn Society (Boston), the Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música (Porto) and The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (Sydney). Among the most significant “hip” experiences are the solo performances of the Beethoven Violin Concerto conducted by Christopher Hogwood, the complete Bach Violin Concertos with Gustav Leonhardt, the first European performance in modern times of the Franz Clement’s Violin Concerto with Reinhard Goebel and various Italian virtuoso violin concertos under Sigiswald Kuijken.
He has also conducted many symphonic and operatic institutions, including the New Japan Philharmonic (Tokyo), the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence), the Orquestra Filarmonica de Gran Canaria (Las Palmas), the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (Antwerp), the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo (Palermo), the Orchestra del Teatro Verdi (Trieste), the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto. the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali (Milan), etc.
In 1994, he founded L’Arte dell’Arco, an ensemble dedicated to Venetian music of the 17th and 18th centuries, with which he has gained international acclaim for rediscovering and recording rare repertoire.
Among his most distinguished achievements is the award of the prestigious Premio Abbiati (2024) for Best Italian Musical Initiative, received for the modern world première of Pigmalione by Ristori—an important rediscovery that further confirmed his role as a leading interpreter and scholar of Baroque repertoire.
Guglielmo has conducted several Baroque operas, including Paisiello’s La Daunia Felice, Domenico Scarlatti’s La Dirindina, Vivaldi’s first opera Ottone in Villa at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, and Piccinni’s Il finto turco, also in Vicenza. Since 2017 he collaborated wolrdwide al guest soloist/conductor with the period-instrument ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro,
He has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Musikverein (Vienna), Wigmore Hall (London), the Società del Quartetto (Milan), the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), the Auditorio Nacional (Madrid), the Herkulessaal (Munich), Carnegie Hall (New York), Suntory Hall, Tokyo Opera City and Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo), Izumi Hall and Symphony Hall (Osaka), and the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires).
His extensive discography has received numerous awards and widespread critical acclaim. Federico Guglielmo is widely praised for his “sparkling virtuosity,” his “brilliant and engaging interpretations,” and his remarkable stylistic versatility.