Florencia Menconi | mezzosopran
Florencia Menconi is an Argentinean mezzosoprano based in Basel. Her specialisation in early repertoire began with the career of Early Music at the Conservatorio de Música Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires. In 2013 she moved to Europe to continue her studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. There he completed a Bachelor's and Master's degree (Master of Arts in Musical Performance - Early Music, Renaissance-Romantic / Voice) with Rosa Dominguez. She also received important impulses from Margreet Honig and Ulrich Messthaler. Currently, Florencia is being coached by Camila Toro.
Parallel to her intensive exploration of the music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Florencia has regular engagements in the field of romantic and contemporary music, both as a soloist and as an ensemble singer. Her artistic flexibility as an interpreter has been demonstrated, for example, in the world premiere of the role of Medea in "Das goldene Vlies" - conducted and composed by Nikolaus Matthes (2016) - and in her participation in the award-winning theatre production "Requiem for a Piece of Meat" - conducted and produced by Daniel Hellman, in co-production between Novantik Projekt Basel and 3art3 Company.
On the stage was Florencia seen in the role of L'Enfant ("L'Enfant et les sortilèges", M. Ravel) with Opera Joven (dir.: Marta Blanco), as Osmida ("Didone abbandonata" by N. Jommelli) with Musica Fiorita (dir.: Daniela Dolci) in Theater Basel, as well as in various productions and concerts as Sorceress and 2nd Witch ("Dido and Aeneas", H. Purcell), Speranza ("L'Orfeo" by C. Monteverdi) and Aristeo ("Orfeo" by L. Rossi). She sang as a soloist
in various oratorios, including Monteverdi's "Vespro della Beata Vergine", in "Leçons de ténèbres" by F. Couperin, in "Stabat Mater" by G. B. Pergolesi, in "Stabat Mater" by A. Vivaldi, in C. Ph. E. Bach's "Magnificat", the "Missa Brevis in C" by W. A. Mozart and in the "Oratorio de Noël" by C. Saint-Saëns.
Florencia collaborates regularly with ensembles such as La Cetra Vokalensemble & Barockorchester Basel (dir.: Andrea Marcon), Música Temprana (dir.: Adrian van der Spoel), Bernvocal (dir.: Fritz Krämer), La Grande Chapelle (dir.: Albert Recasens), Basler Madrigalisten (dir.: Raphael Immoos), Seconda Pratica (dir.: Jonatan Alvarado and Nuno Atalaia Rodrigues) and is co-founder member of Da Tempera Velha (ensemble dedicated to late-medieval / early-renaissance hispanic music). She has sung at some of the most important early music festivals in Europe, including the Festival d'Ambronay (FR), the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht (NL), Festtage für Alte Musik Basel and Forum Alte Musik Zürich (CH), Festival Internacional de Arte Sacro, Festival de Música Antigua de Sevilla, Festival de Música Antiga dels Pirineus (ES) and Tage Alter Musik Regensburg (DE).
She is co-founder and artistic director of "I Discordanti", an ensemble specializing in the interpretation of 17th century Italian music, with a focus on the cantatas by Luigi Rossi.
As a member of Domus Artis (dir.: Breno Quinderé), a vocal ensemble specialising in 16th century music, Florencia has participated in seminars and workshops with Dominique Visse and Kate Van Orden at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini (Venice - org.: Pedro Memelsdorff). The ensemble collaborates with Johannes Keller in the project "Studio31", a research initiative with the aim of reconstructing a historical arciorgano conceived by Nicola Vicentino (1511-1576/77). As part of this project, a cd with chromatic madrigals by Michelangelo Rossi is released in autumn 2020 by Glossa.
Future projects on Florencia’s agenda include her participation in a production of A. Scarlatti’s "Il Trionfo dell'Onore" (dir.: Giorgio Paronuzzi) playing the role of Rosina Caruccia. She will also be heard in concerts with Graindelavoix (dir.: Björn Schmelzer) and Amsterdam Baroque Choir (dir.: Ton Koopman), as well as in the next cd-recording of the ensemble Seconda Pratica of Josquin's "Missa Mater Patris et Filia" under the guidance of Dr. Rebecca Stewart.