Edoardo Tomaselli
It’s a question of choice. If one has money, he can decide to use it to buy a home, or something else that money makes possible. The most whimsical ones will aim to purchase a Ferrari; otherwise, one can decide to give birth to an orchestra, and actually support it in its path. And all of this in a country like Italy, where private citizens that decide to invest in a patronage project have no fiscal facilitations at all. There is a fundamental element we should not ignore: patronage means making things real, means seeing how a project becomes a concrete reality, capable of growing over time.
For all these reasons Mario Martinoli gave birth, in 2012 in Rovereto, to Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra. The orchestra is composed of a group of musicians under 30 from all over Europe and it is devoted to Classic repertoire; it has not an unique conductor, it has its own concert season, and organizes a serie of workshop in which musicians are waged. Only thanks to patronage. «The idea behind Theresia is actually the result of different ideas, and it is a crisis time solution… » as Martinoli explains. Mario Martinoli is an harpsichordist and an editor that has been working for years in the TV field. «The crisis didn’t spare even Trentino: despite the undertaking of the local institutions, it has become difficult, if not impossible, to plan cultural activities well in advance. During the last year I’ve seen many activities weaken and get thinner, while everywhere orchestras shut down. It’s the crisis of the public financing system, and of the private citizens world too. I did not care to buy a house, even less a sport car, and I preferred to invest my resources to give life to this orchestra.»
Patronage as the result of a choice, as a value in itself: beside Martinoli, other two private citizens support the project. They are an italian living abroad, who asks to stay anonymous, and the business woman Elena Gaboardi. «Patronage means making oneself available, without a feedback is due. In a project like this, bound to something unsubstantial like music is, one’s support allows the growth of an enterprise as alive as an orchestra can be», Martinoli says. Often the tutors themselves contribute unselfishly committing in the orchestra growing. Among the many names, Chiara Banchini’s one stands out: «In 2011 Chiara had decided to retire: but when she knew about our project she decided to get back in game, and as a conductor too. In the meantime we are programming next steps, till 2017, with many projects: one of them is devoted to Rameau, one other to german composer Joseph Martin Kraus». In 2015 Theresia – whose name is a tribute to Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, who revolutionized the Habsburg Empire on the basis of Enlightnment – has a rich calendar of concerts: in May they performed in Lodi, Rome and L’Aquila (with Claudio Astronio as conductor), on 21st August it will be in Toblach and in 22nd in Bozen (with Chiara Banchini); other concerts are scheduled till the end of November in many italian cities that decided to support the Theresia-project.
