About us

ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE E MUSICALE HERMES – ETS

Accademia Filarmonica del Mediterraneo

Founded by a unique association of Apulia and Manhattan musicians, Associazione Culturale e Musicale Hermes  provides a rostrum for concerts, Master Classes, and other collaborations that inspire, celebrate, and escalate the musical horizon for international classical instrumentalists.  Accademia aspires to hone the universal appetite for  classical musical arts and promote joy

Giuseppe Monopoli

President –  Conductor

Conductor, composer and violinist, Giuseppe Monopoli graduated in Orchestral  conducting, Composition, Violin, Instrumentation for band, Choral Music and  Choir Conducting. In addition to that, he has achieved the Academic diploma of Superiors Studies of Composition to the National Academy of S. Cecilia in Rome and the Bachelor of Science in Education and Training with the highest grade. He graduated in Orchestral Conducting with the highest grade. He was born in Barletta (Italy) in 1967, and studied with leading teachers of  international renown: Franco Donatoni ( National Academy of S. Cecilia), Dinu Ghezzo (New York University), Sandro Gorli (Conservatory of Milan), Philip  Glass (International Master Gibellina), Gyorgy Ligeti (Icons), Domenico Losavio  (Conservatory “Umberto Giordano”), Remus Georgescu (Philarmonic Orchestra  Banatul of Timisoara), Peter Gülke (to the Mozarteum of Salzburg), Ennio Nicotra  (Assistant of Ilya Musin, in whose school were taught many well-known  conductors including Yury Temirkanov, Valery Gergiev, Semyon Bychcov, Rudolf  Barshai).   

He has, as a Conductor, a vast repertoire from baroque music to the latest  productions of ‘900, both the operatic repertoire and the symphonic repertoire. His  amazing technique, from the Russian School of Ilya Musin, makes him one of the  most respected of new generation conductors in the world.  

Giuseppe Monopoli has conducted and performed in major theaters of the world:  Main Hall Cairo Opera House (Cairo, Egypt), Großes Studio in Neues Mozarteum  (Salzburg, Austria), Theatre of Dora Stratou-Lofos Filopappou (Athens, Greece),  Beethoven’s Academy Hall (Moscow, Russia), Polycarp Kilisesi Hall (Izmir  Turkey), Kadesh Kammerorchester (Wien, Austria), Auditorium Berlioz (Paris, 

France), Composer Forum NY (New York, USA) Gyeongju Theatre (South  Korea), Bulgaria Concert Hall (Sofia, Bulgaria), Dvorana Niškog Simfonijskog  Orkestra (Niš, Serbia), e ancora in Canada, Argentina, Thailand, Norway.  He also performed with: Orchestra Sinfonica della Provincia di Bari (Italy),  Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein (Germany) Composer NYU forum of  New York (USA), Orchestra Sinfonica “Federico II”, Orchestra Barocca Italiana,  Orchestra da Camera “G. Curci”, Hermes Concentus Musicus, Orchestra Sinfonica  “Umberto Giordano”, Collegium Musicum Apuliae, “Nuove Sincronie”, “Nuova  Consonanza”, Accademia La Stravaganza, Città dei Sassi Opera Festival,  Musiques d’aujour d’hui (Vernon, France), Società Aquilana dei Concerti “B.  Barattelli” (L’Aquila), Nuove Sincronie (Milan), Nuova Consonanza (Rome), Rai,  NYU Composers Forum New York University (USA), University of Lodz  (Poland), Impression Orchestra (Mosow, Russia), Teatro Comunale Curci, Teatro  Umberto Giordano (Foggia), Teatro Francesco Stabile (Potenza), Philarmonic  Orchestra Banatul of Timisoara, Cairo Opera Orchestra (Cairo, Egypt), Silla  Symphony Orchestra (Gyeongju, South Korea), Sofia National Philharmonic  Orchestra and Choir (Sofia, Bulgaria), Niški Simfonijski Orkestar (Niš, Serbia) and  other. He has been the Guest Conductor at the Cairo Opera House and Principal  Conductor of Hermes Concentus Musicus, which has produced music of high  artistic in various European tour.  

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, great success has been his conduction  of “Serva Padrona” by GB Pergolesi in the historical theater of Dora Stratou-Lofos  Filopappou, Athens.  

In November 2005, he conducted the HCM in the presence of the Princes of the  House of Savoia in an acclaimed lyric-symphonic concert, while in December  2006, invited by the Italian Consulate, he performed at Polikarp Kilisesi Izmir  (Izmir, Turkey) in a concert praised by all the local and national press. In June  2007 he successfully conducted “Così fan tutte” by Mozart at the festival “La  Stravaganza”. In the same year, he conducted at the prestigious Großes Studio Hall  in the Mozarteum of Salzburg, to head of Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am  Rhein with the pianist Cordelia Hofer-Teutsch. In 2008 he conducted “The  Marriage of Figaro”at theopera festival in the Mediterranean. In November 2009  he conducted in Moscow (Russia) at the prestigious Academy Beethoven Hall, and  in January 2010 he achieved aresounding success at the Cairo Opera House  receiving the applause of the Italian Ambassador in Cairo. In October 2010, he 

made a tour in South Korea. In July 2010 to the Opera Festival in Fredrikstad in  Norway and in December 2010 he conducted the Mozart’s Coronation Mass in the  prestigious “Bulgaria Concert Hall” in Sofia with the National Philharmonic Choir  and the Sofia National Philharmonic Orchestra. In March 2011 he conducted the  Niski Simfonijski Orkestar in Serbia, obtaining a great success.  As a Composer, he is graduated with the maximum thing of the votes in  Composition with Ottavio De Lillo. Successively, he is graduated to National  Academy of S. Cecilia with Franco Donatoni. On the 1997 he results winner of the  Young selection composers under 35 announced from “Nuova Consonaza” and he  is selected between over 130 composers, from an errand composed with teachers of  international fame (E. Morricone, M. Dall’Ongaro, M. Bortolotti and others).  He also studied with the greatest composers in the world: P. Glass, D. Ghezzo,  G.Ligeti.  

As a Violinist, after the academic studies with Franco Cristofoli, the mastercourse with Mariana Sirbu in Spain and a long and important specialization with Carlo  Chiarappa ( International Academy of Lugano, International Course for Violin and  Orchestra, Forlì), he played as a soloist in various chamber formations,  collaborating with prestigious interpreters, in the more important Italian City  (Turin, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan, Genova, Palermo, Bari, Foggia, Ferrara,  Bergamo, Catania, and others) and foreign ( Swiss and Spain ). He has deepened  the study of the early music with original instruments collaborating with the more  important Italian baroque orchestras.  

He is Professor of Chamber Music at the Conservatory “N. Piccinni” in Bari, Italy.  Giuseppe Monopoli was Artistic Director of “Opera Aperta” (Honorary members:  Sylvano Bussotti, Franco Donatoni, Ivan Fedele and Sandro Gorli) and the  International Composer Competition “Domenico Guaccero” from 1998 to 1999.  The following year he organized the International Course of Composition of  “Opera Aperta” with Dinu Ghezzo and Sandro Gorli. In 2004 he founded the  Orchestra “Hermes Concentus Musicus” as Principal Conductor and Artistic  Director. In the same year he founded the ‘Symphony Orchestra Federico II” of  which he was artistic director and principal conductor until 2007. He also founded  the “International Academy of Singing in the Mediterranean” and has worked with  Di Matteo, Shawki, Kumamoto, Desderi, Segalini, Irma Capece Minutolo and  others. Subsequently, he was Artistic Director of the”International Opera Competition  in the Mediterranean” with selections in New York, recording in the first edition over 100 participants from around the world. Since 2004, he is Erasmus  Institutional Co-ordinator for projects of the European Union through projects of  cooperation with the Sibelius Academy, the Royal Conservatory of Copenhagen  (Denmark), the Royal Conservatory of Madrid (Spain), the Conservatory of  Valencia (Spain), the Academy Music State of Sofia (Bulgaria), the University of  Music in Graz (Austria), the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (Belgium) University  of Amsterdam and the Conservatory of Salamanca. He has conducted and recorded  for the CMC and has published his compositions for the house “Rugginenti Milan.  Giuseppe Monopoli is the Artistic Director of the Mediterraneo Opera Festival and  of Mediterraneo International Opera Competition. He is Guest Conductor of the  Sofia National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cairo Opera Orchestra. In 2010 he  received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement award for artistic merit from major  Freundeskreis Hoch – und Deutschmeister (Teutonic Order Federiciano Knightly),  received in audience by Pope Benedict XIII. 

Mauro Paolo Monopoli

Artistic Director

-Prize Winner at the X Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians in 2017 with  the 6th Prize. First Italian Musician Award Winner in the history of the Competition.

– Awarded with the Gold Medal of Artistic Merit of the Italian Parliament by the Italian  President, for his musical gifts and his achievements in the international music competitions. – Second Prize at the 2014 “Tournoi International de Musique de Paris” (TIM Competition).

– The only Italian musician admitted to the final stages of the International Cello Competition in  Geneva 2021 

Born in June 2000, he began studying the cello at the age of 5, obtaining the cello Master’s degree at the age of 17 at the Piccinni Conservatory of Bari, with 10/10  Magna Cum Laude (110/110 cum laude and Honorable Mention), never before  awarded to a cellist in the history of the Bari Conservatory.  

At the age of 13 he made his debut as a soloist with the Niccolò Piccinni Orchestra  of Bari Conservatory performing the Variations by Niccolò Paganini on the theme  of Rossini Moses. In August he performed in the presence of the Minister for  Cultural Heritage Massimo Bray receiving his compliments. Also in 2013 he was  admitted to the prestigious High-Level Course of the Academy of the Staufer  Foundation in Cremona with the applause of Maestro Rocco Filippini for his  musical and technical skills, for being the youngest cellist ever admitted, at just 13  years old.  

In 2014 he made his debut at Curci Theater in Barletta and in the same year he won  the First Prize and the Scholarship “Music Talents-International Association of  Lions Clubs” and the Second Prize at “Tournoi International de Musique de Paris” 

(TIM Competition). In 2015 he debuted for Camerata Musicale Barese in an acclaimed concert for cello and piano and at the Theater Forma in Bari as a soloist  in the concerto for cello and orchestra 1925 by Nino Rota.  

In 2016 he made his debut at the Giordano Theater in Foggia for “Amici della Musica” in Foggia. 

On 22 June 2016 he received the Medal from the President of the Italian  Parliament for his artistic merits in the national and international fields. In May  2017 he has performed in the Concert Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and at the  Concert Hall of the Tchaikovsky House Museum in Klin for the Tchaikovsky  Spring Festival- Tchaikovsky Competition Stars. 

In June 2017, he was an Award winner of the X Tchaikovsky International  Competition for Young Musicians. As the only Italian musician awarded in the  history of the Competition, Mauro Paolo won among over 400 candidates from all  over the world, judged by a jury composed of Sergey Roldugin, Kiril Rodin, Boris Andrianov, Laszlo Mezo, Martti Rousi, Ravil Kulmametov, Unil Jin, and Na Mula. In September 2017 he performed as a soloist, accompanied by the Moscow  Chamber Orchestra, at the 5th International Festival of Russian and Italian Culture  “Ociciornie”. In May 2018 he performed as a soloist in the 2nd Tchaikovsky International Festival in Moscow at Gnessin Concert Hall. In February 2019, he  was invited by the Sibelius Academy, he performed as a soloist at the Cellofest at  Musikkitalo Concert House in Helsinki. In October 2019 he made his debut with  the prestigious Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela in Caracas. He studied with Rocco Filipini in Cremona. In 2021 he was the only Italian cellist admitted to final phases of Geneva International Cello Competition.

Massimiliano Monopoli

Artistic Director

Born in February 2004, Massimiliano began studying piano at the age of 4 and subsequently enrolled at the Piccinni Conservatory of Bari.

In 2013, 2014 and 2015 he won the first prize and scholarships at the 6th Mirabello Piano Competition (judged by Commission President Bruno Canino), the Stravinsky piano competition and the 6th Eratai Piano competition.

Massimiliano performed at the Teatro Municipal de Sardoal, “Coimbra Piano Meeting” in 2018 in Portugal and in the same year he won the absolute first prize and the scholarship at the 6th Eratai Piano Competition.

Selected multiple times among the excellences in the auditions of the Piccinni Conservatory, in May of 2018 he performed at the Naples Piano City.

In 2019 he played for Barletta Piano Festival and in 2020 debuted in the Camerata Musicale Barese. 

He qualified for the final stages of the legendary Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition for young among over 500 participants from all over the world, the only European pianist admitted.

Massimiliano has recorded music by Listz and Moszkowski for the record company DIG Digressione Music.

As one of the first concerts of 2022 Massimiliano performed Mozart k. 414 Piano Concerto with Orchestra Filarmonica del Mediterraneo and in 2023 Beethoven no. 2 Piano Concerto with Orchestra.

He has debuted in many prestigious spaces such as the newly renovated Teatro Kursaal Santalucia in Bari, the Tchaikovsky House Museum on Tchaikovsky very own pianoforte, and the concert hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow among many others.

Massimiliano frequently gives recitals at international music festivals such as the International Tchaikovsky Arts Festival, Nuovi Orizzonti Musicali by Fabbrini in cooperation with C. Bechstein, Festival Pianistico Internazionale del Mediterraneo, Tchaikovsky International Festival, Lac de Enden, and the Livorno Music Festvial to name a few.

He is currently studying under the guidance of Maestro Alessandro Deljav

Sujari Britt

Artistic Director – Media, Outreach and Development 

Cellist and composer Sujari Britt is an accomplished performer who has engaged audiences in Asia, EU, UK, and US.  According to Britt, “The depth, range and sweetness of the cello seemed to me to resonate my own strong voice.” After years studying piano, guitar, and violin, Britt picked up the cello at age 4.  “I immediately knew that I had encountered my musical voice in the cello, and so began my journey.”

A native New Yorker, Britt began formal study of the cello at age four, following her study on the violin, and piano; and began to compose at age five. Britt earned her Professional Diploma (Cello, Composition) at the Royal Academy of Music (London) in the studio of international soloist, chamber musician and critically acclaimed recording artist Josephine Knight, and pedagogue of composition David Gorton. Sujari earned her Master’s of Classical Cello from Sibelius Academy (Finland)  with renowned cellist and pedagogue Martti Rousi; and her Bachelor’s of Music in Classical Cello Performance at Manhattan School of Music(NYC) in the studio of distinguished pedagogue, author and cellist Marion Feldman. 

At the tender age of 7 years Britt delved into composition soon after she began her public performances. Britt describes her compositions as reflective of a “state of mind…I see and feel through music, and composition is another medium for experience, expression, and exposure”.  Britt has premiered her original works, and also composes for theater, film (Opus 1, Norway) and dance. 

Outspoken for her interest in sharing the universality of music and supporting music education, Britt co-founded and serves as Artistic Director for Accademia Filarmonica del Mediterraneo (Italy); where she has taken up residence. Britt also serves in the Arts Leadership Program of From the Top (USA).

Britt has played with a wide range of artists, including Alisa Weilerstein, Sting, Kronos Quartet, and others, and  has served in the NY Philharmonic (substitute) (USA), Helsinki Chamber Orchestra (EU), Orchestre de Associacao Cultural Inovarte (EU), and New York Chamber Orchestra (USA), among others. Britt has been a featured artist at Musiikkitalo, Cellofest Opening Gala, and Taidepiste events in Helisinki, FinlandSujari was featured in the annual Beijing Super Cello Festival (Beijing, China). Britt spoke and presented at C2 Montreal  for  “Transformative Collisions” and was featured in Canada’s Neopolitan Connection Concert Series (Montreal and Toronto, Canada). 

Among her exploits in USA, Sujari performed with Alisa Weilerstein at the White House for President Obama, the First Lady, and their distinguished guests.  Britt has performed as soloist with West Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra,  Rogue V alley Symphony Orchestra , Queens Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra , Chicago SinfoniettaLas Cruces Symphony Orchestra Adrian Symphony Orchestra , among others. 

Britt is a repeat soloist at Carnegie Hall, and has been featured for recurrent performances at the UN for their international HeforShe , and for their annual World Humanitarian Day.  Britt  was a special guest performer at The MET (NYC), The Gracie Theatre (Maine),  the Harman Arts Center (Washington, DC), at Midori and Friends Children’s Music Festival; and was a featured artist for the Shakespeare Company’s annual gala honoring Elizabeth McGovern at the Harman Arts Center;  presented at Madison Square Garden during quarter time for the NY Knicks, and has made special guest solo performances for Gary Historic and Cultural Society and the Miami Bach Society, among her numerous presentations.

Featured on national news stories at an early age, Britt has been spotlighted in Strings and Time magazines, Britt was featured on BBC live radio, Strings Magazine, and was StayThirsty Spotlight Artist to watch! Sujari also was featured in an on-line THKR/RadicalMedia PRODIGIES, a TIME for Kids/Time Magazine article, Ebony.com and a segment of Katie! with Katie Couric. Sujari was featured at TEDx-Redmond of TED Talks, and was featured as one of NBC TheGrio’s “100 History Makers in the Making.” 

Britt won the National Young Musicians Concerto Competition and  is the distinguished recipient of prestigious academic scholarships and awards, and grand prize winner of numerous national and international competitions.

Britt plays a Neuner and Hornsteiner cello made in Mittenwald, Germany circa 1718, generously loaned to her by the Carlsen Cello Foundation.

Antonella Piscitelli

Orchestral Manager

Antonella Piscitelli, graduated in Musical Disciplines with full marks and honors.
Graduated in Violin, Chamber Music, Didattic of Musica and Singing, she perfected herself with illustrious teachers including, Rossi, Vernikov, Berinskaja, Bogdanovic. Selected after an audition of Uto Ughi among the best graduate students of the Italian Conservatories, she participated in his masterclass and in the final concert with the maestro, for the Festival “Uto Ughi per Roma.
From a very young age she embarked on a brilliant concert career both as a solo violin with the Orchestra, and in various chamber ensembles: in duo with the piano, in string trio and with the piano, in duo and trio with the basso continuo having deepened the study of historically informed
Baroque and Classical practice on original instruments.
As a solo Violinist with the Orchestra she played the Concerti by composers of the Baroque and Classical period, Vivaldi, Mozart, Locatelli and Haydn, for prestigious Concert Associations in Italy and abroad, the 3rd and 5th Mozart concerts in Korea of the South, Piazzolla’s Seasons at Teatro Piccinni in Bari and Vivaldi’s Seasons in Moscow.

She also played Arvo Part’s Tabula Rasa for two violins and orchestra.
She has performed in the most important Theaters and Concert Halls in Europe (Austria, Germany, Portugal, Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Norway, Spain, Switzerland) and overseas (Japan, Mexico, South America, Russia, South Korea).
Among the most important Concert Institutions and Festivals we mention: Teatro alla Scala, Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Unione Musicale di Torino, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Teatro Regio di Torino, Amici della Musica di Firenze, Camerata musicale Barese, Ravenna Festival, Festival Galuppi in Venezia, Teatro Piccinni in Bari, Teatro Curci in Barletta, Teatro F. Stabile in Potenza, Teatro delle Muse in Ancona, Teatro Rossini in Pesaro, Festival di musica da Camera di Genova e Savona, Cidim, Amici della Musica F. Fenaroli in Lanciano, Teatro Rossini in Gioia del Colle, Amici della Musica di Foggia, Teatro Petruzzelli, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Festival della Valle d’ Itria, Cite de la Musique in Parigi, Herkel Theatre in Budapest, Lisinski Hall in Zagabria, Palaise de la Musique et des Congres in Strasburgo, Auditorio de Barcellona in Spagna, Pavilhao Atlantic in Lisbona, Conservatorio Reale in Bruxelles, Festival di Montreaux in, Switzerland Universitaskirche in Wien, Saarbrucker Kammermusiktage in Germany.
Among the overseas theaters: Teatro Colon di Buenos Aires in Argentina, Teatro Ateneo di Buenos Aires, Teatro Municipal di Santiago in Cile, Sala S. Paolo in Brasile, Teatro Pedro II di Riberao  Preto in Brasile, Teatro Ateneo in Argentina, Teatro de la Ciudad di Città del Messico, Festival E. Mata in Messico, Amigos de la musica de Cuernavaca in Messico, Teatro Coliseo di Buenos Aires in Argentina, Sala Balzo di Montevideo in Uruguay, Teatro El Circulo di Rosario in Argentina, and in the most important Theaters of Japan including Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Nakano Zero Hall, Hokkaido Koseinenkin Kaikan in Sapporo, Chigasaki Shimin Bunka Kaikan, Tokorozawa Muse, Ina Bunka Kaikan, Fukuoka Acros Symphony Hall, Kobe Kaikan, Hiroshima Koseinenkin Kaikan, Nagoya Aichi Prefectural Art Theatre. She has collaborated with important symphony orchestras including: Orchestra Toscanini, Orchestra Cantelli, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, Orchestra Sinfonica Pescarese, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Orchestra U. Giordano, Orchestra N. Piccinni, Orchestra Federico II, Orchestra Giovanile Pugliese.
Antonella Piscitelli, has deepened the study of historically informed performance practice, and parallel to her academic studies she has begun to collaborate with the most prestigious Italian Baroque Ensembles such as Accademia Bizantina, Accademia Montis Regalis, Cappella di San Lorenzo, Cappella Palatina, Confraternita de’ Musici, Academia de li Musici, la Lira di Anphione. In many concerts she has played the trio sonatas by Corelli, Vivaldi and Migali and played the first execution in modern times of the complete quartets of the Apulian composer Gaetano Latilla, as well as world premieres of the chamber, symphonic and operatic repertoire of the eighteenth century with ensemble and specialized orchestras, including the Opera “Cecchina” by the Pugliese composer Piccinni in collaboration with the Teatro alla Scala.
During his concert activity she has collaborated with the greatest conductors and musicians
including: Mazeel, Ughi, Bashmet, Renzetti, Wilson, Dantone, Palumbo, Kuhn, Benini, Aprea, Bellugi, Gelmetti, Luisi, Rozhdestvensky, Jurowski, Kozena, Antonacci, Verrett, Desderi, Segalini, Brunello, Filippini and others.
She has recorded for the record labels Opus 111, Nova et Antiqua, Phoenix record, Agorà, Radio Vaticana, Velut luna, Bongiovanni. She taught Violin and Chamber Music in italian conservatories and currently holds the chair of Violin at the N. Piccinni Conservatory in Bari.

©2022 by ACCADEMIA INTERNAZIONALE – ORCHESTRA FILARMONICA DEL MEDITERRANEO.