Cappella Semifonti
The ensemble Cappella Semifonti is a project dedicated to medieval music, born within the Centro di Ricerca Musicale Etruria Barocca, which since 2012 has focused on the research, transcription, and performance on period instruments of unpublished and lesser-known works from the Tuscan and broader European musical repertoire.
The ensemble is made up of young professionals specialized in historically informed performance practice, who have appeared at prestigious festivals across Europe, Asia, and the United States. In 2023, under the direction of Dimitri Betti, it performed L’Orfeo by C. Monteverdi for the 600th anniversary of the birth of Agnolo Poliziano, in collaboration with the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano. In 2022, in collaboration with I Musici del Gran Principe, it prepared a transcription of Ercole in Tebe by J. Melani, performed at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence after nearly four centuries since its premiere.
The ensemble has performed at the Florence Dance Festival, the Da Vinci Baroque Festival with countertenor Filippo Mineccia, the InCanto Armonico Festival in Sarzana, at the ISSM “R. Franci” in Siena, the concert season of the Amici della Musica of Viareggio-Versilia, the music series of the Scuola Sant’Anna in Pisa, and the Florentine series “In Caelestes Thesauros.”
Commissioned for original works, the Centro has been featured at the InNova Forma Festival in Florence and presented the world premiere of Si Dice in Italia by L. Siegel. In 2024, it provided the music for the 350th anniversary of the death of Giorgio Vasari in collaboration with the Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo.
In 2020 and 2021, L’Incoronazione di Poppea and L’Orfeo by C. Monteverdi were released by Bongiovanni, recorded in collaboration with Ensemble San Felice and La Pifarescha.
Anna Chiara Mugnai | voice
Michele Fracasso | voice
Cesare Pierozzi | bombard
Debora Tempestini | voice and percussion
Giordano Betti | percussion
Dimitri Betti | organetto and musical direction