OUR PHILANTHROPIC VISION
We emphasize the importance of philanthropy in our society, creating and supporting projects for young people to improve their skills in music, arts and humanities.
The engagement of our economic benefits to create direct social value shows philanthropy as a powerful instrument to build a better and more inclusive society.
In our view, philanthropy is an open, connected and dynamic process, not limited to our own initiatives, but actively promoting the creation of a new cultural development model involving citizens, companies, organisations and society at large.
Our challenge is to increase the engagement base of individuals in philanthropic schemes that support cultural excellence.
«We create new culture where there was none before»
Mario Martinoli
Theresia Orchestra
Music, youth and passion.
Theresia is a unique cultural and artistic project at European level.
Named after the Austrian empress Maria Theresia, the orchestra was founded in 2012 at the instigation of a group of patrons. It brings together musicians under the age of 28 who specialise in historically informed performance practice at the leading European music institutions, accompanying them on their journey into professional life.
The orchestra meets several times during the year for residency periods under the guidance of internationally renowned artists and star-system conductors. It performs at prestigious venues, theatres and festivals throughout Europe. In parallel, the project offers its participants a tailormade capacity building programme to enable the acquisition of new fundamental professional assets and skills.
Theresia also includes an Ambassadorship Programme to disseminate classical music and its historic interpretation among new and young audiences in several European countries, fostering integration and dialogue between cultures: the orchestra’s musicians come from more than 40 different countries from all over the world, holding residencies and concerts throughout Europe
Theresia has recently started a long-term collaboration with the German CD-label CPO for the publication of several CDs including works by Kraus, Eichner, Cimarosa, Traetta, Witt, Rossini and many others.
In 2022, Theresia entered the group of the leading European youth orchestras co-funded by the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme, alongside EUYO (European Union Youth Orchestra) and a few other talent development orchestral projects.
A member of the European Early Music Network (REMA) and the European Mozartways (Cultural Route of the Council of Europe), Theresia is currently supported and managed by ICONS and by the European Commission through the project EMPOWER funded by the Creative Europe Programme.
European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO)
Inspiring, experiencing, promoting the baroque music.
The European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) was founded in 1985 in Britain as a major initiative of the European Year of Music to celebrate the 300th anniversary of three great Baroque musicians: Bach, Scarlatti and Haendel.
The ensemble was born as a training initiative to enable young performers of Baroque music from the European Union to gain orchestral experience as part of their career development, including also further education, performing concerts on international tours and participation in recordings. The aim was to bridge the gap between conservatoire studies and a professional career. Since its inception, more than 600 musicians have performed over 900 concerts in 54 countries worldwide.
Following Brexit, the activities of the European Union Baroque Orchestra have been suspended since January 2019. ICONS, in full agreement with the historical founders and latest managers, set about the resumption of the orchestra’s activities in late 2022. EUBO thus became an important part of the philanthropic activities of ICONS.
The relaunch of EUBO is made in full continuity with its previous artistic values and organizational strategies, maintaining as much as possible the model adopted by the orchestra in the past. Similarly to Theresia Orchestra, EUBO meets several times a year for artistic residencies lasting about a week and concluded by short concert tours.
The artistic direction has been entrusted to Mario Martinoli, who is also the founder and artistic director of Theresia Orchestra.
