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“Inês d’Avena’s playing is spectacularly good.”
(MusicWeb International, 2015)
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Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1983, recorder player Inês d'Avena (Inês de Avena Braga) has been highly praised for her finesse, virtuosity and unique timbre. In the last 10 years, Inês has chosen to specialize in the research and performance of Neapolitan Baroque music. She has also been passionately working on the revival of forgotten Italian Baroque recorders, commissioning copies and premiering the instruments in concerts and recordings.
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Inês was the winner of the II International Competition Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli, and the year after, her duo LOTUS with Claudio Ribeiro won the second prize at the prestigious Premio Bonporti. Inês was also an award winner at the International Van Wassenaer Competition 2016 as a member of New Collegium (previously known as COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Den Haag, second prize ex aequo). She performs regularly as soloist and in chamber and orchestral formations throughout Europe, Asia and her native Brazil. Inês has recorded CDs for the labels ORF Edition Alte Musik, Passacaille and Channel Classics, as well as independent releases and live radio broadcasts.
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In 2011, Inês founded the ensemble La Cicala, which is dedicated entirely to the research and performance of the uncharted Neapolitan Baroque repertoire. La Cicala’s debut CD, "Dolce Napoli: sonate & concerti per flauto" was released in February 2015 (PAS, 1007), and was quickly followed by a second CD of world-premiere recordings – “Naples 1759”, released in October 2015 (PAS, 1013). Both CDs have been reviewed very positively by the international specialist press. Inês is also a member of ensembles LOTUS, Schifanoia, and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and a co-founding member of COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Den Haag.
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Inês studied with Reine-Marie Verhagen and Sébastien Marq, and received ensemble coaching from many renowned teachers at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague (Wilbert Hazelzet, Jacques Ogg, Peter Van Heyghen, Jill Feldman among others), graduating in 2007 after obtaining Bachelor’s, Master’s and Teaching diplomas. Inês has been teaching the recorder privately since 2005; since 2012 she is a Research Supervisor for the Master's Program of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and since 2017 a Guest Teacher at the same institution. Inês was a reviewer for Early Music America Magazine and has had articles published at the prestigious Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, Music + Practice, Blokfluitist and Recercare.
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Inês holds a PhD in Music awarded in July 2015 by Leiden University, NL - one of the partner universities of the practice-led DocArtes Doctoral Programme in the Musical Arts based at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent, BE. Between October 2015 and January 2016 Inês was a resident researcher at the Cini Foundation/Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi in Venice, working on the article “Recorders for Vivaldi: Baroque recorders for the instrumental music of Vivaldi”, thanks to a 'Vilma & Olivo Andreazza' scholarship.
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