La Serenissima

La Serenissima is the UK’s leading exponent of Italian baroque music. Praised for its “all-too-rare ability to make one’s pulse race afresh with every new project” (Gramophone) La Serenissima is “one of Britain’s best-loved chamber orchestras” (The Telegraph). La Serenissima has uncovered a wealth of neglected repertoire, bringing it to audiences through performance, recording and outreach. From manuscript to stage, the group’s entire repertoire is edited from source material by founder and director Adrian Chandler.

Founded in 1994, La Serenissima is acclaimed for its award-winning discography, regularly featured on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and international radio, as well as in advertising (Beats, 2022) and film (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 2020). The group has won two Gramophone Awards for The French Connection (2010) and The Italian Job (2017). In 2018, Vivaldi X2 topped the UK Classical Chart, and Vivaldi’s Women attracted over a million streams in its first weeks of release.

La Serenissima performs across the UK and internationally. It gave the first UK performance of Brescianello’s opera Tisbe (2018) and the modern premiere of Caldara’s opera Lucio Papirio Dittatore (2019). The ensemble supports young instrumentalists through its Emerging Artist Chairs (launched 2020) and has created digital outreach for Key Stage 2 children with support from Arts Council England.

La Serenissima celebrated its 30th anniversary with a residency at London’s Wigmore Hall in 2024–25, alongside the release of Vivaldi’s Opus 8, including a new recording of The Four Seasons, to coincide with the 300th anniversary of its publication.

La Serenissima is proud to have as Honorary Patron His Excellency the Italian Ambassador to the UK.