The fourth season of the Concerti dei Serviti will kick off on June 6, 2026, in Mendrisio with a performance of great music for solo violin. The program will open with violinist Ilya Gringolts , considered one of the most authoritative performers on the international contemporary scene.
The performance is scheduled for 8:30 pm in the Church of San Giovanni and will offer a musical journey through the German Baroque repertoire, focusing on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Johann Georg Pisendel.
The festival, conceived and produced by the Mendrisio Department of Culture, Events, and Sport , will continue its flat-rate fee of CHF 30 for 2026, a move aimed at keeping the city's cultural offerings accessible to a broad and diverse audience. The initiative is supported by Banca Raiffeisen Mendrisio e Valle di Muggio and a media partnership with RSI.
A program dedicated to the baroque violin
The opening concert will be built around some of the most significant pieces of the 18th-century violin repertoire. The program includes Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonata in G minor, BWV 1001 , and the Partita in D minor, BWV 1004 , alongside the Sonata in A minor by Johann Georg Pisendel, a German violinist and composer who was a contemporary of Bach and a key figure in the Dresden School.
The juxtaposition of Bach and Pisendel will highlight different stylistic and interpretative approaches of the Baroque period, while at the same time enhancing the soloistic dimension of the instrument.
An interpreter between virtuosity and philological research
Born in St. Petersburg, Ilya Gringolts established himself on the international scene at a very young age. After studying at the Juilliard School in New York with Itzhak Perlman , he won the Paganini Prize in 1998, launching a career that has led him to collaborate with some of the world's leading orchestras.
Over the years, he has worked with ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements include collaborations with the Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
The 2025/26 season also sees him perform with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to his solo work, Gringolts frequently conducts violin ensembles, including Camerata Bern and Ensemble Resonanz. His repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary music, with a particular focus on historically informed performance practice and the use of period instruments in composers such as Leclair, Locatelli, Paganini, and Mendelssohn.
An internationally awarded discography
The Russian violinist also boasts a rich recording output, released by labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, BIS, and Hyperion. Among his best-known recordings are Paganini's 24 Caprices and Stravinsky's complete violin works, a recording that won the Diapason d'Or award. Several of his releases have also received awards from the specialist magazine Gramophone.
First violinist of the Gringolts Quartet, the artist is a regular guest at major concert halls and international festivals, from Salzburg to Lucerne, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. He currently teaches at the Zurich University of the Arts and plays a 1718 Stradivarius violin.
Tickets and reservations
Limited seating: advance reservations are recommended.
Tickets can be purchased online via the prenota.mendrisio.ch platform or by contacting the Mendrisio Art Museum at +41 58 688 33 50 or by email at museo@mendrisio.ch.
