Ensemble Biography

Intesa was formed at the Royal Academy of Music by Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti, where they were Chamber Music Fellows in 2023-24. Brought together by their shared passion for the sound of the viol, its combination with the voice, the overlap between folk and baroque music, and the performance of new music on viols, their programmes are centred around the art of self-accompaniment across different genres. Intesa’s goal as an ensemble is to tell stories in their performances by cultivating their knowledge of Historical Performance practice in a contemporary context. Since their founding, they have been coached by Jonathan Manson, Margaret Faultless, Laurence Cummings, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Peter Whelan, Liz Kenny, Jacob Heringman, and Sam Stadlen. Recent performance highlights include their debut concert at Handel Hendrix House, three sold-out recitals at Fidelio Cafe in London, and a recording at the Voces8 Foundation sponsored by the Royal Academy of Music. Recently, they completed a residency at Ferrandou Musique and performed at the Vilalte Music Festival in France. In September, they performed at the Utrecht Fringe Early Music Festival in Holland and participated in the GeneraciónSMADE Early Music competition in Spain, where they won 2nd prize. In October, Intesa had their US debut at the Harold Pratt House and Peterson Hall in New York as part of an Armenian General Benevolent Union event celebrating Armenian culture, and performed at the Gotham Early Music Scene Midtown Concerts series. They are one of five winners of the Tunnell Trust Awards in 2024.

Lucine Musaelian headshot

  • Lucine Musaelian is an Armenian-American viola da gamba player, singer, and composer from New Jersey. She graduated from Yale University in 2020 with a B.A. in Music, where she was a member of the Yale Schola Cantorum, Elm City Consort, the Opera Theatre Company of Yale, the Yale Collegium Musicum, the Smithsonian Consort of Viols. In July 2022, Lucine completed her M.A. in Historical Performance at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland, where she studied viola da gamba with Paolo Pandolfo and voice with Rosa Dominguez. She continued her viol studies with Jonathan Manson at the Royal Academy of Music, where she completed a Professional Diploma in Viola da Gamba Performance as a recipient of the Enlightenment Award. Lucine is now a Royal Academy Chamber Fellow with the duo Intesa.

    Lucine has performed under the direction of celebrated conductors like René Jacobs, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Jane Glover, and John Butt. She recently performed with Jonathan Manson and Elizabeth Kenny as a part of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Night Shift series, and also with Phantasm and Dunedin Consort. Lucine is a recent member of the Idrisi Ensemble, where she plays the vielle and sings medieval repertoire. As a part of her studies, she has been writing music for the viol and voice as a part of her continued exploration of self-accompanied singing with the viol. Her music takes inspiration from both Armenian folk and early music.

Nathan Giorgetti headshot

  • Nathan is a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where he was a Christopher Hogwood Scholarship holder and specialised in historical performance on the Viola da Gamba and Baroque Cello. Since his time at the Academy, Nathan has had the pleasure of working with leading figures in the early music scene, including Philipe Herreweghe, Rachel Podger, Bjarte Eike, Michael Chance, Matthew Truscott and Pavlo Beznosiuk, as well as being accepted on the OAE’s Experience scheme. In 2022 his string trio, the Tufnell Trio, won the Nancy Nuttall Early Music Prize and was selected for the BREMF Live Scheme, as well as the Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists scheme. In 2022 he founded Intesa with Lucine Musaelien, a viola da gamba duo which has been awarded the Chamber Music Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music for 2023/24. Nathan is the founder of the Vilalte Festival, a yearly chamber music festival taking place in southern France. The festival has been running for 7 years and has put on over 30 concerts.

    Visit Nathan’s website here.