The Opalio-Ducrot duo was formed in Basel in 2015 after co-founding the Opalio Quintet, a group consisting of five musicians from five different countries. In 2019, they won the 1st prize at the HSM Duo-Wettbewerb in Basel, surpassing 30 other duo groups. They have been simultaneously pursuing their careers as a duo and quintet, winning awards in international competitions such as the Ysaye International Competition in Belgium, the International Chamber Music Competition in Pinerolo, Italy, the Credit Suisse Jeune Solistes Competition in Switzerland, the International Bacewicz Chamber Music Competition in Poland, and the Orpheus Competition in Bern.

 

As a duo, they have performed successful tours in Switzerland, France, Italy, and Ireland. In 2019, they were invited by Sir András Schiff to perform at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn.

 

As pianist and first violin of the Opalio Piano Quintet, they have performed at the Engadin Festival, Swiss Chamber Music Festival - Adelboden, Musikdorf Ernen, Basel Altstadtserenaden, Art Dialogue Festival, Mezzano Romantica in Italy, Music for Galway, and Sportlight Chamber Music Series in Ireland, among many others. They were invited to the Davos Festival for two consecutive years. The Opalio Piano Quintet was welcomed as an aspiring ensemble at the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) and received guidance from renowned masters such as Reiner Schmidt, Claudio Martinez Mehner, Anton Kernjak, Silvia Simionescu, Raphael Oleg, Jan Schultsz, Ferenc Rados, Gabor Takacs, and Denes Varjon.

 

As enthusiasts of contemporary music, they have commissioned and premiered various new music works, such as Stephanie Haensler's "Auf tritt und schritt" for piano quintet and Aram Hovhanisyan's "Inter(re)actions" for piano trio. They aspire to continue to contribute to the growth of new musical repertoire for duo, trio, quartet, and piano quintet.

 

Chiara Opalio and Eoin Ducrot are assistants in instrument and chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. 

In 2022, they founded the Vittorio Veneto Chamber Music Festival to which they invite world class musicians to perform a series of mixed chamber music concerts and events.