Cultural entrepreneur. Sole administrator, president and founder of Le Dimore del Quartetto, and president of Comitato AMUR. After many years of experience in Communication (McCann Erickson, B&B Communications), since 2003 Francesca Moncada has been supporting educational and cultural nonprofit organizations, such as Società del Quartetto di Milano, Fondazione per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e Artistiche della Chiesa, Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto, Associazione Amici della Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, Mission Laique Francaise and French school in Florence. She is counselor of Europa Nostra, Gioventù Musicale d’Italia, Associazione Piero Farulli and Associazione Diamo il La. 

Francesca Moncada has ideated and is co-creator of the project MUSA – European young MUsicians soft Skills Alliance.

Management professor at Bocconi University in Milan, researcher at ASK Research Center of Bocconi University, visiting professor at IMT in Lucca. Her interests are focused on sustainability conditions of cultural organizations and on territorial policies for culture. She coordinates the cross-party group ASviS “Cultura per lo sviluppo sostenibile” (Culture for sustainable development). She is the author of numerous publications.

As coordinator for the partner ASK Research Center of Bocconi University, within the project MUSA she is in charge of the monitoring and evaluation plan and she has coordinated the release of the Handbook for higher training programs in cultural entrepreneurship for young musicians and the Research on the educational and social values of European cultural heritage as economic and employment driver. 

Paul Dujardin is a leading figure in Europe’s civil society. Former CEO of the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (BOZAR) from 2002 to 2021, he is now in charge of the artistic planning of the bicentennial commemorations of the Kingdom of Belgium in 2030, and of the renovation, rebuilding and conservation of the Cinquantenaire-Jubelpark Site, home to Federal Museums and Conservation & Sciences Institutes, with the aim of making it become a European Campus for Culture and Science. He is also president of Europa Nostra Belgium. Providing long standing expertise at the intersection of policy making, societal stakes and the arts, he has worked in close collaboration with top scientists, artists and politicians and with civil society.

Born into an international family and having lived in both Istanbul and Vienna, Yasmin Hilberdink has developed a broad knowledge and passion for classical music. In Vienna she was the artistic director of the Schloss Grafenegg festival. In Amsterdam, where she moved to in 2002, she has been director of KAM (Chamber Music Society of Amsterdam) organizing chamber music concerts in the Concertgebouw for more than 10 years. In 2016 she founded the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam. She is artistic director of this biennial string quartet festival and the projects which are inspired by the mission of this initiative.

An experienced businessman and passionate about cultural heritage, Alfonso Pallavicini was elected as the president of the European Historic Houses Association in 2018. After a long career in Investment Banking, he left BNP Paribas CIB as Head of Europe and then moved into Private Equity to Belgium, where he co-managed a private investment company. He is now a Senior Advisor for a listed private investment company in Luxemburg and serves on several boards as non-executive director. With Italian and Hungarian origins, he was born in Italy, raised in Austria and spent his professional life in France, Belgium and Germany.

Owner of the Castle of Grand-Bigard in Dilbeek (Belgium), for 40 years he has worked in the musical recording industry and has managed the production, manufacturing and distribution of phonographic records in Belgium, Netherlands and France.

After the recording industry was deeply transformed by the digitalisation, together with his wife, he has dedicated himself to the conservation, restoration and business activities of the family house of Grand-Bigard. Built in the XVII century, the Castle was bought in 1902 by Raymond Pelgrims de Bigard, grandfather of Xavier, who dedicated 30 years of his life to restore it. A remarkable example of Flemish-Renaissance architecture, from 1940 the Castle of Grand-Bigard is a protected monument thanks to its historical and architectural values.

Secretary General for Europa Nostra, she works closely with EU institutions, Council of Europe, UN, UNESCO, numerous international, European, national, regional and local governmental and non-governmental bodies on heritage matters. She is a regular speaker at European conferences and meetings on cultural heritage and is author of numerous publications on Europe and cultural heritage.

BELINFANTE QUARTET

Fiona graduated in violin at the Royal College of Music of London and at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She is the second violin of the Belinfante Quartet and has performed internationally at such venues as the Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Pau Marquès i Oleo held his Bachelor and Master degrees at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona with professor Amparo Lacruz, and at the Utrecht Conservatory with Timora Rosler, with a scholarship of Pedro I Pons Foundation. He is a founding member of the Belinfante Quartet.

Born in 1973 in Milan, he graduated in medieval and modern art history. For several years he carried out different activities as a critic and curator of contemporary art and applied arts exhibitions. Since 2006 he is curator and head of the jury of the international Arte Laguna Prize. From 2013 to 2018 he was director of IED Venice. From 2018 to 2022 he moved to Tuscany where he headed the IED in Florence. In 2022 he assumed the position of Global head of arts and restoration department for the IED group and president of Academy of Fine Arts “Aldo Galli” in Como. Since 2019 he is an ambassador of Italian design and he is a member of ICOM.