The cello and piano duo of Sergio Patria and Elena Ballario, active since 1987 with continuous activity, has led them to perform on the stages of the main Italian and European concert seasons not only with classical repertoires but also interpreting original unpublished compositions or transcriptions specially written by Elena Ballario and performed exclusively by the duo, a partnership not only in music but also in life.

Sergio Patria, a leading name in the international cellist scene both in concert and teaching, made his debut as a soloist with the Orchestra della Radio Svizzera Italiana conducted by Otmar Nussio at the age of sixteen. He graduated with honours from the Conservatory of Alessandria with E.Roveda, subsequently perfecting his technique with A.Navarra at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, A.Baldovino at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and G.Selmi. For several years, he held the position of first cello soloist in the Bogotá Symphony Orchestra. He then collaborated with the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome and as first cello at the Stadttheater in Lucerne, where he was subsequently invited to be a member of the prestigious orchestra of the InternationalenMusikfestwochen Luzern for several years. In 1974, he won the “Migros” prize (Zurich) for chamber music. He has taught cello at the Conservatory of San Cristobal (Venezuela), at the Conservatory of the Colombian National University, at the Conservatory and Municipal School of Lucerne, at the Conservatory of Alessandria, at the Saluzzo School of Higher Education, at the orchestral training courses in Lanciano and at the professional training courses run by the I.R.Fo.P. Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia. From 1977 to 2007, he taught at the Turin Conservatory, where he held the position of first cello at the Teatro Regio from 1974 to June 1999. In 2002, he again taught courses at the Saluzzo APM School of Advanced Music. A connoisseur and popularizer of the Alexander Technique, he was among the first in Italy, along with Konrad Klemm, to have attended the lessons of Noam Rennen (Alexander’s disciple), one of the first teachers of the Alexander Technique in the world. As a performer of concertos for cello and orchestra, he has played under important conductors, including: Y.Ahronovitch (Orch. Teatro Regio – Schumann concert), R.Chailly (Orch. Teatro Regio – Hindemith – Kammermusik), T.Costin (Dvorak), S.Caduff (Elgar concert), E.H.Beer (Haydn C major) M.Horvat (Sinigaglia – Romanza and Humoresque), S. Lorant (Dvorak), B.Martinotti (Orch. Teatro Regio – Beethoven Triple Concerto), A.Peiretti (Rhapsody for cello and orch.), F.Zigante (Dvorak Concerto), C.Villaret (Orch. Di Stato del Kazakistan Ciaikowsky Rococo Variations), M.Szmolji (conc. Saint Saens) etc.As a soloist and chamber musician in various ensembles and chamber groups, including the Italian Chamber Orchestra, Antidogma Musica, Camerata Casella, and the Baroque Ensemble in Lucerne, of which he was also the founder (Trio Ghedini), he has performed and continues to perform in Italy and abroad. He has performed in the following European countries and around the world in major concert halls: Romania, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Slovenia, Albania, England, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, China, Colombia, Venezuela, the USA, etc. Since 1988, he has been playing in a duo with pianist and wife Elena Ballario, with whom he has expanded the formation to a trio with violinist Franco Mezzena. He has worked with fellow international instrumentalists and recognised theatre actors such as Ugo Pagliai, Nando Gazzolo, Pamela Villoresi and Paola Gassman, with whom he has developed music and poetry projects. Recordings: Brilliant Classics 2018 with the Mezzena/Patria/Ballario trio made the recording of the complete trios of Ermanno Wolf Ferrari. Dynamic 2019 trio op.50 by P.I. Cjaikowsky and trio no.1 by S. Rachmaninov . Odradek Records the Trios op.99 and op.100 by Franz Schubert. Tactus: an important revaluation project in collaboration with pianist Elena Ballario, of the unpublished repertoire of the Piedmontese composer Carlo Rossaro, preserved in the Library of the Turin Conservatory through the performance and recording of the chamber music works including the Sonata for cello and piano by Carlo Rossaro. The double CD was brilliantly reviewed by the relevant magazines. In 2024, the recording production for Brilliant dedicated to the chamber music of Alberic Magnard.

Elena Ballario, from Biella, dedicated herself to studying the violin and composition at the same time as her piano studies. She specialised with Maria Golia, Malcom Frager and Pier Narciso Masi. Awarded prizes at national and international piano competitions and winner of scholarships from the Gioventù Musicale Italiana. Collaborating pianist in competitions for string instruments and several master classes at the Accademia Perosi in Biella. She has obtained qualification in ministerial competitions for titles and examinations for teaching Principal Piano, Complementary Piano, Chamber Music and Piano Accompanist. A tenured teacher since 1995, he has been teaching Piano Practice and Reading at First Sight at the Conservatory of Turin since 2007. He began his concert career in 1980, presenting himself to the public as soloist, soloist with orchestra and his interest in chamber music has allowed him to be part of numerous ensembles of various backgrounds and to acquire a vast chamber music repertoire. Her concert activity has seen her perform in Italy and Europe in prestigious halls as a guest of important concert seasons. Since 1988 she has been playing in a duo with cellist and consort Sergio Patria, with whom she has extended her formation to a trio with Franco Mezzena. Since 2000, in parallel with her concert activity, she has undertaken the activity of composing, at first devoting herself to transcribing and elaborating for various instrumental and vocal groups, orchestral pieces, piano pieces and pieces for voice and piano from various epochs, creating monographic programmes dedicated to Rossini, Verdi, operetta, fables in music and opera performed by the Nuovo Insieme Strumentale Italiano, of which she is the pianist, and with the collaboration of prestigious performers. Following her first transcriptions, she produced original works for solo piano, cello and piano, for trio, for string quintet and string orchestra. The fable “Pinocchio” musical comedy with original music performed by the ensemble with Lorenzo Branchetti “Il Milo Cotogno della Melevisione” as narrator, in addition to performances at many concert festivals in Italy, was a guest performer for three consecutive years in the Education season at the Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia in Rome in the Petrassi and Santa Cecilia halls of the Parco della Musica. The Fable CD is distributed in music bookshops in Italy. The Nuovo Insieme Strumentale Italiano has recorded three CDs of his original works and transcriptions. His compositions have been included in the repertoire by various soloists and ensembles and performed regularly in Italy and abroad. He has realised, taking care of the arrangement and transcription of the musical part, several programmes of music and poetry and text and music, performed throughout Italy with renowned actors such as Ugo Pagliai, Paola Gassman and Pamela Villoresi. He is also active as a test composer for teaching purposes, and has published for the Volontè publishing house in Milan the method of Scales and Arpeggios with a Theoretical Introduction for Music Conservatories. Also in the teaching field, he conducts Reading at First Sight seminars, an area for which he has developed an in-depth methodology. In 2016, he undertook the project of re-evaluating the unpublished repertoire of the Piedmontese composer Carlo Rossaro (Crescentino 1827-Turin 1878) by organising a conference entitled ‘Carlo Rossaro the Wagnerian of Turin’ at the Conservatory of Turin; in collaboration with the association ‘A due voci’ of Como and the Conservatory of Turin, he promoted the project “Nietzsche: the music of Turin’ (the philosopher was literally enchanted by listening to Rossaro’s pieces during his stay in Turin in 1888). Numerous performances of Rossaro’s pieces for popular purposes have been and still are included in various concert programmes. For the record company Tactus, he made the recording of the chamber and vocal chamber works in the catalogue from 2019. The double CD has been brilliantly reviewed by trade magazines. The project currently continues with the revaluation of Carlo Rossaro’s vast piano repertoire. For Brilliant Classics with the Mezzena/Patria/Ballario trio, he made the recording of the complete trios by Ermanno Wolf Ferrari, for Dynamic the recording of P.I. Cjaikowsky’s trio op.50 and S. Rachmaninov’s trio no.1 by S. Rachmaninov in the catalogue from 2019, for the Odradek Records label a CD with Franz Schubert’s Trios op.99 and op.100 is in the catalogue and a CD with music for violin and piano by Franck, Debussy, Schmit with Franco Mezzena brilliantly reviewed by BBC Magazine. In 2024, the recording production for Brilliant dedicated to the chamber music of Alberic Magnard. He collaborates with the Raiterimusica publishing house on the revision of rare piano works by composers from the northern Italian area of the 19th and 20th centuries.