Evangelina Mascardi (born Maria Evangelina Mascardi, April 11, 1977, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) comes from a family of Ligurian-Italian descent. She trained first as a classical guitarist in Argentina before moving to Europe in 1997 to study lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, earning her soloist diploma in 2001. For roughly two decades she worked as a continuo player alongside Jordi Savall, Andrea Marcon, Giovanni Antonini and Simon Rattle, appearing on more than thirty recordings, before turning her focus toward solo lute and theorbo repertoire. She has taught lute at the Conservatorio Antonio Vivaldi in Alessandria, Italy, since 2010 and now lives in Orte, Italy.

Mascardi has become one of the most recorded solo lutenists of her generation, releasing acclaimed cycles devoted to J.S. Bach’s complete lute works and Sylvius Leopold Weiss, plus a landmark album of the little-known theorbo solos of Bellerofonte Castaldi that helped restore neglected repertoire to circulation. Her shift from in-demand continuo specialist to soloist has widened the audience for unaccompanied lute music, while her teaching post in Alessandria and role on the Italian Lute Society’s board extend her influence to a new generation of players.

Sources:

• https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Mascardi-Evangelina.htm
• http://www.evangelinamascardi.com/index.php/en/biography