Ilaria Polese was born in Padova, Italy, in 2003. She is currently studying for a Bachelor’s degree in viola at the “Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin” in the class of Florian Peelman. Growing up in a music-loving and pluricultural family, she started violin lessons at the age of 7 and continued at the age of 10 with the viola. Continued with the viola at the age of 10. From the very beginning she showed great interest, motivation and learning speed in music, which led her to graduate from the Cesare Pollini Music Conservatory in Padova, where she completed her viola studies in 2023 under the direction of Fabrizio Scalabrin with top marks and honours. She has participated in several viola masterclasses in Italy and abroad, including in Austria with Thomas Riebl, in Italy with Alfredo Zamarra, Daniel Formentelli and other orchestral masterclasses, including in Italy, in Vicenza, with Leon Spierer in 2020 and 2022 and Carlos Spierer in 2023.

She took part in concerts with the orchestra ‘Le Concert Olympique’ under the direction of Jan Cayers, which took place in Germany and Belgium in halls such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. From 2018 to 2023, she took part in concerts at the Festival di Musica Sull’acqua in Colico (LC) as part of the MACH orchestra project organized by the violinist Francesco Senese under the direction of the conductor Diego Matheuz and with the violist Simone Briatore, as well as at the Lucerne Festival. She was invited to perform chamber music concerts at the Festival di Musica Sull’acqua in Colico (LC) this year 2025. She has participated in several national and international competitions and won various prizes, including 1st prize at the Concorso Musicale Nazionale Città di Belluno, 1st prize at the Concorso internazionale Giovani Musicisti ‘Antonio Salieri’ in Legnago and 1st prize overall at the Concorso musicale di Treviso ‘Incontriamoci tra le note’. From 2018 to 2021 she played in the baroque orchestra ‘Società Musicale’ under the direction of Carlos Gubert and until 2024 she works with the Chamber Orchestra of Venice and in productions in various ensembles, including the ‘Ensemble di Viole’ of the Conservatory of Padova under the direction of Fabrizio Scalabrin. In addition to classical music, she is also interested in and plays Latin American music with her father, due to her Argentinian roots.