Founded in 2018, UnderStories focuses on exploring the rise of the cello as a solo instrument, and especially the repertoire for two concertante cellos in the 18th century. The ensemble, initially consisting of two cellos and a harpsichord, decided to add an arpa doppia and a violone to enrich the sound of the group.

Another big part of the ensemble’s activity is to treat Baroque music as liberally as it was done within the period itself, where arranging, changing instrumentations in order to shed a different light on seemingly familiar repertoire was the order of the day.

Therefore, the use of two piccolo cellos appeared as an evidence. The sound and tuning of the instrument make the transcription of violin music especially idiomatic and hopefully bring the public to discover a repertoire that they might have not known in another context.

Born from the encounter at the Hochschule fur Musik in Frankfurt of Clara Pouvreau and Bartolomeo Dandolo Marchesi, both winners at the Bach Competition in Leipzig, the five members of UnderStories have studied at the most prestigious schools in Europe: the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, the Basel Schola Cantorum, the Mozarteum Salzburg, the City Conservatory of Paris and the Civica Scuola di musica Claudio Abbado di Milano.

Laureates of numerous international competitions they have had the chance to work individually with artists such as Ton Koopman, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Kristin von der Goltz, Beatrice Martin, Petra Mullejeans, Paolo Pandolfo, Catherine Jones, Mara Galassi and Amandine Beyer among others.

They have appeared in festivals such as the Utrecht Oude Musiek Festival, The Ambronay Festival, MA Bruges Festival and collaborated with ensembles like the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and the Freiburger Barockorchester.

In June 2019, they were awarded with the Audience Prize at the Early Music Competition Val de Loire in France.

They were part of the IYAP 2021 presentation for young talented ensembles and performed at the AMUZ festival.

In July 2022 they win the EUBO Development Trust Prize for the most promising ensemble specializing in baroque repertoire in the York Early Music Competition. In the same year Rai Radio 3 broadcasts a segment entirely dedicated to the group on the program "La Stanza della Musica."

Cellist Bartolomeo Dandolo Marchesi, born in Milano, is co-founder and musical director of VERITÀ BAROQUE and cellist of the ALINDE Quartett.

He is a member of the Orchestra of the 18th Century and the co-founder of UnderStories Ensemble.

​Bartolomeo plays a 1727 cello made by Carlo Antonio Testore in Milano, generously lent by the Jumpstart Jr. Foundation.

He has appeared as a soloist with various orchestras, most notably the Westdeutsche Rundfunk Funkhausorchester. As a chamber musician, he has appeared internationally across Europe and Asia with musicians such as Kristian Bezuidenhout, Giovanni Sollima, Ariadne Daskalakis, Daniel Johannsen, Beatrice Martin as well as on the German (WDR), English (BBC), Austrian (Ö1) and Italian national radio (Radio3).

He is first prize winner of numerous competitions, including the Cellissima Competition, the International Competition of San Bartolomeo, and the Vittorio Veneto International Competition, in addition to garnering the second prize at the Saarbrücken International Early Music Competition. In 2022 he won with the UnderStories Ensemble the Prize for the "most promising young artist”, awarded by EUBO, in the York Early Music Competition.

Festival appearances have included Utrecht Early Music Festival, York Early Music Festival, Kyoto International Music Festival, Fringe, the Cusiano Early Music Festival in Orta, Göttingen International Händel Festival, “Bachwochen” in Ansbach, “Tage Alter Musik” in Herne and the Chopin Festival in Warsaw.

He has attended masterclasses with renowned teachers, such as Enrico Bronzi, Xenia Jankovic, Frans Helmerson, Enrico Dindo, Roel Dieltiens, Chiara Banchini, Susanne Scholtz, Ryo Terakado, Mario Brunello, Kathi Gohl, Giuliano Carmignola, Alfredo Bernardini, Wieland Kuijken, Alessandro Moccia and Petra Müllejans.

His primary influences have included Nicolas Altstaedt and Antonio Mosca, as well as Kristin von der Goltz, Catherine Jones, Rainer Zipperling, and Gaetano Nasillo on Baroque cello.