ZAVALLONI Cristina, Radar Band
La donna di cristallo

SCA 157

8015948001578
Egea
Italia

 

At the beginning of 2011, I happened to think how great it would be to work with Cristina Zavalloni. We were about to record a cd for Egea with Radar Band, the group I have been coordinating for two years now, made up of some of the most interesting Italian musicians around. It was the perfect occasion to try to cut her in. Meeting an artist like Cristina seemed very inspiring, because of her unusual skills both as vocalist and as composer: in fact, the idea was to work on a CD based on her own original songs. We spoke a lot, she agreed to join the project, we decided how to proceed and when we finally got going, pages and pages of music started pouring in. […] Once we dispelled a certain mutual wariness, we started choosing directions to take and patterns to avoid, to quoting previous works of ours and coming up with names of composers and improvisers we could steal ideas from. During the following encounters, Cristina proved to be the person I thought she was: a caring musician, willing to get constant inspiration from each member of the band. That how I like to work: I love to be part of a team of people who try to find their own sound, for whom exchanging ideas becomes the final goal. I love it when music becomes a conduit to a utopian society, consisting of curious human beings. (Cristiano Arcelli)


At the beginning of 2011, I happened to think how great it would be to work with Cristina Zavalloni. We were about to record a cd for Egea with Radar Band, the group I have been coordinating for two years now, made up of some of the most interesting Italian musicians around. It was the perfect occasion to try to cut her in. Meeting an artist like Cristina seemed very inspiring, because of her unusual skills both as vocalist and as composer: in fact, the idea was to work on a CD based on her own original songs. We spoke a lot, she agreed to join the project, we decided how to proceed and when we finally got going, pages and pages of music started pouring in. […] Once we dispelled a certain mutual wariness, we started choosing directions to take and patterns to avoid, to quoting previous works of ours and coming up with names of composers and improvisers we could steal ideas from. During the following encounters, Cristina proved to be the person I thought she was: a caring musician, willing to get constant inspiration from each member of the band. That how I like to work: I love to be part of a team of people who try to find their own sound, for whom exchanging ideas becomes the final goal. I love it when music becomes a conduit to a utopian society, consisting of curious human beings. (Cristiano Arcelli)

Cristina Zavalloni was born in Bologna, Italy. With a strong background in jazz, she expanded her studies in bel canto and in composition at the G.B. Martini Conservatory in Bologna. She also studied classical and modern dance for several years. Her multidimensional skills enable her to perform both jazz and classical music. She has sung under the baton of Martyn Brabbins, Stefan Asbury, Reinbert De Leeuw, Oliver Knussen, David Robertson, Jurjen Hempel, among others. She has soloed with ensemble such as London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Schoenberg Ensemble and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Zavalloni started in 1993 a collaboration with Louis Andriessen, who wrote several works for her. She has also collaborated with composers Michael Nyman, Cornelis De Bondt, Gavin Bryars, a.o. Her repertoire includes 20th century chamber music, Mozart and baroque music. A composer and jazz bandleader herself, Cristina Zavalloni has conceived several programs. At present she collaborates with Italian label EGEA for which she has recorded IDEA (2006) and Solidago (2009), including some of her new compositions and a selection of Charles Aznavour’s covers, in quartet.