The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington DC, in collaboration with the DC Jazz Festival, invite you to attend the concert Jazz Violin 2.0, presenting Luca Ciarla.
Italian musician Luca Ciarla redraws the borders of jazz violin with a loop pedal, his voice and electronics. One by one, he performs live all the roles, playing his instrument like a guitar, a bass, or a percussion, unfolding new improvisations and virtuoso passages. In this imaginative landscape Luca sings, whistles, plays other little instruments; music is continuously evolving into an astonishing solo jazz band!
Jazz Violin 2.0 features unusual arrangements of jazz standards and original compositions.
A creative and surprising violinist, Luca Ciarla easily transcends the boundaries among genres to trace an innovative musical path, a magical acoustic seduction in perfect balance between written compositions and improvisation, traditional and contemporary sounds. He has successfully performed in jazz, classical and world music festivals and concert series in almost 50 countries in the world; from Montreal Jazz Festival to the Hong Kong Performing Arts Centre, from Celtic Connections in Scotland to the Villa-Lobos Festival in Rio de Janeiro, from Melbourne Jazz Festival to the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Italy. “…one of the most interesting violinists nowadays on the international scene, capable of browsing around different sounds and genres without ever losing his unmistakable style.” la Repubblica (Italy)
ADDRESS
Embassy of Italy – Auditorium
3000 Whitehaven St, NW
Washington, DC 20008
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
DOORS OPEN AT 6:30PM AND CLOSE AT 7:25PM
LUCA CIARLA – BIOGRAPHY
A native of Termoli, Italy, Luca began playing violin and piano at the age of eight. By twelve he was studying at the conservatory and few years later began exploring jazz and improvisation. He received his violin degree in 1993 and then studied at the Fiesole School of Music and the Scuola di Alto perfezionamento of Saluzzo. In 1996 Luca moved to the United States to pursue a master’s at the Indiana University and to study jazz with David Baker. Subsequently he also completed a doctorate in musical arts at the University of Arizona where he taught violin for few years. Winner of several competitions in Italy and abroad, in 1999 he was awarded by the prestigious New York-based Chamber Music America. Over the years Luca Ciarla has worked with artists such as Greg Cohen, Chris Jarrett, Daniele Sepe, Joshua Bell, Edgar Mayer, Daniele Scannapieco, Danilo Rea, Sylvain Gagnon, Anthony Fernandes, Luciano Berio, Andrea Piccioni, Meklit Hadero, Simone Zanchini, Lello Pareti, Marco Siniscalco, Marina Rei, Blaine Whittaker, Mimmo Locasciulli, Luciano Biondini, Fabrizio Bosso, Sergio Cammariere, Rodolfo Maltese, Paola Turci, Luigi Tessarollo, Ferruccio Spinetti. After recording with several prestigious labels, Luca Ciarla founds Violipiano, a production company that takes care of his artistic activity at 360 degrees. Since 2012 he enjoys giving master classes on creative string playing. Recently he has released his latest album, ViolinAir, launched in Rome at the Auditorium Parco della Musica and at Repubblica TV program Webnotte.
MORE INFO: HERE
SELECTED PRESS:
“…one of the most interesting violinists nowadays on the international scene, capable of browsing around different sounds and genres without ever losing his unmistakable style.” la Repubblica (Italy)
“Held in the gorgeous bandshell of Mears Park downtown, [the Twin Cities Jazz Festival] includes…the international, freewheeling talents of Joshua Redman [and the Bad Plus], Delfeayo Marsalis, Francisco Mela & Cuban Safari, Araya Orta Latin Jazz Quartet and the Luca Ciarla Quartet.” The New York Times (Usa)
“Fundamentally defining the band is Ciarla’s swooping, soaring, laughing, crying, lyrical violin, which can swap between childlike elation and grown-up intensity, bar by bar.” John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
“Luca Ciarla has wooed the classical, jazz and folk crowds with his originality” Cover Magazine (Hong Kong)
“Luca Ciarla is an artist from Molise with a cosmopolite soul. Around the strings of his violin his gypsy touch blends with jazz, classical and folk sonorities, creating fun and funny restless music. Informal and casual, easily transcends the boundaries among genres to trace an innovative musical path.” Vera Lisi, Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy)
“Playing in ‘real time’ against one or more repeated samples provides an approach to ‘music with repetitive structures’ (the phrase that Philip Glass prefers to the less-informative word ‘minimalism’) that can be achieved by a soloist whose technical skills extend to the demands of the sampler. It also requires cultivating a skill for identifying the samples that should be captured and using them to their most imaginative advantage. В Luca Ciarla is a soloist with those skills.” Stephen Smoliar, The San Francisco Examiner (Usa)
“If you want to label him you could say that he is a jazz musician, but his composite music education and his denial of mainstream jazz, make him much, and fortunately, unclassifiable.”Ciro De Rosa, Blogfoolk (Italy)
“The evening was enriched by the presence of Luca Ciarla, virtuoso violinist from Termoli, invited by Daniele Sepe to join the band for the latest songs in the lineup. An ‘improvisation’ which merged with the exciting rhythms offered by the band.” Primonumero (Italy)
“With the support of a loop machine and his violin, Luca Ciarla bares his soul and the possibilities of the instrument, creating a contemporary work of other times. From the interpretation of the Lucignolo theme to the traditional Bella Ciao played in folk-jazz style, there is no mere technical show off but a steady balance between lightness and refinement.”Francesca Grispello, Ferro & Tabacco (Italy)
“The music of the Luca Ciarla Quartet cannot be labeled. It is neither jazz or classical, contemporary or folk. It contains elements of all these styles and even more, but the most prominent characteristic is imaginative power. It is music with color and feeling. Music without limits.” Elretha Britz, Volksblad (South Africa)
“Attenzione! Meet the Italian violinist Luca Ciarla. His quartet brought us into a new horizon where contemporary jazz, classical and ethnic ambiences blended in magic. As he often surprised his audiences everywhere he went, this time he did it once again at the Java Jazz Festival 2011. Grazie per la bella musica, Luca!” Jazzuality (Indonesia)