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 70 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) 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, Marina Rei, Blaine Whittaker, Mimmo Locasciulli, Luciano Biondini, Fabrizio Bosso, Sergio Cammariere, Rodolfo Maltese, Paola Turci, Luigi Tessarollo, Ferruccio Spinetti, Mark Rush, Peppe Voltarelli, Javier Girotto, Antonio Forcione. After recording with several prestigious labels, Luca Ciarla founds Violipiano, a production company that takes care of his artistic activity at 360 degrees. He regularly collaborates with visual artist Keziat with whom he has envisioned the performance Music for your Eyes, presented also in Johannesburg under the invitation of South African artist William Kentridge. Numerous national and international media have talked about him, including la Repubblica, New York Times, Rai 1, Il Fatto Quotidiano, The Sydney Morning Herald, RadioRai 2, TGcom Mediaset, Il Giornale della Musica, RTHK Hong Kong, Neue Musikzeitung and many others. At the invitation of the Fiesole School of Music, Luca has recently performed in Florence for the Strings City Festival, in the same spaces dedicated to the retrospective on Marina Abramović at Palazzo Strozzi.
Luca Ciarla solOrkestra in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago
Luca Ciarla redraws the borders of jazz violin with a loop pedal, his voice and a wise use of electronics. He performs the entire score of his band in solo, playing the violin also like a guitar, a cello or a percussion instrument. In this imaginative musical landscape Luca sings, whistles, plays other instruments or adds new improvisations; music is continuously evolving into a dazzling solOrkestra. The program Jazz Violin 2.0 features original compositions and unusual arrangements of jazz standards. “…his post-Coltrane approach to ‘My Favorite Things’ was a clever way to twit a jazz classic…” The San Francisco Examiner (Usa)
