Cristina Zavalloni

Born in Bologna, Italy, Cristina Zavalloni’s musical background is steeped in jazz, bel canto, and composition. She attended the Conservatorio di Musica “Giovan Battista Martini” and also studied classical and modern dance for several years. Ms. Zavalloni has appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Free Music Jazz Festival (Antwerp), Umbria Jazz, and the London Jazz Festival. She has also performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Concertgebouw, the Teatro alla Scala, the Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona), the Barbican Centre, the Auditorium Parco della Musica (Rome), Walt Disney Concert Hall, and La Biennale di Venezia. She has sung under the batons of Martyn Brabbins, Stefan Asbury, Reinbert de Leeuw, Oliver Knussen, David Robertson and Georges-Elie Octors, and performed as a soloist with the London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI (Torino), Schoenberg Ensemble, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Her repertoire today ranges from Monteverdi to Mozart, and from 20th century music (Cage, Berio, Ravel, Poulenc, Stravinsky, Milhaud, Satie, De Falla, Montsalvatge) to contemporaries including James MacMillan, Michael Nyman, Cornelis De Bondt, Paolo Castaldi, Gavin Bryars, Carlo Boccadoro, Fabrizio Cassol, Luca Mosca, and Emmanuelle Casals. In 1993, Ms. Zavalloni began a collaboration with Louis Andriessen, who wrote several works for her: Passeggiata in tram in America e return; La Passione; Inanna; Letter from Cathy; and Racconto dall’ inferno, the recording of which resulted in her being awarded a Diapason d’Or in 2008. Andriessen also composed the role of Dante in La Commedia and the title role of Anaïs Nin for Cristina Zavalloni. As a composer and a jazz bandleader, Ms. Zavalloni has conceived several programs. She is currently signed with Italian label EGEA, for which she recorded IDEA (2006) and Solidago (2009), which includes her own compositions and a selection of Charles Aznavour covers. Her new jazz album is expected to be published at the beginning of 2012.