A violin wizard on stage in Addis

Italian born violin wizard Luca Ciarla held a performance on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 at the Italian Cultural Institute G. Verdi Auditorium.
The globally recognized musician owned the stage with his fiddle and a few toy instruments. Step by step, with a loop pedal he performed all the parts live, playing the violin like a guitar, a cello or a percussion instrument. In this imaginative landscape Ciarla sang, whistled, played other little instruments and added new virtuoso passages; music is continuously evolving into a dazzling sol orchestra.
His performance in Addis featured unusual arrangements of traditional Italian folk tunes, music from the Mediterranean area and original compositions. “…a magical acoustic seduction where everybody can find familiar influences…from genuine folk to sophisticated jazz.” As it has been said about experiencing his shows.
“Luca Ciarla has wooed the classical, jazz and folk crowds with his originality.” Publications such as Cover Magazine from Hong Kong have said.
“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. Luca Ciarla is a soloist with those skills.” Stephen Smoliar, from The San Francisco Examiner, USA, says.
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 more than fifty 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 of Italy, has stated.
A native of Termoli, Italy, Ciarla 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 Ciarla moved to the United States to pursue a Masters Degree at 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 a 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, and Mark Rush.
After recording with several prestigious labels, Luca Ciarla founded Violipiano, a production company that takes care of his artistic activity at 360 degrees. Since 2012 he has provided a 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.