- country:Italy
- style(s):Songwriter
- label:Mescal
- artist posted by:Mescal International
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CRISTINA DONA' - Biography
Cristina Donà is the Italian singer-songwriter hailed by critics and fans alike as the most suited to refresh the stereotype that Italian music has always suffered abroad.
As a young Arts Academy of Milan graduate in set-design, Donà started to learn acoustic guitar and write songs in the early ‘90s. In a creative outburst of intense activity, she soon started to develop into a distinctive vocalist, becoming the darling of the cutting edge music scene in Italy. Thanks to the invitation of a support slot to Italian rock star Manuel Agnelli of Afterhours, Cristina was thrust before big crowds very early on. A tall, thin, enchanting figure on stage with her acoustic guitar, singing her heart out, Donà had no trouble winning over these hordes of rapt strangers.
In 1995 Donà was selected from hundreds as one of the winners of Premio Ciampi in Tuscany, an important Italian Award focusing on new talent. The following year, Donà’s debut album Tregua (Truce) was recorded with Manuel Agnelli as producer and arranger.
Tregua was released in February 1997 and quickly found itself in the indie charts Top 5. Critical acclaim and public request then lead to a club and festival tour with Donà and her band that saw them on the road for most of ‘97.
In October of that year, Donà was awarded The Club Tenco Award (voted by a group of over a hundred major music journalists and media) in San Remo for Best Debut Album. Her enchanting performance at the awards was followed by an official invitation to play a festival in Saarbrucken, Germany.
Shortly after, legendary English singer and songwriter Robert Wyatt happened upon Donà performing at the Music Exposition in Turin where she had just received the ‘Best New Act of 1997’ award. “I hadn’t been to a rock concert for ages”, he says, “but this was really amazing”. A few months later, Wyatt quoted Tregua as one of his favourite albums of ‘97 in Mojo magazine. In the meantime, the album picked up yet another accolade in the form of Best Debut Album of 1997 in the Musica&Dischi Year’s Poll.
In the UK, Charlie Gillett (music writer, radio DJ and producer) started to play tracks from Tregua on his BBC radio show while back in Italy, Cristina was busy recording a version of Robert Wyatt’s Maryan to be released on the Wyatt tribute album “The Different You” in 1998. After more gigging and yet another prestigious Award, the Lumezia Terme Literary Award for new songwriters, Cristina started writing her second album.
In the summer of ‘99, Robert Wyatt contributed to the recording of Cristina’s signature song Goccia (included on this Cristina Donà Rykodisc release). The new album Nido (Nest) was released in November and produced again by Manuel Agnelli. The release was quickly followed by Cristina’s first book of poetry Appena Sotto Le Nuvole, published by the major italian book publisher Mondadori. The success of Nido and the accompanying live dates were followed by a trip to the UK in the summer and a video shoot for Goccia with Robert Wyatt, while Charlie Gillett included Nido track Cosi’ Cara on an EMI Emisphere World Music Compilation.
After over 80 concerts, the Nido tour ended and Cristina was nominated for yet another Italian music award (Club Tenco for the Best New Artist SIAE award) and in early 2001 while writing material for the third album, Cristina took time out to play at gigs with Ani Di Franco and Patti Smith.
In 2001, Cristina was invited to play at Robert Wyatt’s Meltdown at the Royal Festival Hall, where she was watched by the man himself from the front row, while Robert Elms at London Live started to play some of Dona’s tracks on his radio show and the Italian weekly music magazine MUSICA, ran a rave review of Dona’s live show by Cousteau producer and songwriter Davey Ray Moor.
In early 2002 RAI RADIO selected Cristina as the most representative Italian act for their prestigious festival in Groningen, Holland. Meanwhile, Cristina was preparing to record her next album with Davey Ray Moor on board as producer. The single “Nel Mio Giardino” was released to critical acclaim in February 2003, and the album, released two months later on Mescal (now with Sony), entered the Top 20 Album Charts and Number One in the Independent Album Charts in it’s first week.
With two more singles and videos under her belt (“Triathlon”, a major summer hit on MTV Italy, and the Autumn single “Invisibile”), Cristina returned to the UK late 2003 to record the vocals for the international release of her Rykodisc debut, simply titled Cristina Donà. Two of these re-recordings also appear on Davey Ray Moor’s new album “Telepathy” under the name Stellar Ray.
In 2004 Cristina is still all over MTV in Italy with “Meloria’s Ballade” (Universal Music), the flagship single taken from a musical project by legendary Italian artist Gianni Maroccolo.
For contacts/info:
Mescal International – Roberta Accettulli (international booking)
Tel./fax +39 02 474451 – Mob. +39 335 316695
e-mail roberta@mescal.it
Mescal Live – Alessandro Ceccarelli (booking in Italy)
Tel./fax +39 051 5878905 – Mob. +39 335 7169140
e-mail cecca@mescal.it