chiara stanghellini

Singer and music scholar from Bologna, Italy, began studying piano in her teens under the guidance of Annamaria Preda. She has studied voice technique with the prestigious Gianni Rimondi, Elda Cervo, Elda Fiorini, Candace Smith, Luana Pellegrineschi, Irene Robbins, and Giovanna Giovannini. Between 1973 and 1982 Chiara Stanghellini frequently performed with several bands, most notably the Canzoniere delle Lame of Bologna. With the Canzoniere delle Lame she toured both domestically and internationally and recorded a score of records. She performed with the international artists Miriam Makeba, Mercedes Sosa, Sara González, Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Harry Belafonte, Peter Gabriel, Mikis Theodorakis, Oktoberklub, and the Inti-Illimani. During the 80s and 90s, she sang solo in folk music concerts with the guitarist Paolo Mattotti and with the ensembles Calicantus (directed by Federico Salce), Vocali Consonanti, and Collegium Musicum (directed by David Winton). Stanghellini has recorded several soundtracks, including Pedro Elías’ documentary Pietra di Luna and ’Na specie de cadavere lunghissimo, a film directed by Giuseppe Bertolucci (2005). In 1992, with composer and guitarist Arturo Fornasari, she co-founded the bossa nova group Vaivém. She also performed bossa nova themes with Nelson Machado and the band WaWa with Barbara Giorgi and Monica Dardi. Stanghellini anchored and conducted the background research for Italian TV channel RAI musical productions Locandina , Locandina TV, and Muse Inquietanti. During the period between 1994 and 1996 she was one of the six female a cappella voices of the band Vocinblù, directed by Luisa Cottifogli. The band participated in several music festivals, including RAI’s TAXI. , directed by Lucio Dalla, during which Stanghellini sang with Bishop Milingo on the track Gubudu gubudu. Also with Vocinblù she sang the original soundtrack of the world premiere of William Shakespeare’s La Tempesta with the Compagnia Glauco Mauri, and she was one of the female voices in the Macramè. recording project of by Ivano Fossati. Between 2004 and 2006, Stanghellini sang solo with the choir Arcanto in Musiche di Scena by Giovanna Marini (Aeschylus’s Oresteia, Euripides’ Trojans, and Pasolini’s I Türcs tal Friul), directed by Giovanna Giovannini. She was also soloist and director of the folk music choir in Le Ceneri di Gramsci by Giovanna Marini and Pier Paolo Pasolini (directed by Giovanna Giovannini); the recording of the performance is entitled Le Ceneri di Gramsci – Oratorio a più voci (Block Nota). Chiara Stanghellini addressed the IX Centenario dell’Università di Bologna, discussing music history. She has also presented seminars to high school students on popular music and the teaching of foreign languages with the use of song. Her most recent project is a 2007 collaboration with the Latin American group Entre Aguas with Cecilia Squicciarini, Manu Napolitano, and David Sarnelli. Currently, Stanghellini is preparing a concert based on popular musical tradition with accordion player Salvatore Panu. Chiara Stanghellini's voice has the dark tones and strength ideally suited to interpret the Mediterranean tradition. Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg wrote of Stanghellini’s appearance on a televised special for the International Women’s Day, "... Chiara is a wonderful singer, her face and voice are unforgettable. She sings in a way that is never artificial, never overbearing, and she shows a great natural talent..." (Corriere della Sera, March 9, 1977).