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Luca Ciarla is one of the most unique and innovative emerging artists presenting solo recitals today. A violinist, pianist and composer, Luca draws together various musical styles, traditions and sounds, creating an attractive mix of virtuoso violin, jazz piano, originals and improvisation. His concerts have been acclaimed by audiences in Mexico, Europe and throughout the United States.
A native of Termoli, Italy, Luca began playing violin and piano at the age of 8 - by age 12 he was studying classical music at the conservatory and exploring jazz on his own. He received the Diploma di Violino in 1993, and then studied violin and chamber music at the European Community's Music School of Saluzzo. In 1996 Luca moved to the United States to pursue a Master's degree in violin performance at Indiana University, where he also studied improvisation with David Baker.
Currently a violin teacher at the University of Arizona, Luca acknowledges Mark Rush and Antonio Salvatore as his violin mentors, and Michael Lucas, Jeff Haskell and David Baker as important influences in jazz and piano.
The winner of a variety of significant competitions and awards in Italy and the United States, Luca has also received, in collaboration with pianists Sean Schulze, the prestigious Chamber Music America 1999/2000 Residency Program Award.
His first solo CD, "sister classical & brother jazz" has been released in August 2000 by the Italian label Bajka Music (Rome).
"Magical interpretation. . . (he) is totally engaged with the instruments. . . "
El Imparcial (Mexico)
"Original mix. . .his music takes you on an emotional musical journey."
La Provincia (Italy)
"Today Safford, tomorrow Carnegie Hall. . ."
James Reel, Tucson Weekly
". . . Ciarla delivers intense emotions with his violin and piano . . ."
Fiammetta Facchini, Sorabarocco Festival (Italy)
"…passionate?giving soul to the strings?enormous capacity for jazz improvisation on piano?quot;
Nuovo Molise (Italy)
"…one of the most recognized and eclectic Italian artists. . . very original concert for (both) repertoire and versatility. . ."
Ciociaria Oggi (Italy)
". . . I have had the opportunity to hear some of his performances. I constantly admire his virtuosity and fine musicianship . . ."
Franco Gulli, Concert Violinist
Luca Ciarla's first solo CD, sister classical and brother jazz, has been released in August 2000 by the Italian label Bajka Music.
Reviews
Tucson Weekly
October 12, 2000
James Reel
IF LUCA CIARLA gets tired of music, he can go into family mediation services. His new CD, Sister Classical & Brother Jazz, tries to reconcile two related members of the musical family that often seem to have little in common. He does it with the help not only of his primary, classical instrument, the violin, but also with his surreptitious jazz love, the piano. Ciarla switches from one instrument to the other, gradually blurring the differences between genres without forcing one style to conform to the other's routines.
Ciarla, who moved to the U.S. from his native Italy in 1996, obtained a master's degree in violin performance at Indiana University, one of the great American schools for classical musicians. While there, he also studied jazz with David Baker. Ciarla came to the UA in 1998 to work on his doctorate, and the music on this CD echoes a UA recital he gave last June.
His intention with this program, he writes, is to create "a dimension where Mozart, Charlie Parker, Bach and Keith Jarrett are just part of the same family." Ciarla largely succeeds, but his most interesting work is on the violin. That's where he takes on greater technical challenges, whether he's playing a straight classical piece or one of his own crossover compositions.
The violin solos include a Spanish Rhapsody by one J. Vanecek, which could pass for something by the better-known Spanish firebrand Pablo Sarasate; the lyrical Meditation from Jules Massenet's Thaïs; and J.S. Bach's equally songful Air with Ciarla simultaneously playing both the melody and the stately accompaniment. Ciarla's own violin compositions are hyperactive, ostinato-driven and technically challenging, and should intrigue partisans of either the classical or jazz camp.
Ciarla's piano work, on the other hand, is generally much more subdued. There may be a touch of Jarrett here, but more often Ciarla's keyboard work shares the atmospheric dreaminess of George Winston. The exception is the album closer, "SOULe Mio" (it's a bilingual pun), which gets down and dirty--like the inebriated end of a family reunion.
Tucson Citizen
October 12, 2000
Daniel Buckley
Most of us would settle for being a world-class player on any one instrument. Italian-born University of Arizona graduate student Luca Ciarla could make a serious career for himself as either a pianist or a violinist. And as he proves on his first solo release, "sister classical & brother jazz," Ciarla is as adept in the jazz world as he is in the realm of the classics.
The 10-track CD spans the classics from both worlds (Massenet's "Meditation" from "Thais"; J.S. Bach's Air From Orchestral Suite No. 3, arranged by Ciarla; "Over the Rainbow" and "Someday My Prince Will Come," for example) plus several originals and some worthwhile neglected literature.
Ciarla starts the disc in impressive fashion with a virtuosic unaccompanied violin piece - the previously unrecorded "Spanish Rhapsody" of J. Vanecek. Technically demanding, the piece shows of Ciarla's fluency and control, his command of double stops (the simultaneous sounding of multiple strings), his instinctive, Gypsy-tinged manner with rubato (rhythmic elasticity) as well as his wit and personality.
He switches to unaccompanied piano for the jazz standards, displaying a wistful, nostalgic and lyrical touch melody in the introduction to "Someday My Prince Will Come" before settling into charming, softly swinging variations of great invention. His command of the broad sweep of the jazz tradition is plain both on that cut, the walking blues bass line and whistling-carried "All of Me," and his lushly introspective account of "Over the Rainbow." Throughout the jazz group, one is impressed by Ciarla's ability to turn simple melodies into moving emotional excursions.
But the most amazing track on the disc is Ciarla's own "Valley Fever" - a witty mix of folk fiddling, perpetual motion classical gestures and multiple sound production techniques (simultaneous bowing and plucking of the strings, for example) that showcases both his daunting technical command of his instrument and his musical personality. Followed immediately by a luminous, voicelike account of Massenet's "'Meditation" from "Thais," the two in tandem leave no doubt that Ciarla is a player to be reckoned with.
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