Marcella Carboni

Harpist, composer, improviser and teacher. Marcella Carboni's contemporary jazz consists of pure sound and electronics, writing and improvisation.

Beyond the traditional educational steps, such as the degree in classical harp, the additional academic degree in jazz and the study of composition, it is above all the artistic collaboration that marks her path. Well-known names of the European jazz scene, such as Bruno Tommaso, Rosario Giuliani and Enrico Intra, wanted to work with her and often composed specifically for her instrument or entrusted her with some of their own works, as did the jazz giant Enrico Pieranunzi.

While she was influenced by mainstream jazz on one hand, collaborations with Butch Morris, Anthony Braxton's Sonic Genome and Franco Ferguson's collective improvisation laboratory shaped her soul as a radical improviser on the other. Her electroacoustic harp is often the focus of events on television, radio and the Internet.

Live and on record she has been part of various ensembles, from duos to orchestras. Her longest-running projects include duos with female singers (one with Francesca Corrias and the other with Elisabetta Antonini) and collaborations with harmonica player Max De Aloe and saxophonist Simone Alessandrini. Her latest release under her own name is "MIRADAS" with Paolino Dalla Porta on double bass and Stefano Bagnoli on drums. The entire album is a tribute to the music of Enrico Pieranunzi. This special project also includes the virtuoso and poetic clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi as a guest.

Marcella Carboni, who has been at the forefront of the fight for the integration of the harp as a full-fledged instrument into the jazz scene for more than a decade, is intensively involved in didactic and promotional activities. She introduces the jazz harp to the conservatories of southern and central Europe as well as to the Italian harp schools. Her teaching activities culminated in 2018 with the publication of a musical manual "JAZZ HARP - A Practical Method" at the US-based Vanderbilt Music Company, which specializes in music for harp.