Debora Petrina

Singer, pianist, keyboards player and composer, Petrina is one of the revelations of Italian independent music scene, and synthesizes in a visionary style her oblique and sensual songwriting and the experimentations of avant-garde jazz-rock and electronics.

Artist at 360 degrees, she goes from a solid preparation as a classical and contemporary pianist, with several premieres and recordings in the United States, to the use of electronics and keyboards, to the composition for different kinds of ensemble, to a unique use of voice and dance.

Winner of several Italian Awards as a songwriter, Petrina has aroused the interest of David Byrne, whose webradio has hosted her songs many times, and of John Parish: they are both guests in her previous album Petrina (AlaBianca/Warner).

Composers of the like of Sylvano Bussotti, Terry Riley and Frederic Rzewski have expressed great appreciation of her as a composer and a pianist. She has also had collaborations with Elliott Sharp, Mike Sarin and Jherek Bischoff.

She has played world and European premières of pieces by Cage, Feldman, Maderna, Rota, Togni, Bussotti, and Katunda in places like the La Fenice Theatre in Venice, Mills College (Oakland) and the Conway Hall in London. She has performed her own music mainly in Europe and the U.S.

She has recorded one CD and one DVD for the US label OgreOgress with all premiere recordings (Early and Unknown Piano Pieces by Morton Feldman and Morton Feldman-Barbara Monk Feldman), and has also participated in A Call for Silence, a recording project by Nicolas Collins for the Sonic Arts Network, UK.

She is one of the four pianists of Four Pianos by Sylvano Bussotti, premiered in Italy in 2013 and subsequently published on a CD by Stradivarius.

She is also a performer in a broader sense: she has danced in international projects of such choreographers as Iris Erez and Sara Wiktorowicz, and she has choreographed herself (her solo piece She-Shoe has been featured at the International Dance Film Festival 2008 in Yokohama, Japan). She has performed at the Venice Biennale 2013. She has also composed the choreography for Morton Feldman’s Three Dances, which she performs it in the double role of pianist and dancer.

Her latest album for voice and piano, Roses of the Day (2015), has been produced by Paolo Fresu, one of Europe’s most respected jazz musicians, for his new label dedicated to voices, Tŭk Voice.

The piece which gives the title to the album, Roses of the Day, is signed by Petrina and John Cage, and the score is available from Edition Peters.

In the same album, her interpration of Only by Morton Feldman, for solo voice, has been included in Chris Villars' collection, and defined by him the best, most expressive performance: it seems to elevate the piece to something of greater significance.

• : this page contains all the articles about the artist, divided for albums

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