Floraleda Sacchi

Described by music critics as an artist of exceptional musicality and talent,Floraleda Sacchi is one of the few harpists in the world who appeared as soloist in major concert halls worldwide. She is today considered as one of the most interesting and original harpist in the international concert panorama. Critics consider her also a real innovator in the approach to her instrument.
Her celebrated CDs are already part of the musical history of the harp and became a cult. As a matter of fact Floraleda is the only harpist who recorded for the four major music companies (Decca, Universal, Philips and Deutsche Grammophon).
Among her Decca recordings stand out: 'Minimal Harp' (a project for solo harp defined as 'fascinating' by several journals, that created a new repertoire for the instrument); 'Harp Dances' (''The best harp playing I've ever heard'' American Record Guide) and 'Harp Favorites' (a collection of great Baroque classics for harp and loop station).
In 2011 a track of Harp Favorites was included in the album "Classica 2011" by Deutsche Grammophon beside the famous names of classical music (Abbado, Barenboim, Lang Lang...).
For Floraleda and her instrument important composers have written music. From these collaborations the original "Portraits' Collection" (www.portraitscollection.com) was born. This CD series is published by Amadeus Arte.
Floraleda performed as soloist all over the world in major halls and festivals Carnegie Hall-Weill Recital Hall (New York), United Nations Palace (New York), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Konzerthaus (Belin), Auditorium Binyanei Hauma (Jerusalem), Teatro Bibiena (Mantova), Sala Verdi (Milan), Teatro Valle (Rome), Matsuo Hall (Tokyo), Prefectural Hall Alti (Kyoto), Salle Varèse (Lyon), Gasteig (Munich), Concerts de la Croix Rouge (Geneva), Theatre Bellevue (Amsterdam), Gessler Hall (Vancouver), CBC-Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), Emilia Romagna Festival, Società del Quartetto Milano, Festival Pontino, Festival Musica no Museo (Rio de Janeiro), Rosegart Stiftung (Lucerne), etc.
Floraleda appeared as soloist with several orchestras (Neubrandenburger Philharmonie, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, Camerata Portuguesa, Milli Reasürans Oda Orkestrasi, Orchestra 1813, Chesapeake Orchestra, Orchestra Toscanini, ecc.) with the great classics of the repertoire (Mozart, Boieldieu, Debussy...) and with rarely performed concertos (Pizzetti, Hahn...). She appeared as soloist with the Italian TV Christmas' Concert broadcasted worldwide.
She often collaborates with actors in theatre shows. She created shows as "Journey to the Moon" produced by the Milan Planetarium, and the soundtrack of "Winged Words" (released on DVD by the University of Milan and directed by Lamberto Puggelli).She recently composed the music she performs live with Ottavia Piccolo in the monologue "Donna non rieducabile" directed by Silvano Piccardi. The show - which has received numerous awards and had more than 100 performances from the European Parliament in Brussels to the main Italian theaters - was transformed by RAI 2 into a movie with the title "The blood, the snow" (directed by Felice Cappa). In addition to the national broadcasting, the movie was presented at the 66th Venice Film Festival and published in DVD by PromoMusic.
Floraleda's long list of national and international honors includes, from 1997 to 2003, top prizes at 16 international competitions, including: Concours UFAM (Paris), Gioventu' Musicale Italiana, Rovere d'oro, T.I.M. (Rome), Concorso F. Schubert, Toronto Concerto Competition (Canada), Premio Galbiati (Milan).
Since 2006 she is the artistic director of LakeComo Festival, a series of chamber music concerts held in the historical villas of Lake Como, Italy.
She regularly gives masterclasses in Europe, the United States and Canada (Westminister College - Salt Lake City, Oklahoma University, European Academy of Music, British Columbia University - Vancouver, New York University, Masterclass of Cervo, Conservatorio di Parma, Masterclass of Camerino, etc.)
Parallel to music she has studied English, French and German and dedicated herself to photography and writing. In the musicological field, when she was 21 years old, she won the Harpa Award (Prague, 1999) for her book on Elias Parish Alvars (1999, Odilia Publishing, 220 pages). She is still considered the world expert of this author. She has written several articles appeared on major specialist journals (American Harp Journal, Harpa, World Harp Congress Review), and she has managed dozens of music editions for Ut Orpheus.
Floraleda was born in Como (Italy). Inspired to play the harp by Annie Challan's recordings, she started studying with Lisetta Rossi when she was 14 at Como Conservatoire. She later studied with Alice Giles (Frankfurt), Alice Chalifoux (Salzedo School, Camden, ME, USA) and with Judy Loman (Toronto, Canada).