Picture by Xaver Rüegg Allowing someone else’s words to roll off of your tongue and reverberate through the field of your consciousness is an act of surrender. It’s also the closest thing that we have to being able to experience the world through another person’s field; especially, if the words – spoken, sung or written – have been infused with visceral emotion and forged out of a singular point of view. Dalia Donadio’s latest work, her full-length album titled Zinnarella (little girl), is a journey through her father’s (Toni Donadio) rich oeuvre: a songbook spanning 40 years of his life. Part sonic-art poem part audio-book, the album is a meditation on the meaning of lineage, the textures of culture and the treasure that is family. It’s a tapestry woven out of intimate field recordings, sparse piano and Moog arrangements and Dalia’s warm, resonant voice. Not to mention, the story is told using a concoction of three languages: English, German and Rocchese (a Calabrian dialect only spoken in Rocca Imperiale).
A gesture, a certain prosody, a way of cutting the potatoes, the smell of foliage, a very specific color of light, a type of embrace – I can trace all of these details to a person, a place, a culture and a type of socialisation. Being able to engage with my roots liberates me, because it brings me closer to a sense of contingency. We are all products of very specific imprints and biographies, which is what makes diversity so exciting. – Dalia Donadio
Live Line-Up
Dalia Donadio, voc, p & samples
Marc Méan, synths, p & live sampling
Shows
July 2023 - January 2024
Freiraumbeitrag Kanton Zürich Kultur
Mexico City
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Zinnarella
Schönegg Varieté, Zürich
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Dalia Donadio & Silvan Jeger
Moods, Zürich
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Zinnarella
Burgbachkeller, Zug
Previous
Releases
About & Contact
As a musician, Donadio uses the means of the voice and language in her practice. She is interested in the voice as an instrument that belongs to us all and connects us all, for example as a vehicle of communication or as a resonator. Language accompanies Donadio through as many sub-aspects as etymology, phonetics and phonology, dialects, etc. Her works encompass themes such as origin, the poetic, poetry, tissue vibration, anatomy, the organic, song, the intimate, familiarity, contingency.
As a singer (with and without electronics), composer, lyricist, performer, she acts in small formations. The development of solo programs and the collaboration with her partner Tobias Meier are meanwhile her most important artistic works. She also sees her work as an organiser and singing teacher as an integral part of her creative and research field.
