About Chiara

Chiara is a freelance harpist, alongside orchetsras and solo recitals, she plays extensively for all manners of events including corporate cocktail parties, award ceremonies, private parties, cruises and weddings.
Since 1990 I have had a lot of concerts as a solo harpist (with both classic and Irish harp) as well as with other musicians (duo with another harp and also with violin, flute, cello, piano, voice, ensembles), performing in Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Ireland and Spain.
In London I have had the pleasure to play at many renowed venues such as Claridge`s Hotel, Dorchester Hotel,Park Lane Hotel, Grosvenor House Hotel,
Kai Restaurant in Mayfair, London City Hall;
Art&Music installation Art Gallery 291, Studio 28, Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art;
The Lane Lounge Bar, Hooka Lounge Bar, Vibe Bar.

I have also performed with the group Sitar Fusion Project combining classical Indian beats with western contemporary sounds; performances in London area (Bengal Quay), Bricklane Festival.

Profile

A Journey of Music
Harpist Chiara Capobianco was born in Milano (Italy) in 1980.

She showed a spontaneous interest in music in her early years, expressed by joining the local folkloric music band: she was only eight when she played drums at a traditional parade of her district. Unfortunately, in the same year another drummer, Phil Collins, issued one of his outstanding hits, A Groovy Kind of Love, which partially outshined Chiara’s performance.

Still in her childhood, Chiara studied classical piano, flute, and ballet for three years, before falling in love with the harp. Besides nourishing her artistic inclination, she practiced swimming for two years: she never participated at the Olympic Games, but she successfully reached the other end of the pool (twice).

She is a Music Graduate in Harp (10 year course) at the prestigious Conservatorio “G. Verdi” of Milano (Italy) and a University graduate in Musicology at the Scuola di Paleografia e Filologia Musicale di Cremona (Università degli Studi di Pavia – Italy). During the academic years she won a scholarship (Erasmus) and spent a semester at the Ludwig Maximilian Universität München, Germany (Musikwissenschaft).

During those years she thoroughly learnt various music genres, types, and styles, studying classical harp with Annadele Mariani (Italy) and jazz and pop harp with Carrol McLaughlin, Harvey Griffin, and Park Stickney (U.S.A). This intense and variegate education and personal interests provided her with an extremely rich repertoire ranging from classical, medieval, renaissance, Irish, popular, and contemporary music.

She started performing way before her academic accomplishments, touring all over Europe since she was fifteen years old. In those concerts and events she played classic and Irish harp, as a soloist, with other musicians, and with several Orchestras (Opera and Symphonic).

In 2002, after graduating, she ate her last decent pizza and left Italy. She first moved to London, where she performed in several renowned venues. Then the ocean called: from 2004 to 2010 Chiara was appointed as the resident harpist on the illustrious Cunard Line cruise-ships Queen Mary II, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, and the newest Queen Elizabeth. She travelled throughout the world, played upon the seven seas, and visited all the continents.

During those fantastic years, she didn’t regret having become acquainted with the following languages: Italian (Mamma-tongue), English (excellent), German (wunderbar), Spanish (poquito), French (un petit peau).

Chiara has also performed for HRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall , and the italian prime minister Romano Prodi; In October 2011 She has been invited (first Italian ever) to perform at the prestigious V edición del Festival Mundial del Arpa in Asuncion (Paraguay). At the moment she is touring around India In October 2011 she had been invited to perform in India.

Though based mainly in Mumbai, she toured all over India (Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Pune, etc.) playing her own harp renditions of Bollywood music and popular Indian love-songs at weddings and grand events.

In 2013 she headed to Thailand, settling first in Bangkok, where she was the resident harpist at the Plaza Athénée Le Méridien Hotel (six months), and currently in Hua Hin, as the resident harpist at the Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas. Occasionally, she teaches piano and harp to children.

During these years in India and Thailand, she continued travelling and performing worldwide: Paraguay, Bahrain, Kurdistan, and Philippines.

Chiara in a nutshell: creative, eclectic, playfully devoted to the harp, social butterfly, and party-animal.

Harping on, and on and on, happily ever after.

REPERTOIRE over 1000 songs of diverse genres.

Classical: extended repertoire ranging from Medieval to Baroque to Romantic to Contemporary (including all Major Classical Composers such as Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Beethoven, Chopin).
Opera: Arias from all famous Operas (Puccini, Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Bizet, Grieg, Handel)
Pop & Jazz: Frank Sinatra, Gerswhin, Mancini, Cole Porter…
Movie Themes: soundtracks from the most famous movies
Musicals: All the best songs from the Musicals (Cats, The Phantom of The Opera, West Side Story, Evita, Miss Saigon)
Folk: Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Italian, South American and Indian popular tunes.

The repertoire available for the harp, either in the form of the original music or arrangements is extensive, covering music for a wide variety of tastes. This includes classical, folk, jazz, and show tunes as well as popular music from fifties to the present day.