Spring in Duo

Maria Teresa Battistessa (clarinet, basset horn), Alessandra Novaga (guitar). Maria Teresa BATTISTESSA graduated in clarinet at the Conservatory of Novara under the guidance of Maestro Primo Borali and obtained the Solisten Diplom with merit at the Conservatory of Berne; she also studied with Hans Deinzer (International Courses in Bobbio) and with Kurt Weber in Berne. She has won national and international competitions; she has collaborated with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, the Orchestra Civica di fiati di Milano, the Concertino Basel, the O. de Chambre de Neuchatel, the Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano and the Teatro alla Scala. He has taken part in the recording of the following CDs: "Ta Matete Living music" (A.Cerino/M.Iannelli 2003 basset horn, voice), "Un soffio soltanto" (G.M.Liuni 2004 basset horn clar.), "Taran'sax" (C.Castiglione 2005 alto sax), "Conversation with Africa" (G.M.Liuni 2006 basset horn).Besides her concert activity, she also teaches Alessandra NOVAGA is a guitarist mainly interested in new music and experimentation. After classical training in Italy and at the Musikhochschule in Basel where she studied with Oscar Ghiglia, she has been moving in new directions for some years now, redesigning her relationship with music, sound and performance. Her personal research led her more and more to the use of the electric guitar and to collaboration with composers, to whom she entrusted the creation of scores, with the aim of creating a repertoire of new gestures and sounds expressly for her. Her field of action also includes performance, i.e. the execution of textual or graphic scores that are not always expressed through the instrument alone. She is co-founder of the experimental music trio Hurla Janus. Alessandra has performed in Europe and the United States; she recently performed in New York for the Transient Series, Arts Incubator Project, at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, and at Zebulon. She is the first guitarist in Italy to play the complete Book of Heads by John Zorn, a collection of 35 studies for different types of guitar (acoustic, electric, dobro, classical) and objects, based on improvisation inspired by graphic scores. Very interested in theatre for some years now, she has also been researching in this direction, sometimes creating musical scores closely integrated with the text and acting; she frequently collaborates with Elena Russo Arman of the Teatro dell'Elfo and Giuseppe Isgrò of Phoebe Zeitgeist; she has also worked with Elio De Capitani. He took part in a performance with and by Lee Ranaldo as part of the Lecce Sound Res festival. With the guitar and clarinet duo Spring in Duo she recorded the CD Metissage, for Preludio, entirely dedicated to new music, and recorded for Rai Radio Tre. Alessandra lives and works in Milan. www.alessandranovaga.com