Anais Drago

Anaïs Drago is an Italian violinist and performer, born in Biella in 1993.

Winner of Top jazz 2022 (referendum organized by Musica Jazz magazine) in the new proposals section, she moves between the sounds of free improvisation, electroacoustic music, jazz, pop.

Awarded with first prize in Seifert Competition 2024, international contest dedicated to jazz string players, her name was included in 2023 and 2024 annual poll by New York-based magazine Downbeat as rising star in violin section.

She has performed as a leader on some of thee most important jazz festivals’ stages in Italy, including Umbria Jazz, Time in Jazz, Turin Jazz Festival, Bergamo Jazz Festival, Casa del Jazz, JazzMI, Fano Jazz by the sea, Novara Jazz, and abroad, as for Münster Jazz Festival (DE) and Canal Street Festival (NO).

In 2024 she is invited Italian Institute of Culture for a solo tournée in Venezuela, while in 2023 by she’s been invited by Italian Institute of Culture in New Delhi to perform a solo concert as opening ceremony of “The Grand Italian Vision - Farnesina Collection” exhibition at Bikaner House, Rajasthan’s governative headquarters.

Since 2021 she has dedicated an important part of her research and live concert activity to the solo performances, which has earned her numerous awards from critics and the national press.

She played in duo with Enrico Rava (special project for Il Jazz Italiano per Terre del Sisma, September 2022).

In 2023 she began a collaboration with Federico Calcagno and Max Trabucco in “Relevé” trio produced by WeStart production center in Novara, with double bass player Valentina Ciardelli and countertenor Riccardo Strano in the album “Shake your Duty”, an homage to Frank Zappa, edited by Parco della Musica Records.

In 2024 Anaïs is artist in residence for Pro Helvetia foundation at Palazzo Trevisan - Venice, and at L’Abri - Geneve, working in cooperation with French artist and performer Salôme Guillemin-Pœuf.

In 2023-2025 she’s touring with the actor Neri Marcorè in the theatre production “La Buona Novella”, by Teatro Stabile di Bolzano and Marche Teatro, under the direction of Giorgio Gallione.

She also regularly performs aside actors and writers such as Daniele Pecci, Laura Curino, Annalena Benini in lectures and theater performances.

Anaïs was part of the Young Talent National Jazz Orchestra conducted by Paolo Damiani (2021-2022-2023 editions) and collaborates on a regular basis with various formations and artists, including the trio Accordi Disaccordi from Torino, doubleness player Daniele Roccato, vocalist Maria Pia de Vito, and takes part in several projects supported by Parco della Musica production center in Rome.

In January 2022, Musica Jazz magazine elected her, on an equal footing with drummer Francesca Remigi, as the best new talent on the Italian scene. The recognition adds up to numerous prizes and awards including the first prize in the Isio Saba competition (2022), SIAE award (2022), Taste of Jazz / NUOVO IMAIE prize (2021) and, previously, a finalist in the Conad Jazz Competition of Umbria Jazz (2019) and first prize in the jazz category of Amadeus Factory (2018), competition broadcast on Sky Arte.

Over the years Anaïs has been selected to participate in numerous artistic residency experiences, fundamental stages of her musical growth, including: AIR, Artists in Residence, a project conceived by MIDJ (Italian jazz musicians) in collaboration with SIAE and MIBACT , thanks to which she spends a six-week period at the Mahidol University in Bangkok (2018); Residence for the festival Una striscia di terra feconda in Rome (2020), Open Orchestra project, in collaboration with Casa del Jazz and Fondazione Musica per Roma (2020), Chantiers Sonores, under the direction of Daniele Roccato and Michele Rabbia (Auditorium Parco della Musica 2021-2022), Strumenti di Resistenza poetica project for Scala Musicale Locrese Festival in collaboration with Editorial Nascimiento of Santiago de Chile (2022), MutArti project for MutaMenti festival (2022), Palazzo Trevisan - Venice and L’Abri - Geneve for Pro Helvetia (2024), International Jazz Platform Program in Lodz, Polonia (2024).

Her debut album, Anaïs Drago & The Jellyfish (Another Music Records, 2018) sees her leading a sextet with jazz-rock sounds and contains original compositions inspired by the music and iconic character of Frank Zappa. The album paves the way for Anais to the first jazz festivals and is characterized by a strong sound impact and a large compositional and arrangement work.

Solitudo (CAM Jazz, 2021) is instead the second publication under her own name and unlike the first, Anais works in solitude composing nine tracks for violin, electronics and voices, plus three impromptu improvisations that outline a very precise narrative structure to the whole album. The recording is very successful with critics and the public and allows her to tread, between 2021 and 2022, more than fifty stages in which to perform in solo.

In 2024 Anaïs Drago, double bassist Valentina Scheldhofen Ciardelli and countertenor Riccardo Angelo Strano give birth to Shake Your Duty, homage to Frank Zappa and irreverence in music, released by Parco della Musica Records.

She has also recorded numerous records as a side musician alongside artists such as Francesca Remigi (The Human Web, 2022), Livio Bartolo Variable Unit (2022), Duende (2022), Enrico Fazio Critical Mass (Wabi Sabi, top jazz album 2019), Accords Disaccordi (Decanter, 2021).

She has shared the stage with numerous other musicians including Enrico Rava, Louis Sclavis, Maria Pia De Vito, Paolo Damiani, Antonello Salis, Gianni Coscia, Dado Moroni, Daniele Roccato, Michele Rabbia, Bruno Chevillon, Enrico Fazio, Gonzalo Bergara, Joachim Florent, Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi, Marco Colonna, Peppe Frana and many still.

Anaïs collaborates with Radiotelevisione Svizzera Italiana, in which she has been a guest of programs and insights several times, and with the Piazza Verdi programs of Radio3 Rai, and Radio1 Music Club.

She took part in the recording of some songs of the soundtrack of the RAI fiction "De Andrè - Principe Libero" (2017) and of the film "Vicini di Casa" (Medusa, 2022).

From 2019 to 2024 she has been the violinist of the pop singer Ultimo, with whom she performed live on Rai3 television for "Che tempo che fa", to then accompany him on the tour of the Italian arenas in 2019 and on the stadium tour in 2022, also treading the stages of the Circus Maximus in Rome, the San Siro Stadium in Milan, and the Verona Arena on the occasion of the RTL Power Hits summer 2022 event.

Over the years she has also collaborated with numerous artists and musicians of the Italian pop-rock scene, including guitarists Luca Colombo, Cesareo, Giuseppe Scarpato, Giacomo Castellano, Alberto Radius and many more, and with the historic musicians of Fabrizio de Andrè including Ellade Bandini, Pier Michelatti, Michele Ascolese, Giorgio Cordini.

Her musical training began at a very young age under the guidance of Lee Robert and Antonio Mosca at the Suzuki Talent Center Academy in Turin.

She graduated in violin with full marks in 2013 under the guidance of Liana Mosca at the “A. Steffani”Conservatorice of Castelfranco Veneto.

At the same time he began to explore musical worlds unrelated to the academic path, to then arrive at jazz with the first experiences in campuses and summer seminars (Guildhall College of Music - London, 2013; Umbria Jazz clinics - Perugia, 2014), and in 2017 she got a master degree in jazz composition and arrangement obtaining the maximum evaluation, honors and mention under the guidance of Enrico Fazio.

She also won the Ghislieri Prize for the best degree project.

Starting from 2020 she expanded his horizons in the field of improvised music under the guidance of the masters Daniele Roccato, Paolo Damiani, Tonino Battista, Michele Rabbia.

Anaïs collaborates with Yamaha Music Europe - Branch Italy and with the Swiss brand Schertler Group.

Awards

Seifert Competition 2024 - 1st prize

Downbeat magazine 2023-2024 - rising star in violin 

Top Jazz 2022 - Musica Jazz Magazine (Italy)

SIAE Award 2022

NUOVO IMAIE prize 2021

Conad Jazz Contest (Umbria Jazz) 2019 - finalist

Amadeus Factory 2018 - 1st prize in jazz 

Ghislieri Prize 2017 for best degree project

Gear

acoustic violin

electric violin (Yamaha 5 strings)

Helix Line6