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Pamela Chiarappa

passion for scatting

About Me

I was born in Bari, a seaside town on the East coast of Italy. As the sound of the piano entered my home I was immediately and completely enthralled. I began to take piano lessons at eight, and continued to study classical piano for six years. Afterwards, I continued to play by ear composing my own simple melodies. I was inspired by the music around me, on the radio, in movies...and the feelings it captured in 'the moment'. That helped me build my creativity and the ability to compose variations on themes. I went on to form my 'melodic-rock band' after high school, but quickly understood that my musical sensitivity could only be satisfied by Jazz. I therefore turned to the study of Jazz piano with Maestro Dino Petrelli. The soprano Rossella Ressa, my first singing coach, showed me how to combine this with the rules of this art form. I continued to practice my vocal technique with the sopranos Silvia Vacchi and Maria Luisa Di Turi. By then, I had gained my BA in Drama, arts and Music Studies from the University of Bologna, Italy. In New York I first studied Jazz singing with Gabriela Anders and now I am currently at NYU for the Master in Jazz Performance. I have attended several classes and workshops, such as the Summer Jazz Clinics at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, July 2006; the Vocal Jazz Workshop with Rachel Gould in Bologna, March 2008; the Gospel Workshop with Cedric Shannon Rivers & High Praise Gospel Singers in Bologna, December 2008. Among my music performances the Alma Jazz Orchestra with maestro Teo Ciavarella (Bologna, November 2005 to September 2009), the Pamelie and Filippo Cosentino Jazz Duo (March 2007) and the Pamcha Trio (Bologna, October 2007 to June 2008) stand out. Notewrothy are also my performances in the Pamelie Jazz Quartet, several bespoke Jazz projects for corporate and private events and the Riki D'Avanzo Quintet project (Bari, July 2008 to January 2009).