Elena Ledda (born 17 May 1959 in Selargius) is an Italian singer from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Early life

Born near Cagliari, Ledda pursued conservatory studies in

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

and voice.

Career

Her soprano voice was suitable for opera, which she performed early in her career, but she was attracted by the folk singing of her native Sardinia and eventually recorded primarily in that genre. She worked with Cooperativa Teatro di Sardegna in the late 1970s and has toured and recorded internationally. She was chosen by Sardinian movie director, Gianfranco Cabiddu, to be the leading voice for his live music/cinematic mix project, ''Sonos de Memoria'', featuring film footage of

from the 1930s and leading contemporary Sardinian musicians playing over the film. Sonos toured the world with other Sardinian musicians such as

Paolo Fresu Paolo Fresu ( sc, Pàulu; born 10 February 1961) is an Italian jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, as well as a composer and arranger of music. Career Born in Berchidda, Sardinia, he picked up the trumpet at the age of 11, and played in the ba ...

. In 2006, Ledda participated in ''Visioni di Sardegna'', written and produced by her longtime collaborator Mauro Palmas, who restored film footage of Sardinia from the Luce Institute, and assembled 18 musicians under the direction of

RAI TV RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

director, Rodolfo Roberti. Greek singer

Savina Yannatou Savina Yannatou (Greek: Σαβίνα Γιαννάτου, ''Savína Yannátou''; born 16 March 1959, Athens) is a Greek singer. After taking classical guitar lessons and participating in the children's choir of Yannis Nousias for some years, she ...

was invited to feature in the project. Her collaboration with

resulted in a series of ten concerts at the Half Note club in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

at the end of March 2006. This met with critical acclaim and TV interest in Greece, and resulted in a CD (''Tutti Baci'', Lyra 1095) also featuring Mauro Palmas and Primavera en Salonico. Ledda's collaborators have included

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in ...

, Israeli singer Noa,

Maria del Mar Bonet Maria del Mar Bonet i Verdaguer (Balearic Catalan: ; born 1947 in Palma, Majorca) is a Spanish singer from the island of Majorca. Early life and career Bonet studied ceramics in the school of arts, but eventually decided to dedicate herself to ...

(Mallorca),

Andreas Vollenweider Andreas Vollenweider (born 4 October 1953) is a Swiss harpist. He is generally categorised as a new-age musician and uses a modified electroacoustic harp of his own design. He has worked with Bobby McFerrin, Carly Simon, Luciano Pavarotti and ...

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

, and

Nana Vasconcelos Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana ...

. In 2005 Elena collaborated with Neapolitan violinist, Lino Cannavacciuolo (Peppe Barra's violinist and original founder of the Solis String Quartet, now Noa's band of choice) to produce her CD ''Amargura''. The BBC's

Andy Kershaw Andrew J. G. Kershaw (born 9 November 1959) is a broadcaster and disc jockey, predominantly on radio, and known for his interest in world music. Kershaw's shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word ...

said of Ledda, "I planned a trip south to make a program about Sardinian music, almost solely on the evidence of a CD I was given of Elena's voice. We went to Sardinia and I was blown away. Elena and her band make traditional music from Sardinia using all the mainstream instruments, with hardly any 'traditional Sardinian' instruments in sight, yet it sounds so traditional and so not-mainstream. They have achieved a truly unique and refreshing sound. Clearly rooted to Sardinian tradition, yet so modern." A 2007 recording was done with

Andrea Parodi Andrea Parodi ( Porto Torres, 18 July 1955 – Quartu Sant'Elena, 17 October 2006) was an Italian singer from Sardinia. He is known for his vocals with several groups, including Coro degli Angeli from 1978 to 1987, and Tazenda from 1988 to 1997 ...

, who died before completing the work. Ledda sang at Parodi's funeral.

Discography

* ''Ammentos'' (1979) * ''Is Arrosas'' (1984) * ''Sonos'' (1989) * ''Incanti'' (1993) * ''Maremannu'' (2000) * ''Amargura'' (2005) * ''Lantias'' (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledda, Elena People from the Province of Cagliari Italian women singers Music in Sardinia Living people 1959 births Sardinian women