Gabriella Dall’Olio
Gabriella delights audiences with her solo recitals around the globe. Her critically acclaimed recordings span solo, chamber and orchestral works on the Claves, Koch, Toccata Next, Naxos, Da Vinci, Stradivarius, Dal Segno and Ambitus labels. Her album ‘Harp Recital’ (from 2000 on Claves) won a Five Diapasons Award and was described as “five quarter hours of poetry”.
Gabriella has recorded live for French, German, Italian and Swiss radio and television, and was the winner of numerous prizes, awards and scholarships, including the 1989 Victor Salvi Competition (Italy), and the 1992 Junge Kunstler Prize (Switzerland).
Her wide and varied repertoire covers most solo, concerto and chamber music repertoire as well as orchestral works (symphonic, operatic and ballet).
Recent solo engagements include recitals in Singapore and Australia, as well as Spain, Italy and the UK. She has performed Ginastera’s Concerto with the Whitehall Orchestra; Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto with flautist Anna Noakes and The London Virtuosi; Panufnik’s Sinfonia Concertante for flute, harp and orchestra and the premiere of Tim Jackson’s ‘Be Not Afeared’ for harp and orchestra with the St Paul Sinfonia; as well as solo and chamber music performances with the Gabrieli Consort and St John’s Orchestra at Kings Place. In July 2022 she performed the UK premiere of the harp concerto ‘Mascaras’ by Arturo Marquez in St David Hall, Cardiff, with the WHC Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Sylvain Blassel.
Gabriella has a long standing relationship with Hebrides Ensemble, with whom she premiered James MacMillan’s Since it was the day of Preparation… , the 2015 recording of which reached number 1 in the Classical music speciality charts. Further repertoire with the Ensemble includes Berio’s Folksongs, Takemitsu’s ‘And then I knew ‘twas Wind’, Debussy’s ‘Danse sacrée et danse profane’, and Ravel’s ‘Introduction et Allegro’.
Gabriella has inspired and commissioned composers to write for the harp (Benati, Jackson, Marson, Knott, Nicolson, Thomas, Lewis, MacMillan). She recorded Paul Lewis’ works for solo and chamber music with harp, a yearlong project to celebrate his seventieth birthday.
Gabriella free lances with some of the most outstanding UK and European orchestras: London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, English Chamber, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, as well as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Bavarian Radio Symphony orchestras. Conductors she has worked with include Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Claudio Abbado, Mariss Janssen, Valery Gergiev, Simon Rattle, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Antonio Pappano, Bernard Haitink, Seiji Osawa, Esa Pekka Salonen and Donald Runnicles.
On a lighter tone, Gabriella played with Tina Turner in occasion of her sixtieth birthday concert, as well as with with Sting, Phil Collins, Elton John at the Royal Albert Hall, and with Kasabian, The Petshop Boys, Faith SFX, and world champion DJ Switch!
Gabriella has a longstanding flute and harp duo – stretching into trio with viola and occasional wider ensembles – dear friend and colleague Anna Noakes.
Gabriella is committed to teaching and is Head of Harp Studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where she teaches and mentors vibrant and enthusiastic young harpists and musicians. She has given lectures and masterclasses in harp scoring, extended techniques and new repertoires, and promotes contemporary music amongst audiences and students.
She has worked extensively in outreach and community projects and worked in hospitals and schools with LSO Discovery, City of London Sinfonia, Harefield Hospital, Old Brompton Hospital and Music for Life.
Gabriella Dall’Olio was born and grew up in her home town Bologna, Italy, whom she dearly loves. She trained in Italy, France and Germany with Anna Loro, Pierre Jamet. Jacqueline Borot, Fabrice Pierre and Giselle Herbert. All are still her dear friends now, or live on in the legacy they left and grateful memory.
