Growing Up in a Singing Culture
Anna Daniela is an Italian soprano who began singing at the age of seven. She grew up in the singing culture of the Franciscans in Calabria on the southern Mediterranean coast of Italy.
“Everybody in my home loved to sing. My older brother loved to sing Sinatra. To this day, at every party, he sings ‘My Way’, in English, with a heavy accent. The people love him.”
It was through singing that Anna Daniela developed her lifelong passion for music and music history.
”My father and my mother supported my musical studies. They were my entourage. But they also wanted me to go to law school and I did — but not with the intent of becoming a lawyer. I was more interested in the history of law, especially the history of Roman law. I was passionate about history from a very young age. I discovered my real passion is the history of music.”
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Women Composers Forgotten by History
Anna Daniela is currently researching and bringing back to life the music of women composers who were famous during their time but who have been forgotten by history. She has already found a number of outstanding compositions created by women musician-composers from as far back as the 16th century.
“I want modern audiences to enjoy the extraordinary music of women composers from the 16th and 17th century Baroque period.”
—- Anna Daniela Sestito
Anna Daniela stands out as the only musicologist focusing on the Baroque Period who has the combined experience of a professional singer and a conductor and a musicologist.
“The combination of researcher and performer gives me the knowledge and experience to adapt the ancient manuscripts into the modern format, so my musicians can perform the works of these early composers.”
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Ensemble Quadrivium
Anna Daniela is the founder of the Ensemble Quadrivium of Paris which specializes in classical vocal music, featuring seldom-interpreted scores and the early works of women composers. Her musicians and singers perform regularly in concerts under Anna Daniela’s direction.
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Artist in Residence at Paris Museum
Anna Daniela was an artist in residence for three years at the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris, where she and her Ensemble Quadrivium performed eight different concert programs over two musical seasons.
“Our partnership with Anna Daniela has been a huge success. She was the first person to propose concerts featuring the music of women composers from the Baroque Period. Her concerts attracted audiences that otherwise would have never been introduced to the museum.”
——- Yves Winkin, former museum director
The Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris
The museum, which opened in 1805, is located in the surviving structures of a medieval monastery that includes a priory church. The 11th century church, with its cathedral ceilings, provided a dramatic backdrop for the Baroque performances of Anna Daniela and her ensemble, and turned out to be a modern-day acoustic delight.
Performing in the 11th century Priory Church at the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris
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From Opera to Classical Soloist
Anna Daniela’s on-stage appearances feature music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Her singing styles are eclectic, from opera to classical soloist, with performances all over Europe: Paris, Nice, Rome, Milan, Turin, Brussels, Bruges, Lisbon, Stuttgart, Munich, and also in Switzerland, Bulgaria and Latvia, among others.
She was the lead singer for the first three modern performances of the original score of Jommelli’s Mass in D Major and La Betulia liberata, as well as Euridice by G. Caccini.
She has worked under the direction of a number of notable conductors, including Patrick Fournillier, Daniele Callegari, Enrique Mazzola, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, Giorgio Morandi and Guillaume Tournière.
Here is a partial list of operas featuring Anna Daniela Sestito:
Verdi’s Nabucco (recorded by RAI), Falstaff, La Traviata and Rigoletto
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia.
Bizet’s Carmen.
Mascagni’s Cavalleria rustica.
Euridice (recorded by Meistermusic Berne).
Puccini’s La Bohème.
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Vocal Teacher
Anna Daniela is a voice and vocal technique teacher. She trains professional soloists and ensemble choristers, as well as people who want to work on their voice for personal development and enjoyment. She was a voice coach at a music conservatory in the Paris region and at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, as well as other European institutions. Anna Daniela now gives private singing lessons for professionals and beginners of all ages, as well as workshops and master classes with a focus on vocal techniques and interpretation of bel canto.
Villemomble Conservatory of Music and Dance — Giving singing instruction to Eyma Sharen for her role as Bernadette in the musical “Bernadette de Lourdes”
Jacques Decour High School in Paris — Teaching vocal technique to middle and high school students as part of a special UNICEF gala project
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Advanced Music Studies
Paris Sorbonne — Masters Degree in musicological research (in progress) at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
Paris — State Diploma for voice and singing teacher.
Switzerland — Graduated in advanced studies of Baroque style singing from the Music Conservatory of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
(Expanded music repertoire to include orchestral conducting, baroque dance, choir conducting, Renaissance vocal polyphony, the flute recorder and Gregorian singing.)
Italy — Masters Degree in musicology and musical heritage from the Stanislao Giacomantonio Music Conservatory.
Italy — Graduated from the Gesualdo da Venosa Music Conservatory, with a focus on classical singing.
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International Recognition
Anna Daniela is regularly invited to serve on juries of international music competitions and to lead workshops, seminars and master classes around vocal technique and interpretation.
She is a member of the scientific committee of the International Scarlatti Institute in Naples, specializing in research on Italian music of the 17th and 18th centuries. She is also a contributing writer to several magazines, including Historia and La Voce, and is currently translating from Italian to French a book on the presence of Mozart (father and son) at the court of Naples (book release in 2021).
Conducting the Quadrivium Ensemble for a special exhibition concert at the Church of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, Museum of Arts and Crafts in Paris
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UNICEF Ambassador
In 2006, Anna Daniela Sestito was named an ambassador for UNICEF (the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), using musical arts to help children in distress.
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ADEvents
Anna Daniela is also the founder-president of ADEvents which specializes in classical concerts and music lectures.
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