, September 23, 1967) is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 singer and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

.

She developed a passion for music since she was a teenager, her favorites singers being, among others, Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

, Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....

, Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...

, Michelle Shocked

Michelle Shocked

Michelle Shocked is the stage name of Michelle Karen Johnston, an American singer-songwriter.-History:Shocked received her first international exposure in Europe, particularly Britain, with her debut album The Texas Campfire Tapes .Her first U.S...

, Tom Waits

Tom Waits

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

, Lucio Battisti

Lucio Battisti

Lucio Battisti was an Italian singer-songwriter . He is considered to be one of the best-known and most influential musicians and authors in Italian pop/rock music history....

, and Beatles .
She studied at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milano, where, during a student protest in 1990, she met Manuel Agnelli, leader of the Italian indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band Afterhours

Afterhours (band)

Afterhours is an Italian alternative rock band. The name is a tribute to the same-titled Velvet Underground's song.-Biography:The Afterhours were formed in 1985 in Milan around Manuel Agnelli, a Velvet Underground fan...

. Later she started her own singer career opening Afterhours

Afterhours (band)

Afterhours is an Italian alternative rock band. The name is a tribute to the same-titled Velvet Underground's song.-Biography:The Afterhours were formed in 1985 in Milan around Manuel Agnelli, a Velvet Underground fan...

’ concerts in their During Christine’s Sleep tour.

Besides the live performances in clubs in Milano and surroundings, Donà, encouraged by Manuel Agnelli himself, began working on her own songs, and released her first album, Tregua, in 1997. The album was an immediate success. Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...

 included it among his favorites of the year in Mojo

Mojo (magazine)

MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...

 . The music critic Charlie Gillett

Charlie Gillett

Charlie Gillett , was a British radio presenter, musicologist and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music...

 broadcast some songs on BBC radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

.

In the meanwhile Donà performed live in an Italian tour, and opened concerts for Ben Harper

Ben Harper

Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...

 and David Byrne

David Byrne (musician)

David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...

.

In 1999 she dueted with the songwriter Eric Wood

Eric Wood

-Buffalo Bills:Wood was selected with the 28th pick of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. Counted on to start at right guard, Wood joined a completely retooled offensive line that was expected to feature two rookie starters—him, and second round pick Andy Levitre at left guard—and no players...

 in his album Illustrated night, and started working on the second album, Nido. Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...

 contributed to this album with the arrangements in the song Goccia and with the participation to a videoclip, shot on the East Coast of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and released on the Goccia EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

.
In 2001 Donà was invited (first and only Italian artist so far) to the Meltdown Festival, where she performed the same night as Anja Garbarek

Anja Garbarek

Anja Garbarek is a Norwegian singer-songwriter of mixed Norwegian and Polish descent. She is the daughter of the Norwegian jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek and grew up around Oslo. She received the Spellemannsprisen in 2001 for her album Smiling & Waving in the open class category. She is married to...

 and Mark Eitzel

Mark Eitzel

Mark Eitzel is a musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club.-History:Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohio and the United Kingdom. He moved to America in 1979.He started making music while he was...

. Davey Ray Moor

Davey Ray Moor

Davey Ray Moor is an England-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer.Moor was born in Beirut and raised in Australia, and now lives in England. He first came to musical prominence in Sydney as keyboard player, and occasional vocalist, for an independent rock outfit...

, attending the concert that night, was very much impressed by Donà’s performance, and this was the starting point of a long-lasting collaboration between the two artists. While working with him on the third album, in January 2002 Donà was invited to participate in the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen (The Netherlands).

The third album, Dove sei tu, was released in 2003, and Davey Ray Moor

Davey Ray Moor

Davey Ray Moor is an England-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer.Moor was born in Beirut and raised in Australia, and now lives in England. He first came to musical prominence in Sydney as keyboard player, and occasional vocalist, for an independent rock outfit...

 performed as a special guest in some concerts during the promotional tour. Donà recorded a cover of Kate Bush

Kate Bush

Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...

’s Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights (song)

"Wuthering Heights" is a song by Kate Bush released as her debut single in January 1978. It became a No.1 hit in the UK singles chart and remains her biggest-selling single. The song appears on her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside. The B-side of the single was another song by Bush named "Kite" -...

, which was included in the single Invisibile. She also worked, together with Davey Ray Moor

Davey Ray Moor

Davey Ray Moor is an England-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer.Moor was born in Beirut and raised in Australia, and now lives in England. He first came to musical prominence in Sydney as keyboard player, and occasional vocalist, for an independent rock outfit...

, on the translation of the lyrics of Dove sei tu. The self-titled album was released in 2004 and distributed in 33 countries by Rykodisc

Rykodisc

Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...

 International.

The English press welcomed the album with very good reviews. Mojo

Mojo (magazine)

MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...

 gives it four stars, Down Beat

Down Beat

Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...

 compared Donà to artists such as Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

 and Ute Lemper

Ute Lemper

Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...

, Sunday Times included a song in the monthly CD attached to the magazine.

At the end of 2004 she started an extensive tour all around Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, performing in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, UK, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, The Netherlands, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, and with a special performance at the Polar Spectacle Festival in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The American musician Ken Stringfellow

Ken Stringfellow

Kenneth Stuart Stringfellow is an American musician, best known for his work with The Posies, R.E.M., and the re-formed Big Star.-Musical career:...

 played with her in most of the European concerts.

In 2005 she played in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 with Annie Whitehead

Annie Whitehead

Annie Whitehead is an English jazz trombone player.-Career:Annie learned trombone at school; at 14 she was already busy playing with brass bands, local dance groups and the Manchester Youth Jazz Orchestra and began her professional career at sixteen. Among her initial influences were Miles Davis,...

’s Soupsongs, and was in UK for an acoustic tour, during which she’s invited to Robert Elms

Robert Elms

Robert Elms is an English writer and broadcaster. Elms was a writer for The Face magazine in the 1980s, and has a self-confessed love of clothes and fashion...

’ BBC London Live.

In 2006 she signed to the major label EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 that is re-distributing all her catalogue.

Albums

• 1997 - Tregua
• 1999 - Nido
• 2000 - Goccia (EP)
• 2003 - Dove sei tu
• 2004 - Cristina Donà (in English)
• 2007 - La quinta stagione
• 2008 - Piccola faccia
• 2011 - Torno a casa a piedi

Singles

• 2003 - Nel mio giardino
• 2003 - Triathlon
• 2003 - Invisibile
• 2004 - Invisible girl
• 2005 - Triathlon "Uk version"
• 2007 - Universo
  Universo
  Universo is the name of a fictional Legion of Super-Heroes supervillain in the 30th and 31st centuries of the DC Comics universe.-Pre-Zero Hour:...
  
  
• 2008 - Sign your name
  Sign Your Name
  "Sign Your Name" is the name of a famous song written and performed by Terence Trent D'Arby .Released in his 1987 album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, it was an international success, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in early 1988 and number four on the US...
  
  
• 2011 - Miracoli

External links

• Cristina Donà (official website)
• Intervista su Musicletter, Novembre 2007