Floraleda Sacchi is regarded by critics as one of the most interesting and original harpist in the international concert panorama:
“Floraleda invents a fascinating chapter of modern history of the harp” (La Repubblica), “the best harp playing ever heard” (American Record Guide) “Floraleda’s harp lends itself particularly well to the minimalist logic” (The Indipendent).
Floraleda recorded for majors (Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, etc.). Actually she records for Amadeus Arte, her own label, internationally distributed.
She won prizes at 16 competitions and performed as soloist in major halls and festivals:
Carnegie Hall-Weill Recital Hall (New York – presented by Italian Artist Found.), United Nations Palace (New York), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Auditorium Binyanei Hauma (Jerusalem), Sala Verdi (Milan), Matsuo Hall (Tokyo), Prefectural Hall Alti (Kyoto), Salle Varèse (Lyon), Gasteig (Munich), Concerts de la Croix Rouge (Geneva), River Concert Series (Washington), Gessler Hall (Vancouver), CBC-Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), Società del Quartetto Milano, Festival Musica no Museo (Rio de Janeiro), Auditorium della Conciliazione (Roma), Octobre Musical (Cartage-Tunis), Quintai Hall (China), etc.
She collaborated with important musicians and composers in Asia, Australia, North and South America, Europe and Africa.
Floraleda appeared as soloist with several orchestras.
In 2014 she recorded a new concerto by Manuel De Sica with Filarmonica Toscanini published by Brilliant Classics.
In 2018 she premiered a concerto dedicated to her by composer Claudia Montero. Recorded with The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra the concerto was included in the album “Magica y Misteriosa” that received the Latin Grammy in 2018 as Best Classical Album.
Since 2015, alongside the Classical repertoire, she has embarked on a new, more personal path in making music, composing her own pieces and applying electronics, looper and effects to the harp, to develop an extremely personal sound and a new artistic identity.
Her first project in this direction, “Darklight” (2017), remained for a long time at the top of the Classical music chart in various countries of the world. Her latest project “Oltremare” published on August 14, 2020 obtained over 160,000 plays on Spotify in 15 days, confirming her as one of the most known and listened to harpists in the world.On January 2021 also the single “Primavera” reached the 19th position of the Italian chart (all genres), an unprecedented result for a piece for harp and electronics.
She composed music for theatre and cinema. One of the best known projects is her music for the play “Donna non rieducabile”.The show – which had more than 170 performances (including the European Parliament in Brussels to main Italian theaters) – was transformed by RAI 2 into a movie presented at the 66th Venice Film Festival and published in DVD by PromoMusic.
When 21, she won the Harpa Award (Prague, 1999) for her book on Elias Parish Alvars, a Romantic author for whom she is still considered the reference expert.
She has written several articles appeared on major harp journals (American Harp Journal, Harpa, World Harp Congress Review) contributing to expand and discover Harp repertoire.
Born in Como (Italy), Floraleda was inspired to play the harp by Annie Challan’s recordings. She studied at Como Conservatory and perfectionated in Germany, USA and Canada with Alice Giles, Alice Chalifoux and Judy Loman.
Alongside her concert career, Floraleda has always been active as artistic director of cultural events. She is currently the artistic director of two festivals (in Como and Milan), a record label and the cultural activities of the Amadeus Arte association.
She is Harp Professor at “F. Torrefranca” Conservatory (Italian University) in Vibo Valentia.
