The borderless jazz of Giovanna Magro: from Lentini to Europe

There is a thin line that separates execution from narration. Giovanna Magro, a 32-year-old singer from Lentini, does not walk that line: she surpasses it.

Her voice does not merely interpret jazz, but inhabits it, traversing it with a sensitivity that seems to stem more from expressive urgency than from technique, although solid.

Her academic path - two degrees with honors from the “A. Corelli” Conservatory in Messina - remains in the background, almost wanting to leave space for what truly matters: a recognizable artistic signature, built over time between the stage and research.

The meeting with pianist Giovanni Mazzarino marks a watershed, transforming into a collaboration that today appears central to her musical development.

Over the years, the singer has graced stages that already tell much of her trajectory: from the Ancient Theatre of Taormina to the Rai Auditorium in Palermo, to international experiences across Spain and Switzerland. But more than the list of places, what strikes is the consistency of the journey: a constant presence, never random, within contexts where jazz is not entertainment, but a living language.

It is precisely abroad, particularly in Spain, that the artist seems to have found fertile ground to broaden her horizons. Here she integrates into a dynamic scene, engaging with musicians and orchestral projects that help strengthen a more personal vision.

The present, however, speaks primarily Albanian. The singer is currently involved in an international artistic residency in Tirana, where she will remain until March 25, after being selected as the winner of the “AIR - Artists in Residence 2025” call.

The program - promoted by MIDJ with the support of SIAE and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in collaboration with Europe Jazz Network - aims to promote artistic creation and the dissemination of Italian jazz abroad through an international cultural network.

During this period, as a guest of the Italian Cultural Institute of Tirana, which is also participating in the AIR project this year by hosting Italian artists and promoting exchanges with local realities, Giovanna Magro develops her artistic work by directly engaging with the Albanian scene.

In this context, she also engages in a dialogue with local musicians, including Gent Rushi, a professor at the University of Arts in Tirana.

The activity is not limited to research: this weekend the singer will perform in a duo at the theater in Vlorë, while next Tuesday she will be the star of a concert in the capital, also as part of the Institute's programming.

At the same time, she will also hold masterclasses at the University of Arts, contributing to a cultural exchange that goes beyond mere performance.

An experience that fits into an already significant moment in her journey. The 2025 has indeed marked an important milestone also on the recording front with the release of Two/Gether, a project in duo with Mazzarino.

More than just an album, it represents the natural development of a collaboration that began in an academic setting and has grown over time through consistent work, from which Composit, the singer's first album, had already emerged. Two/Gether stands as a point of maturity: an essential project that centers on musical relationship and jazz as a space for meeting, listening, and co-creation.

The format - voice and piano - exposes everything without filters. No superfluous arrangements, no artifice: just a direct interpretation of the repertoire.

The lyrical and essential style of Mazzarino creates the ideal context for the vocality of Giovanna Magro, clear and attentive to melodic detail.

The album traverses standards and pages from the great American songbook, with openings towards Latin and contemporary repertoire: from Charlie Mingus to Burt Bacharach, from Hoagy Carmichael to Johnny Mercer, up to Sinhá by Chico Buarque and João Bosco.

Each piece becomes a study on the balance between voice and piano, in a chamber dimension that favors mutual listening.

The album's release is also accompanied by a video of Sinhá, which visually conveys this idea of essentiality: two musicians, one piano, no superstructure. Just music.

At the same time, the singer continues her teaching activity in Sicily, maintaining a concrete connection with the territory, while her artistic trajectory looks ever further beyond.

And perhaps it is precisely in this international dimension, made up of residencies, concerts, and meetings, that her voice today finds its most complete expression: distant from noise, but increasingly close to an idea of music as a shared, vibrant, ever-moving space.