Désirée Saarela’s and Luca Bordonaro’s paths crossed at the WOMEX World Music Expo in Porto in 2021. After many rewarding discussions about music and creativity the thought of collaborating came up. Since then, they have visited each other’s homes in Ostrobothnia, Finland, and in Sicily, and have also performed together in Norway. In September 2022 they decided to meet up again in Ostrobothnia to record the album Allt finns här(All is here).
A collaboration across country borders where two very different cultures and persons meet and find something they share that becomes new music. A wonderful meeting and a unique album – the outcome of two complete strangers meeting and visiting each other. That was how it all started.
The Nordic and Finland-Swedish elements blend in with the southern European elements to form a new and exciting mix and musical whole. From the volcanic island of Sicily with its scents of jasmine, lemon and almond to the land of many forests and lakes that Finland represents.
Désirée Saarela
is a Finland-Swedish singer-songwriter and folk singer whose vocal expression is strongly rooted in the folk tradition. The lyrics, the stories and the mood they convey are at the core of her music. Désirée is inspired by her surroundings, by people, relations, the forest, sea, open landscapes, nature itself – and all of this becomes songs. The experience of having moved several times between city and countryside has left its mark on Désirée’s life and also influenced her songs and lyrics.
Luca Bordonaro
Coming from Sicily, Italy, Luca Bordonaro studied classical and contemporary music in Italy, Portugal, Sweden, France, and Spain. He has played and collaborated with many orchestras, chamber ensembles, folk and contemporary world music bands like the Lanciano Symphonic Orchestra (Italy), Orquestra Principe de Asturias (Portugal), Ensemble Contemporaine TM+ (Paris), Orchestra Jacaránda, Trio Caipirinha, Shakata, AstralVoyage (Spain), etc. He has also taken part in various festivals like the GroundUp Music Fest (Miami), Aurora Fine Arts Festival (Sweden), Palo Market Fest (Spain), and performed and recorded with artists like Magda Giannikou (Banda Magda), William Cepeda, Petros Klampanis, Walter Thompson, Gary Willis, Perico Sambeat, Victor Wooten, Patrice Rushen, 4-times Grammy-winning Michael League from Snarky Puppy, among others. Moreover, Luca has worked as a project manager, business agent, and video editor for Berklee College of Music, Valencia, and for the record label GroundUP Music, NY, founded by Michael League.
Since pursuing a Master’s and Post-Master’s degrees at Berklee College of Music, Luca has been creating multi-sensory experiences, as a tool to stimulate self-awareness and cultural competence. Therefore he has created an exposition of 360° VR experiences, with smells, touch, and tastes, as well as an Augmented Reality mobile app that embeds music into real-life experiences.
