Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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2011 Indie Award

Indie Award: Michéal Castaldo

Editor says: Michéal Castaldo has released two albums in 2011; Olive You and Extravergine.  He is the epitome of an indie artist - he works incredibly hard by touring, producing his own albums, writing his own material and arranging and translating any songs he does cover.  Most importantly his music sounds unique and distinctive.

Runner Up Nominees

The trio could have easily have gone down the usual vocal group route with too typical a repertoire but their debut album proved to be rather surprising.  With only two standards, After Daybreak is a beautifully produced independent album providing us with original songs and unexpected covers and adaptations.  They have a distinctive sound whilst having the best aspects in common with The Canadian Tenors.

It cannot be conveyed enough how talented and special Mariette Davina is, and the shame is that as an independent artist, she continues to share her talents in obscurity.  Her debut album, which mixes her classical (but quirky) vocals with religious themes, possesses a most unusual but welcome sound.  She writes all of her material and hasn't recorded any covers.  Creativity always earns mega points here.

Samantha Link has one of the more powerful voices in the classical crossover genre.  She regularly betters renditions given by more established artists and is assured of her musical identity.  Her album, Bring Me To Life, draws sounds and inspiration from a good variety of genres, which makes for an interesting and eclectic album.  She works hard as an independent artist; she regularly performs and reaches out to other performers.

Independent mezzo-soprano Sisca released her debut album, Impermanent Life, at the turn of the year and it's one of the most original CC albums ever to grace the market.  Sisca brings different flavours into her music and different messages.  There's not an 'Amazing Grace' in sight as you look down the self-penned (with the exception of Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song') tracklist.  Beautifully envisioned, performed and produced, Sisca is one of the more promising artists to have recently appeared.

Notation
The winner of this award was determined by the Editor of Classical-Crossover.co.uk.