Trainer Profile

"...The fluent vocal texture of Stefania Patanè, who demonstrates not only technical prowess but also stylistic interpretation that is seasoned, well-crafted and compelling." (Bob Stoloff, jazz voice teacher) "I first heard Stefania Patanè about one year ago at the Vittoria Jazz Festival, and I immediately realized that I was in front of an extraordinary artistic talent: 'a singer who really knows how to use her voice as an instrument at last!!', I said right away..." (Max Ionata, saxophone player) Born in Catania. She's a charismatic artist that brings in jazz and world music her own  personality. Her work mostly took shape through the study of jazz, bossa nova and folk music, which developed over the years into the creation of her own original style; a style which aims to combine the roots of traditional jazz with contemporary forms of vocal phrasing and expressions.  Although she hails from a family of classical musicians of world renown (the orchestra conductors Francesco and Giuseppe Patanè), her initial approach to music was absolutely instinctive, starting with a guitar self-study, at the age of 12. Later, after taking guitar lessons for two years, she decided to direct her musical studies to the voice, taking up jazz singing. While carrying on her musical studies, she graduated in Medicine and Surgery with first-class honors in 1998. After a couple of years form the degree, she decided to dedicate herself entirely to the musical career, both as performer and as educator. EDUCATOR. Voice teacher, skilled in vocal technique, specialized in jazz and world music, vocal improvisation and choir practice. Estill Master Trainer. She's been working as a voice teacher since 2000, expert in jazz singing and vocal techniques, as she acquired an outstanding amount of inter-disciplinary proficiencies concerning the artistic voice studies. She went in for joining the acquired artistic and scientific knowledge together, through the study of the "Estill Voice Training" (EVT: a scientific method of voice training set up by the American singer and researcher Jo Estill), that she carried out under the guidance of the Estill Certified Course Instructor (CCI) Elisa Turlà, until she earned the Estill Master Teacher Certification (CMT) in 2005. Over the following years, she's been working as Elisa Turlà's assistant within the Estill Voicecraft courses, and she's also been engaged in spreading the Estill model across Sicily. In 2010 she organized in Catania the first convention entitled "The Artistic Phoniatrics and the Estill Voicecraft", featuring Elisa Turà and the renowned speech pathologist Dr. Franco Fussi. She is currently the Voice Department Director of iMusic School Rome, where she works as vocal instructor, vocal ensemble director, clinician and musical events promoter. She also collaborates or have collaborated with many others music academies, as CESM (Catania), Palermo Jazz (Palermo), Artidee (Rome), Centro della voce (Naples) and many others. From 2009 to 2013 she was jazz vocal teacher at the Francesco Cilea Conservatory (Reggio Calabria). Furthermore, she's been teaching in several jazz and voice techniques workshops, as: Gessopalena Jazz, Jazz D'Amare, Summer Jazz, Piazza Jazz, Estill Training Courses. Since 2011, she's been Bob Stoloff's assistant and interpreter at many workshops held in Italy. She has also worked as an assistant/interpreter for Norma Winstone, Kurt Elling, Michele Hendricks, Joey Blake, Rhiannon and Roger Treece. She took part as a speaker in the Fifth Estill World Voice Symposium in 2011 (Rome), where she presented her research about Mediterranean Voices. In 2014, as part of the iMusic School Rome team, she has started with professor Bob Stoloff the first "Bob Stoloff Vocal Jazz Academy" (2014-2016).  Since 2014 to present, Stefania conducts many master classes in Italy,  teaching her own model called "Vocal Jazz Training", that consists of original exercises where Vocal Technique is applied to Scat and Vocal Improvisation. Stefania has also developed the "Vocal Creation Zone" (V.C.Z.), a path of workshops for practicing Vocal Improvisation and Circle Singing. PROFESSIONAL PERFORMER. Singer, composer, arranger. From 1999 to 2008 she took part in the leadership of some musical projects where jazz, bossa nova and different forms of ethno music blended together. Mainly: the duo with the guitarist Sandro Maccarrone (Musaika) and etno quartet Taranta. She performed in many jazz festivals and clubs. At the same time, she got into the study of percussions, pandeiro most of all. She was selected to take part in two consecutive editions of the "Biennial of the Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean Sea" (Rome, Italy 1999; Genova, Italy and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina 2001). In 2002 she performed at the "Comemoraçao Italo-Moçambicana pelo 10° Aniversario do Acordo Geral da Paz", for the Italian Embassy (Maputo, Mozambique). In the meantime she carried on her jazz studies and also took part in several workshops with Norma Winstone, Maria Pia De Vito, Ralph Towner, Bob Stoloff. In 2000 she was elected as "the best vocal class student" by the famous jazz singer Norma Winstone, at the Marsala Doc Jazz Festival Workshops 2000 (Marsala, Italy); as a consequence she was nominated for the renowned Siena Jazz scholarship. Since 2005 she's been giving rise to some jazz bands (trios and quartets) as a leader. In 2010 she graduated and specialized in Jazz Music with first-class honors at the Arcangelo Corelli Conservatory, Messina. Getting more and more into jazz, both as a singer and as a composer, she has realized several jazz projects, for which she occasionally collaborated with many Sicilian jazz musicians who are well-known all over Italy. Her first album "Even not 4", by her name as performer, composer and arranger, has been released by the Wide Sound label in Spring 2013. The session was made with a group of high-level Italian jazz musicians and the great scat and voice teacher Bob Stoloff (as a special guest).  Since she moved in Rome, in the Fall 2012, she collaborated with some of the more renowned and interesting jazz italian musicians. Mainly: Roberto Tarenzi, Francesco Puglisi, Daniele Mencarelli, Andrea Pozza, Luca Santaniello, Andrea Rea, Francesco de Rubeis, Vittorio Silvestri, Mauro Grossi, Massimo Manzi and many others. In 2014 she collaborated with the american pianist John Colianni (Lionel Hampton Orchestra member, Mel Torme sideman). At the same time, she started collaborating with the Brazilian pianist Christianne Neves and later with the famous Brazilian bass player Alfredo Paixao. She started many new projects, as: “Stefania Patanè New 4et”, “Patanè & Mencarelli Duo”, “Deep In South”, “I Remember you”, “Restart 4et”, “Invisible trio”, "Sketching Sounds", "Timeline Sound". "Italian in Jazz". Most of them are still current. Since 2013, she is the singer of iMusic Big Band, who was founded by alto sax player Angelo Schiavi, where she had the opportunity to sing beside the great trumpet player Flavio Boltro (June 2015). In 2014 Stefania achieved the "Top 2" (2nd classified) in the Vocal Category of the "Made in New York Jazz Competition". She has also performed in many jazz festivals (Italy, France, Israel, Polland). In november 2017 she has collaborated with the world music group "Manao", guided by saxophone player Jose Vera Bello, creating an interesting meeting between the traditional music of the Canary Islands and the Sicilian folk music.  She recently started "New Focus", a musical project made of her original compositions, influenced by afro, world and pop music, developing into a contemporary and creative jazz music. www.stefaniapatane.com https://www.facebook.com/stefaniapataneofficial/