Patrizia Laquidara was born in
Catania, on the island of
Sicily. When she was very young her family moved to a small town in the
province of Vicenza,
Veneto, where she began studying music and playing in piano bars during weekends. In 1998 she attended a course at CET music school, as composer and singer of popular music of
Lombardy and Veneto. This school is run by the well-known
Mogol, who wrote the texts of
Lucio Battisti songs. She is also interested in the music of many
Mediterranean countries and in the music of central Europe and the
Balkan region. She often tours Italy with her group, the
Hotel Rif. In 1999 one of her songs, "Stella nascente", was included on an album titled
Canzoni per Ornella Vanoni e Mario Lavezzi, but her true love at the time was for
Brazilian music. Her first solo album, in 2001, was titled
Para você querido Caé (For you, dear Caetano) and was dedicated to the Brazilian singer
Caetano Veloso. Just after this album, her song "Agisce", written with the collaboration of
Bungaro, won the
Città di Recanati prize for best music and interpretation. In 2003, she participated in the
Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Lividi e fiori" and won the
Mia Martini Critics Prize and the Alex Baroni prize for best interpretation. The same year she released her second album, titled
Indirizzo portoghese, and sang its songs during the tour
Indirizzo portoghese live. At the same time, she developed many other projects, collaborating with the pianist Debora Petrina or composing songs for the soundtrack of the 2005 movie ''
Manuale d'amore'', directed by
Giovanni Veronesi. The song "Noite e luar", in Portuguese, became well known in Italy. In 2006, she participated in the international festival of ethnic and contemporary music named "Suoni dell'altro mondo" (Sounds from another world) and also in the Premio Tenco. In 2007, she released her third album,
Funambola, produced by
Arto Lindsay and
Patrick Dillett. The album was dedicated to the tightrope walker
Philippe Petit, who walked on a steel wire between the towers of the
World Trade Center in
New York City. She also received the Gold Mask Prize for Popular Music Singer from the
Bologna Conservatory. In 2008, she toured all around Italy with
Funambola and sang in a musical theatre piece by
Massimo Carlotto. She also performed with the pianist
Alfonso Santimone, looking for electronic sonorities as well as rediscovering old Japanese songs, in this way showing all the eclecticism of her art. She also sang in the show
Creuza de luna, a poetical and musical journey starting in Italy and traveling to
South America,
Spain and
Portugal. She participated in Etnafest in
Catania, sang during the Festivalguer of
Alghero and at the
Cagliari Expo. Late in December, Patrizia presented a video from her song "Ziza", on a TV show on
Rai Due. During 2009 she participated on the show
Musica dei cieli (Music of the skies) and was part of a traditional Italian
Christmas songs concert in the big
Rome Auditorium. She also performed the song "Su li stiddi" at the New Sicilian Song Festival then went to
Lisbon for the Festa do Cinema Italiano, a film festival, where her song "Personaggio" was the cover. She sang in three concerts, the most important being at the Cabaret Maxime. She then flew to
Morocco, in
Casablanca, with the show
Popular Music of the Mediterranean. After coming back to Italy, she received the
Giovanni Paisiello prize, a part of the Magna Grecia Awards, with the following motivation: "The musical event, the balance between the high pitches and the shades in the pronunciation of words, make her voice a unique melody, Patrizia Laquidara emphasizes old sonorities and enters the scene, barefoot, to leave her untold impressions in the intimate sactum of every heart, that opens with her to new rhythms". Her song "Assenza" was then included in the album ''Capo Verde terra d'amore vol. I'', a compilation of songs of
Cape Verde musicians, sung by them and Italian singers. The proceeds of this album are given to the
United Nations food program for children. She participated in a show on the national television channel
Rai Due, then flew to the United States for a July tour, with concerts in
Seattle,
San Francisco,
Los Angeles and
New York, along with the Brazilian singer
Céu. In October, she sang in the
Milan jazz club Blue Note and announced a new record. She sang during the New Year's Eve concert in Piazza dei Signori, Vicenza. == Discography ==