He holds the position of “music&talent partnership lead” for Italyrepresenting the main point of contact for the Italian record labels and distributors with whom it works on a daily basis to coordinate the release and distribution of official music videos and to maximize promotional opportunities to support this content. Chiara Bonarrigofrom Messina who put down roots in the United Kingdom, born in 1992, has lived breathing the love for music while using three adjectives to define herself as ambitious, pragmatic, curious.
«I grew up – she says – in a family that loves music and art in all its forms: my maternal grandfather played the piano and in the family there are several personalities with good vocal skills. From Fiorello’s Karaoke on TV to evenings spent together watching the Sanremo Festival, from car trips with the inevitable cassettes of the main Italian singer-songwriters to the first concerts. Music has always been the background to every family experience.».
The talent from Messina attended the Sant’Ignazio scientific high school, but, in parallel with school, he always continued his musical studies: singing school, dance and even a first year ofMusical Academy “Mts-Musical The School” in Milan which had a twinning with “Percorsi Sonori” and “Studio Danza” by Mariangela Bonanno.
“My creative side – he continues – however, has always been compensated by an extremely rational part and already in the last years of high school it was clear to me that I did not want to be an artist, but that I wanted to try to give a contribution to the industry a bit from behind the scenes. So, doing some research, I discovered that in Milan, at Bocconi University, there was a degree program in Economics and Management for art, culture and communication, which went exactly to unite these two souls, the more creative one and the more rational one. In my fourth year of high school I managed to get back into the “Discover Your Talent” programopen to students from all over Italy with an average higher than 9, which allowed me to spend a week on the Bocconi Campus, attending classes from various degree courses and finally taking an entrance test that allowed me to secure a place even before I graduated.” And Bocconi turned out to be providential after all.: «It guaranteed me an education with an economic and strategic-managerial imprint, but at the same time it gave me the opportunity to delve deeper into the functioning and approach the entire world of creative industries that from the outside seemed unattainable. Furthermore, the dense network of university contacts allowed me to create the first approach with the recording industry. Universal Music at the time was looking for an “intership” position and turned to one of the professors at Bocconi who shared my CV and from there it all started».
The present today is “Vevo” and from London it manages the Italian market and is the main point of reference for Italian record labels and artists: «One of the goals – he recalls – is to support artists in every phase of their career, through different programs and activities, investing among other things in the production of live performances. And in this direction, part of my work is precisely linked to the selection of Italian artists to be involved in some support programs and/or within our original live performance content, coordinating the different phases (pre-production, shooting, post-production and broadcasting). And perhaps this is the part of my work that gives me the most satisfaction, especially when we work on programs and formats to support emerging artists. In fact, every year, in January, we launch the Newcomers campaign which sees the selection of 20 emerging Italian artists to keep an eye on for the following year and to whom we guarantee constant support throughout the year. Tananai, Alfa, Olly and BigMama are just some of the artists selected for this program and who over the years have managed to establish themselves with incredible results.».
And the baggage is full and very rich: «There are many projects and artists with whom I have worked since I started: from the creation of the temporary shop of Jovanotti “Jova Pop Shop” for the launch of the album “Oh Vita”, to the collaboration between Baci Perugina and Emma Marrone, passing through Mahmood, Blanco, Elodie, The Kolors and many other artists! A funny anecdote? Zucchero, who entered my office by mistake and after apologizing I couldn’t help but ask him for a photo. He is a living legend!». And the wish is one: «More than a dream in the drawer, the wish I would like to make to the future me – she concludes – is to not lose enthusiasm and to continue to face work with the same passion for this wonderful art».