Artist Profile: Giovanna Moraga Clayton
Born to musicians in Toluca, Mexico, Giovanna began studying cello at the age of six. “Growing up in an ethnically diverse home with two musician parents, I was exposed to a huge variety of music. From Tchaikovsky to the Beatles, Celia Cruz to Tower of Power, Al Jarreau to Carole King, Rogers and Hammerstein to Outkast, I can truly say my influences are many,” Giovanna shared with me.
After earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in cello performance from UCLA, Giovanna spent eight months on a fellowship with the Chicago Symphony. Upon her return to LA, she won positions with the LA Chamber Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and the New West and Santa Barbara Symphonies. A versatile musician, Giovanna has become a familiar face in the Hollywood music scene. “I’ve also been playing, touring, and recording with legendary artists, pop sensations, and international icons like Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Bono, Santana, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, and Los Tigres del Norte,” Giovanna explained. “I’ve also recorded many film scores and played on many TV programs, including American Idol, the Tonight Show, and the Grammy and Academy Award shows.”
In 2010, Giovanna formed Quattro, a quartet made up of cello, violin, guitar, and percussion. “I’ve always loved to write songs and sing,” Giovanna says. “Quattro plays a blend of jazz, classical, Latin, and pop music, all based on original compositions and arrangements by our members. So with the help of a few amazing friends/musicians, I can now call myself a singing-songwriting cellist! I do feel that all of the varied musical exposure I had as a child formed my understanding of melody, harmony, and phrasing. This, in turn, makes performing my most favorite thing ever!”
As for chamber music, Giovanna described it as “the most intimate and exposed music making. I love chamber music, because it is both the most challenging and the most rewarding–you have to understand your role and play it to the fullest. As a section member in an orchestra your focus is executing someone else’s interpretation of a work while creating a unified sound–still quite rewarding, but different. Chamber music requires much more self-expression and opens the gates of creativity where you agree with a smaller group of people on the interpretation. There is more opportunity to pour yourself into the final product.”
Joining Pacific Serenades for the first time, Giovanna is looking forward to working with three other cellists. “I am pretty much over the moon about this concert!” Giovanna shared with me. “We are playing one of my favorite Bach Suites, and I am playing with three cellists whom I admire, respect, and aspire to play like. I’ve learned so much from these musicians already, and I look forward to learning so much more during the coming months. In a nutshell, I’m stoked!”
