Twenty years old Teresa De Sio's first encounter with music, experienced with Musica Nova, the ensemble that managed to merge folk music with songwriting toward the end of the seventies so full of emotions.
1980 sees the release of her first solo album "Sulla Terra Sulla Luna". Teresa being the author of all the lyrics, finds in the Neapolitan dialect her personal way of singing. During this year a tour shows her personality as a performer also.
In 1982 her second solo album "Teresa De Sio" is released containing super hits such as "Voglia 'e Turnà" and "Aumm Aumm". With great surprise this record sells over 500000 copies. A long tour acclaims her success and receives total esteem from the critics that celebrates the poetic e musical peculiarity obtaining a very sophisticated crossover.
Also her third album "Tre" sells over 500000 copies, her popularity is no longer in discussion. Obtaining many awards for the lyrics entirely written by her. A new tour that ends up with a direct RAI TV show broadcasted from the Mostra D'Oltremare in Naples with an audience of over thirty thousand people (in TV the show was followed by over 7 million people).
Two years of hard work are involved for "Africana" the first album in which we find Italian lyrics together with Neapolitan dialect. There is also a change in musical direction, now closer to rock, with the collaboration of Brian Eno, the very well known producer (from Roxy Music to U2), an artistic bound and friendship that went on for a long time, obtaining important and prestigious results. The album was released in England, France and Germany.
The following year for the first time Teresa does not compose the songs, but she approaches Neapolitan classical songs of the beginning of the century: "Toledo E Regina", a collection of classics sung in a admirable manner, strings arranged and conducted by Paul Buckmaster (famous for his collaborations with Elton John, Miles Davis, Counting Crows, etc). It also sees the collaboration of Ernesto Vitolo, a very talented young musician, who made arrangements and played piano.
1988: "Sindarella Suite", a double album, is released. The first contains songs, whereas the second shows the natural daring of the writing of Teresa De Sio, a little opera written together with Brian Eno and Michael Brook called "La Vera Storia Di Lupita Mendera" ("The True Story Of Lupita Mendera") that was presented at the the International Poem Festival held in Parma. The suite features Piero Pelù of Litfiba, who made a very touching interpretation of his role, the soldier.
In 1991 "Ombre Rosse" is released, this record seems to close an artistic circle. Presented in an extensive tour that went on the whole summer and winter season, "Ombre Rosse" represents a melting pot of cultures and musical languages. Guests of the album are: on drums Omar Hakim, on bass Scott Ambush and the lute player Anoir Brahem, the virtuoso from Tunisia.
"La Mappa del Nuovo Mondo" (1993) is entirely written in Italian and composed by her (there is only one song in Neapolitan). This work shows strong poetic inspiration towards important moments, such as the manifesto song "Io Non Mi Pento" or the crude version of Italy searching for its best minds "Pedala Pedala (Una Ragazza Al Giro D'Italia)" or even "Ritmi Cubani" dedicated to the Cuban Revolution of Che Guevara e Fidel Castro.
In the winter of 93/94 she toured Italy with a show called "Parole E Musica". During this show the artist creates an intensive and unique relation with the audience, because the artist and the audience communicate exchanging opinions and thoughts.
In September 1995 "Un Libero Cercare", a studio album recorded with special live techniques, is released, completely in Italian and recorded live in the Teatro Petrelli of Longiano. Here we see Teresa in search for sounds of natural acoustics, following her needs to not only give her songs a uniform sound and arrangements but also the awareness of a "live" soul that has always been so important to her. The album features special guests such as Fabrizio De Andrè and Fiorella Mannoia, showing their esteem towards her with such collaboration.
Teresa has always been a jury of the Rassegna Della Canzone d'Autore Di Recanati, but in 1996 she participates with a composition of hers "La Cattiva Sorella" for reciting voice and electric guitar, dedicated to the widows of Chernobyl that was written just a few days after the explosion. "La Cattiva Sorella" was read exactly at the same time in Rome by the poet Maurizio Gregorini in front of 50 thousand people during a commemorative show in front of the Colosseum organized by Lega Ambiente, CGIL and WWF.
During the summer she makes a number of performances entitled "Brigate Di Frontiera" taking the name from one of her songs. This time she is on stage with a young band called Yo Yo Mundi and a songwriter called Andrea Chimenti.
January of 1997 is a feverish month: she writes three unpublished songs and chooses the "historic" songs to perform in tour. the leader of this group is the guitarrist and arranger Sasà Flauto, a very talented Napolitan musician. The recording of this ended up on the album "Primo Viene L'Amore" released in June 1997, containing 15 songs, three of which were unpublished, "Rondine", "Anima Lenta" and "Un Samba" as well as other more popular and traditional songs as well as great hits such as "Voglia 'E Turnà", "Marzo", "Terra 'E Nisciuno" all rearranged and reelaborated with new sounds.
The summer tour sees the collaboration with Pantarei, representatives of italian new rock, already featured in "Canti Sudati". The tour starts off in Cuba (4 dates completely sold out) ending in Italy the beginning of October.
1999 is the year that sees the achievement of the "La Notte del Dio Che Balla" project in which Teresa de Sio is the artistic director. The project contains an unpublished track "Salta Salta" that was presented as national preview during the big concert that is held every year in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome on the 1st of May, the show was broadcasted live on national TV RAI3, in front of five hundred thousand people.
This project then is transformed into a show, with six concerts performed in the most important festivals throughout Italy: more than three hours of live music, that expands from the roots of popular music to the tecnological contamination. A homage to one of the most important traditions of Italian culture: the taranta and the place of origin, the Gargano. The year ends with two live participations at the Rassegna del Club Tenco in Sanremo and at the Salone della Musica of Torino.
On January 7th 2001 she performes at the closing night of the rassegna called "I Suoni Della Terra" in front of the huge salt mines of Petralia Sottana, in the protected park of the Madonie, an hours drive from Palermo. The income of this show was devolved to the WWF.
In the meantime Teresa is working on the songs for her new album, whereas the concerts of the show "Da Napoli a Bahia, da Genova A Bastia" (2001/2002) have seen her in Italian theatres during the winter time, whereas the summer months in festivals. The show was written by Teresa with the participation of Giovanni Soldini, the very well known lone sailor.
The “Da Napoli a Bahia, da Genova A Bastia” project goes on until summer 2003 with the final concert being held at Salerno harbour with the partecipation of international artists such as Lenine (Brasil), Mariana De Moraes (Brasil), Ondina Santos (Capo Verde).
The recording of the show becomes a special Tv show for RaiUno national tv. The broadcasting had an audience of one million people.
In autumn Teresa De Sio starts working on a new project that is called “Craj (Domani)” that is tied to popular Italian music mainly of Puglia area. Visiting Uccio Aloisi and I Cantori Di Carpino at their homes in the Gargano and Salento, convincing them to get together, to play liberating music of the roots, involving the charismatic voice of Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Teresa presents this very particular show for the first time in march 2004.
The best way to imagine this show is to think about it as if it takes place at a country fair. With the lights and it smells it of our childhood.
The audience is not be arranged in traditional way and the musicians are not on traditional stages. The setting recreates the idea of a courtyard in which the musical events and rehearsed events will be carried out. The lighting consists of many strings of hundreds of small colored lights that create a cascade from the centre towards the outer side of the space.
Due to the enormous success of “Craj (Domani)”, a film producer decides to turn it into a film (the release is forseen for autumn 2005).
In September 2004 she finally returns to the recording studio to record the new songs. Four years have passed since the last album and it was about time, she has new songs, she has the right idea, and have found great force that comes from her return to folk music.
It all happened in one month and a half, which compared to the previous albums is an extremely short time. Giving birth to “A Sud! A Sud!”, the title to her new work, that is released in December 2004.
“A Sud! A Sud!” is receiving great consent from the audience and from the critics and in May 2005 she started to bring the a new show on tour.