Since the eighties, and early childhood, the siblings Daria and Mattia Zappa have performed in small theatres across Switzerland together with their father Marco Zappa, the renowned singer/songwriter from Ticino. Thus they developed a very particular and rich artistic personality on their bow instruments, ranging from the coolness of jazz/rock improvisation to the severity of classical music.
Following their classical training (Mattia studied at the Juilliard School in New York and Daria at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg i.Br.), the siblings reunited in a Duo which, over almost twenty years, played large parts of the Duo-repertoire for violin and violoncello and won the Orpheus-Konzerte prize for young talents in Zurich in 1998.
The Duo has subsequently commissioned new works and performed world premiers of various new compositions including "Su Gentile Invito" by Francesco Hoch, "Duo" by Massimiliano Matesic and "Roter Raum" by Martin Wettstein.
The label Guild published their CD "Portrait" in the summer of 2007.
Daria and Mattia Zappa presently play as appreciated chamber musicians in various ensembles (Duo Zappa.Mainolfi, GoldbergTrioLucerne, CasalQUARTETT) and as soloists, they are also active in the didactic and symphonic fields (Tonhalle Orchester Zurich).
Johann Sebastian Bach: Zweistimmige Inventionen
Ludwig van Beethoven: Duo
Luigi Boccherini: Sonata in D-dur
Luciano Chailly: Trittico
Reinhold Glière: Huit morceaux Op. 39
Georg Friedrich Händel: Passacaglia Arrangement Halvorsen
Zoltàn Kodàly: Duo op.7
Bohuslav Martinu: Duo no. 1
Massimiliano Matesic: Duo per Violino e Violoncello
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Duo KV 423 per violino e violoncello
Maurice Ravel: Sonate pour Violon et Violoncelle