About
Biography
Hersi Matmuja is an Albanian singer. Born on February 1, 1990, in Kukës, Albania, Hersi displayed an early interest in music. She began her professional music career when she was quite young and by her teens had already gained considerable recognition in the music industry in Albania.
She studied at the Artistic Lyceum Jordan Misja in Tirana, after which she went to Italy to study at the Santa Cecilia conservatory in Rome, pursuing a degree in music and specializing in canto. This further honed her musical skills, and she was able to blend her knowledge of classical and popular music in her performances.
Hersi Matmuja is most recognized for her participation in Festivali i Këngës, an annual music competition in Albania and one of the longest-running musical events in the country. She participated in this competition several times, first in 2007. Participations followed in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2014, she won the competition with the song “Zemërimi i një nate,” which gave her the opportunity to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. The song was translated into English for the Eurovision Song Contest and performed as “One Night’s Anger.”
Beginning in 2015, she started a collaboration with the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, contributing to multiple of their productions. Her outstanding performance in the orchestra’s version of Carmen earned her the role of Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, reimagined by the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio. For two consecutive years, this interpretation of Don Giovanni was performed. In 2018, she voiced the Credo, a religious piece from the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, performed at the Panteão Nacional in Lisbon.
On the experimental music front, she delved into the contemporary repertoire, particularly the pieces composed by Albanian artist Admir Shkurtaj. In 2016, she was featured in his opera Katër i Radës. Il Naufragio, a chamber opera produced by the Koreja Theater in Lecce. In 2018, she gave a live performance with the Mesimèr Ensemble of music. In 2020, she was part of the inaugural performance of the opera-concert KA. She also took part in the finale of the 40th Valentino Bucchi Composition Competition, performing three of the six final compositions.
In 2019, Hersi Matmuja collaborated with Ilaria Fantin. They formed the duo Hana. The duo published their live videos on YouTube. In 2021 they did a tour through Italy.
Also in 2021, Hersi released a new song and video, “Kënga çobanit”, which was inspired on the Luma folk tradition. In the same year, she co-organized the Gjallica International Festival, a festival with live music, poetry, workshops and the possibility to buy local products and see something of the area.
