text Teresa Favi
Serena Menarini and her Florence
The singer, composer and producer tells her story between songs and new projects
How did it all start?
I’ve always sung, but I remember I was 8 when I performed my first karaoke number, Think by Aretha Franklin, and a magical door opened inside me.
The success that rewarded vision and courage?
Arranging and singing the Lord’s Prayer with my partner Alessandro Branca in Aramaic, his mother tongue. I could have chosen a pop song or a love song, but I preferred those words for our melody, which we composed in 432 Hz, the frequency of the universe. A sign of love.
Your most interesting project?
I’m collaborating with a team of neuroscientists in a study on stem cells, which can regenerate or otherwise according to the vibrations they receive.
Florence: 3 places that reflect you.
Piazzale Michelangelo: the view of the city from there is wonderful, and it was my company during the various lockdowns. Santa Maria del Fiore with Brunelleschi’s dome, because it takes your breath away. And the roads through the green Florence hills, with their timeless silence.
Serena Menarini in a playlist?
I love funk: Feeling Good is my favourite playlist on Spotify; a mixture of funk and soul tracks.
What would Florence sound like?
It would be Vivaldi’s Spring: because of Botticelli’s Primavera (in the Uffizi, ed.), the masterpiece and symbol of Florence, but also for the sense of rebirth and beauty that the music conveys and Florence embodies.
