Redi Hasa, cellist and member of Ludovico Einaudi’s core ensemble of musicians, will release his first solo album on Decca Records in September 2020. The Stolen Cello will explore Redi’s inspiring story. As a young man Hasa was caught up in the Albanian conflict of the early 90s, and navigated a new life in Italy with his most prized possession – a stolen cello.

The first single from The Stolen Cello ‘Seasons Going By’ is out now.

Born in Tirana, Albania to artistic parents, Redi Hasa had learnt the cello’s repertoire by the age of 13 on an instrument owned by the state music academy. In 1989 – as the Berlin Wall fell – Albania hurtled towards civil war, overwhelmed by poverty and financial unrest.

“I am afraid to leave the house. We are all afraid”. Hasa was a 20-year-old enrolled at the Tirana Conservatory just as the clouds of conflict gathered overhead. Hasa’s older brother encouraged him to flee to Italy to escape the escalating violence.

Arriving at the port of Bari in Southern Italy, unable to speak the local dialect, Hasa began the second act of his life. Hasa had brought with him the academy’s cello, no longer on loan, but stolen from the government of his home country.

Redi Hasa is best known to global audiences as the cellist in Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi’s touring ensemble. Hasa’s cello can be heard on Einaudi’s ambitious Seven Days Walking project.

Hasa is now set to release his first solo album The Stolen Cello in September 2020. Showcasing his lyrical cello to tell a deeply personal story of hope and survival.