Giovanna Pessi was born in Basel, Switzerland, and began playing the harp at age 7. From 1995 to 2000 she studied historical harps with Edward Witsenburg in Den Haag and Heidrun Rosenzweig at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland. From 2000 to 2002, Giovanna Pessi completed her studies with the Norwegian lutenist Rolf Lislevand at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, Germany. As a soloist and accompanist specialized in early music she performed with various musicians such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Konrad Junghänel, Marc Minkowski, Harry Bicket, Philippe Pierlot, Rolf Lislevand. From 2004 to 2010 Giovanna Pessi worked with Norwegian pianist and composer Christian Wallumrød. As a member of his group the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble she started to explore contemporary music on the baroque harp.