Category: Music
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Bring Your Dancing Shoes
Being a musician myself, I am always seeking out other musicians while in Sicily, especially those versed in local folk music, like Ettore, Alfredo, and Totò, pictured here. I heard them first as part of a larger community ensemble in Porticello, my grandfather’s birthplace, in 2011. A couple of years later, I sought them out,…
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The Siren’s Echo
After an acclaimed European tour, Sicilian musician and songwriter Carmen Consoli will release her live double CD, Eco di Sirene, on April 13. Regretfully, I will have to wait until I’m in Sicily next month to get my hands on this acoustic recording, but from the fan videos I’ve seen, it will be worth the…
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Experience Sicilian Inspired Music in Connecticut
Concert! Join me (Allison Scola) and guitarist Joe Ravo on Sunday, April 8, in Farmington, Conn., when our Sicilian and Southern-Italian-inspired, American folk duo, Villa Palagonia, will perform a concert at the Sounding Board Coffeehouse. Agenda: Open Jam and Song Swap at 2PM; Concert at 3PM (2 sets with a 20-minute intermission). Where: The Lodge…
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Friscalettu Duo
Agrigento’s annual Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore going on this week attracts groups from all over the globe, who display their traditional costumes along with exhibiting their culture’s beloved traditional music through performances and processions through town. Photographed in 2016 at the Festival by my cousin Filippo Buttitta, these two young men are playing the…
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Agrigento: Blooming With Music and Dance
This year’s Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore in Agrigento is ongoing (This photo, by my cousin Filippo Buttitta, was taken at the 2016 feast.). Folk dance and music groups from all over the world gather annually to share their cultural patrimony at the UNESCO site Valley of the Temples and throughout the city. Although I’ve…
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Usher In Spring With Saint Joseph’s Day In New York City
Yesterday, I ate this splendid sfinge di San Giuseppe on Staten Island. It was so good! St. Joseph’s Day, celebrated annually on March 19, will be here before we know it! Please join me to celebrate the guardian-father of Jesus and the protector of carpenters, toiling workers, and of course, fathers. Let’s usher in spring…
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Calatafimi Segesta Festival
The 50th Anniversary of the Calatafimi Segesta Festival “Dionisiache” is happening now through September 3. This breathtaking 3rd century B.C. amphitheater on top of Monte Bàrbaro is hosting everything from ancient Greek works like Antigone and new plays such as Shakespeare in Brexit to symphony concerts and jazz. Just add cushions and it’s showtime!
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Here is Where You Heard
After saying, “Arrivederci!” to our wonderful guests from the last week, I drove to Siracusa to meet my cousin and business partner Evelina and her close friends. This evening, we attended “Le Rane,” or “The Frogs,” a comedy by Aristophanes, written in 405 BCE. The ancient theater was full. Joyful theater goers, seemingly all Italian,…
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Play On The Beach
On Friday, June 23, as part of the “Le Forme di Telesis,” or The Shapes of Telesis, arts festival, “The Trojan Women” by Euripedes will be presented in the Parco Archeologico di Selinunte e Cave di Cusa in Castelvetrano. The interpretation, which will emphasize the plight of women immigrants, will be performed on the beach…