Articles by: Frida Hill

  • Events: Reports

    Marco Calliari, the Rocker in Love with Italian Music


    Born in Quebec in an opera loving Italian family with an early passion for heavy metal music, Marco Calliari is the Italian Canadian singer-songwriter whose music is a personal exploration of the Italian diaspora and its folklore.



    After the successfull 2009 Gotham sets at Joe’s Pub and (Le) Poisson Rouge, on January 7th and 8th he will return to New York, first at the The Living Room in the Lowe East Side then at Zebulon in Williamsburg.  The events will be a preview of his new album of original compositions “Al Faro Est” (At the Eastern Lighthouse), which was released in Canada in the Fall of 2010. The two open-to-the-public shows will be part of the APAP Conference Showcase, the largest, most inclusive marketplace for the performing arts in the world.

     
    Born in Montreal in the mid-seventies to Italian immigrants, Calliari adopted French and at age 14 founded the highly popular Francophone thrash metal band Anonymus. He spent the next 15 years playing hundreds of concerts and TV shows throughout Quebec. In 2003, he decided to pursue a solo career. During a trip to Italy he sang classic Italian songs at his sister's weddingm this is when he realized he wanted to explore his musical roots. The emotion of the performance inspired him to record “Che La Vita” in 2003. Calliari wrote all 14 tracks for the album in Italian and went on to sell 25,000 on his own independent label, Casa Nostra. A second album in 2006, “Mia Dolce Vita”, sold another 35,000 copies. In this project Marco sang covers of Italian songwriters such as Nino Rota, Renato Carosone, Toto Cutugno, some of Italy's great modern poets like Fabrizio De André and Lucio Dalla to the current generation exemplified by Blonde Redhead, who were born in Italy but also raised in Montreal.

     
    Marco Calliari's heterogenous background and interest proved to be a powerful asset. In his music he skillfully combines traditional Italian rhythms such as tarantella with elements of flamenco, klezmer, reggae, ska and rock.
     
    "We No Speak Americano”


    During the Summer of 2010 a remix of an earlier Calliari track “L’Americano” by Montreal DJ MC Mario became the surprise international dance sensation “We No Speak Americano”, racking up over 1 Million YouTube views and debuting in the Top 40 of the UK Pop Charts.
    Marco on top of being a staple of Montreal cultural events, television and radio broadcasts is a polished performer in North America and Europe, who has shared the stage with top Italian artists such as Zucchero, Carmen Consoli, Vinicio Capossela and Peppe Voltarelli.


    For more info contact Contact:  Mark Gartenberg, (212) 532-3184, [email protected]




    1/7/11     The Living Room

                    154 Ludlow Street (between Stanton & Rivington)

                    Concert @ 8:00 PM

                    Tickets: FREE

                 

    1/8/11     Zebulon

                    258 Wythe Avenue (Williamsburg, Bklyn)

                    Concert @ 8:30 PM

                    Tickets: FREE

                   

     
  • Events: Reports

    “PINOCCHIO The Italian Musical” on Stage in New York

    Garinei & Giovannini's "Rugantino" was the last Italian musical to be performed on Broadway; it was 1964. Forty-six years later, during the Italian Heritage and Culture Month, “PINOCCHIO The Italian Musical” arrives in NY; not on Broadway but on the stage of The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. For one week, October 19-23, the Compagnia della Rancia, the leading Italian musical comedy production company, in collaboration with Queens-based Incanto Productions LLC and Laura Rossi International, will bring the popular Italian fairytale to the Upper East Side. The musical, directed by Saverio Marconi,  is ideal for children and adults of all ages.

    “PINOCCHIO The Italian Musical” is based on "The Adventures of Pinocchio,” written in 1881 by Carlo Collodi; and it is intended as a modern musical adaptation featuring diverse genres of music, including rock ballads, operetta, canzone, hip-hop and Latin. The music is by the Italian band the Pooh, one of the world's longest lasting bands with a 40 year career and over 25 million albums and 23 millions singles sold.

    “Being Italian and based in Queens, we are extremely excited to bring the Italian cast and sets to the Big Apple so that American audiences can be entertained and touched by this two-hour trip to Italy without ever getting on a plane!” said Simona Rodano, Co-Founder of Incanto Productions LLC, and “Angela” in “Pinocchio the Italian Musical.”

    The musical debuted in 2003, cumulating over 460,000 viewers worldwide since then. TheNew York performances will be in Italian with English subtitles. “We are confident adults and children will be captivated by the musical theater and the Italian culture depicted in the performances,” said Mary Sarah Baker, general manager at The Kaye Playhouse Theater.

     
    To purchase Tickets please contact The Kaye Playhouse Box office at (212) 772-4448 (M-F 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 pm). Tickets are $87, $70 and $47. The Kaye Theater at Hunter College is located at 695 Park Avenue (E 68th St btw Park and Lexington Ave).
    For more information please visit this site.