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  • Events: Reports

    The Embassy of Italy in the US Celebrates Italian Internet Day



    BY MATTEO RENZI 

    PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY 

    TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2016 
    “The day Italy discovered the Internet” is the story of a project completed by a few pioneers and ignored by everyone else for years. It is also the beginning of a new opportunity for our country. It is about the digital agenda, networks, and the sharing society.
    “The day Italy discovered the Internet’ was April 30, 1986.
    Ronald Regan had been President of the United States for six years. Just a few months prior, the President had to deal with public dismay at the explosion of the Space Shuttle two minutes after take-off. In the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbaciov’s perestroika agenda had just suffered a blow as few days earlier, on April 26, when the nuclear power plant of Chernobyl exploded, killing tens of people and creating a huge environmental disaster.
    The front pages of newspapers around the globe were all reporting the news from Chernobyl, when all newsrooms in Italy had just received the most ignored press release in history. It read: “the Center of Electronic Computation of the National Research Center in Pisa established for the first time a connection with Arpanet, a network created in the United States to connect computers in universities, research centers, and military agencies.” Arpanet is the father of the Internet, and Italy was the fourth European country to be connected following Norway, the U.K., and West Germany.
    There was no mention in any of the newspapers of the time. There was no video to document that moment. No pictures. At that time, smartphones and selfies were not yet available. Was the birth of the Internet in Italy the biggest news hole in the history of Italian journalism? Maybe. Anyway, it no longer matters.
    April 30, 1986 made a mark in the minds and hearts of the pioneers of the Internet. They are the researchers of the National Research Center who imagined, wanted, and made the Internet come true. Among them, Stefano Trumpy, Luciano Lenzini, and Blasco Bonito, who were present in Pisa on the first day of the Internet.
    On April 30, 2016, it is going to be 30 years exactly. And we shall celebrate another Internet Day. Everybody is invited to participate. The celebration will start a day earlier, Friday, April 29, to allow all the schools in Italy to participate. On that day, with Riccardo Luna and the ‘digital champions’, coordinated by the Ministry of the University and of Scientific Research, we are organizing events and activities to better understand the web, the opportunities that it generated, and the skills required to defend ourselves from online.
    The same program will take place in all the regions of Italy, including events dedicated to civil society, the private sector, and government agencies. The goal is to strengthen the synergy between all players.
    The rest is up to us, to the government. In April, we are launching the government plan for the ultra broadband. This is the first step to bring to all citizens a fast Internet connection no later than 2020.
    To sum it up, Italian Internet Day celebrates the deep meaning of the revolution that started 30 years ago, as well as our commitment to close the digital gap within the next four years.

     
  • Events: Reports

    Building Bridges to Build Peace


    "The American Pope" edited by Paolo Messa,  Massimo Milione and Lara Jakes,  is a new book published by the Vatican Publishing House which gathering the three most important speeches made by Francis during his last trip in Cuba and US.



    This book will be launched in New York City at the Columbia university - Italian Academy on April 21 at 7 pm.  Apostolic Nuncio to UN, Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza, the Italian Minister of Environment, Hon. Gian Luca Galletti, and the director of the Earth Institute, Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs will discuss about it with a special  focus on Francis' effort for the climate change deal. The co-author of "the American Pope", Dr. Paolo Messa  (Director of the Center for American Studies in Rome), will be present.


    "In a time of crisis Pape Francis promoted a word overseas: hope. He launched an appeal as well: "Dream that the world with you might be different." With a warning , though: "Humans need to guard their own identityn not to fall into a superficial search of unity." This is the true face of a good globalization, that "grows a population and gives dignity to all men."


    "The American Pope",  collection of  the main speeches of Pope Francis of the Apostolic Visit to Cuba, to the US and to the UN,  is accompanied by some analysi of the context.



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  • Art & Culture

    Kickstarter for Le Passioni dell'Anima!

    TO SUPPORT THE PROJECT  >>

    Roberto Scarcella Perino, an Italian composer living in New York, and Federica Anichini, a scholar in Medieval Studies, have created a charming piece of children's choral music. Following their Le Passioni dell’Aria (2014) Roberto and Federica have composed Le Passioni dell’Anima. 

    The piece is a musical story, and can be performed as a very short opera. The emotions at the core of the piece are six, paired in opposites: Tristezza/Gioia, Paura/Coraggio, Rabbia/Gentilezza (Sadness/Joy, Fear/Courage, Rage/Kindness). 

    They are represented as the guests—the soul, as their ever available hostess who, striking up conversation with each of them, reveals their portrait. Anima, the soul, is interpreted by a soprano who sings 4 arias during the Azione in musica.

    The different passions of the souls were the inspiration for Roberto’s music. Federica’s lyrics are meant to depict the emotions, simply as temporary guests taking turns in the children’s mind and body. Last but not least, Le Passioni dell’Animaspeaks to the engagement of children in a foreign language, and in Italian in particular. 

    The Italian lyrics give them the chance to be exposed to the sounds of a language deeply connected to the very origins of music composition. 

    Singing Le Passioni dell’Aria in Italian has proven to be a thrilling experience for the kids of the New York City Children’s Chorus. Now, we have asked the same choir to premiere our Le Passioni dell’Anima. 

    The performance is scheduled for the Spring 2017, at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, in New York City. Le Passioni dell’Anima will be performed in Italy as well. 

    On April 2nd, 2017, in Messina, Sicily, the Coro di Voci Bianche del Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini di Palermo will be conducted by Maestro Antonio Sottile for the Filarmonica Laudamo.

    They need your help

    Le Passioni dell’Anima will be premiered in 2017 simultaneously in New York City, at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, and in Messina, at the Filarmonica Laudamo, the oldest musical association in Sicily. 

    The double world premiere of Le Passioni dell’Anima is scheduled, the venues booked, the children’s choir contracted, and rehearsals will start after the Summer! 

    Your contributions will cover the work of the Artistic Director and the Pianist of the chorus, as well as of the recording production, mastering/mixing, and artwork for the CD. Albeit challenging, we can say with all confidence that this project is moving forward as planned. 

    Thank you so much for your interest and support, and please, join them for the premiere in New York, in April, 2017! 

    The performance will be part of the music series organized at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, an institution which aims at spreading Italian culture outside of its national boundaries, and at supporting the study of the Italian language and culture. The concert will be open to the general public, and free. Or join them for the Italian performance of Le Passioni dell’Anima, on April 2nd 2017, in Messina, Sicily, at the Filarmonica Laudamo 

    Roberto Scarcella Perino’s music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by excellent ensembles and soloists throughout Europe and The United States, including the Orchestra Arturo Toscanini, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Giuseppe Bruno and the Exclusive Saxophone Quartet. His works include three operas, 2 piano concertos, movie scores, three ballets, chamber and choral music. His first opera, A Caval Donato, commissioned and premiered by Teatro Verdi in Pisa in 1999, has since been produced at Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina (Sicily). Mr. Scarcella Perino was chosen to write the music for Verdi, Merli and Cucù, an opera commissioned and premiered by Teatro Verdi in Busseto, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of death of Giuseppe Verdi in 2001. Blackout, had its world premiere in October 2003 at the Tarrytown Music Hall in New York, and had further productions at Teatro Piccolo Regio in Turin and at Teatro Savio in Messina. His newest cantata for children’s chorus, Le Passioni dell’Anima, the sequel to his successful Le Passioni dell’Aria, will be premiered in Messina and New York in April 2017. Spring 2016 will see the world premiere of La Scolta, a new work for mezzo-soprano, women's chorus and orchestra performed by the SolEnsemble. Mr. Scarcella Perino is a Senior Lecturer at the NYU Italian Department and a Scholar in Residence at the American Institute for Verdi Studies. He has been the recipient of numerous high honors and awards, including an International Competition for Children’s Opera and the Musical Analysis International Competition N. Slonimskij. He holds degrees in Piano and in Composition from the Conservatory Martini in Bologna. He studied composition at Accademia di Santa Cecilia, in Milan at Accademia Petrassi, and also Conducting at the Juilliard School of Music. He graduated from the University of Bologna with a degree in Musicology and he taught Music Analysis at the Arturo Toscanini Foundation in Parma. Every summer, Roberto teaches a course on Italian Opera at NYU in Florence and in he is currently teaching a new class of Italian Through Opera at New York University.

    Federica Anichini is a scholar in Medieval Italian Literature. She holds a PhD in Medieval Literature from New York University. In 2009, she published the monograph Voices of the Body. Liminal Grammar in Guido Cavalcanti Rime. She has been teaching at the College level (Smith College, The College of New Jersey, Fordham University), and is currently teaching Italian Literature at La Scuola d’Italia Guglielmo Marconi, in New York. Over the past few years, Federica has worked with Roberto Scarcella Perino at the composition of musical pieces for children, writing the lyrics. The Passioni dell’anima is their second set. Le passioni dell’aria was completed in 2014.
     

  • Le Passioni dell'Anima


    Roberto Scarcella Perino, an Italian composer living in New York, and Federica Anichini, a scholar in Medieval Studies, have created a charming piece of children's choral music. Following their Le Passioni dell’Aria (2014) Roberto and Federica have composed Le Passioni dell’Anima. 



    The piece is a musical story, and can be performed as a very short opera. The emotions at the core of the piece are six, paired in opposites: Tristezza/Gioia, Paura/Coraggio, Rabbia/Gentilezza (Sadness/Joy, Fear/Courage, Rage/Kindness). They are represented as the guests—the soul, as their ever available hostess who, striking up conversation with each of them, reveals their portrait. Anima, the soul, is interpreted by a soprano who sings 4 arias during the Azione in musica.


    The different passions of the souls were the inspiration for Roberto’s music. Federica’s lyrics are meant to depict the emotions, simply as temporary guests taking turns in the children’s mind and body. Last but not least, Le Passioni dell’Animaspeaks to the engagement of children in a foreign language, and in Italian in particular. 


    The Italian lyrics give them the chance to be exposed to the sounds of a language deeply connected to the very origins of music composition. Singing Le Passioni dell’Aria in Italian has proven to be a thrilling experience for the kids of the New York City Children’s Chorus. Now, we have asked the same choir to premiere our Le Passioni dell’Anima. 


    The performance is scheduled for the Spring 2017, at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, in New York City.http://www.casaitaliananyu.org Le Passioni dell’Anima will be performed in Italy as well. On April 2nd, 2017, in Messina, Sicily, the Coro di Voci Bianche del Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini di Palermo will be conducted by Maestro Antonio Sottile for the Filarmonica Laudamo.http://www.filarmonicalaudamo.it


    They need your help
    Le Passioni dell’Anima will be premiered in 2017 simultaneously in New York City, at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, and in Messina, at the Filarmonica Laudamo, the oldest musical association in Sicily. We're thrilled to announce that the double world premiere of Le Passioni dell’Anima is scheduled, the venues booked, the children’s choir contracted, and rehearsals will start after the Summer! Your contributions will cover the work of the Artistic Director and the Pianist of the chorus, as well as of the recording production, mastering/mixing, and artwork for the CD. Albeit challenging, we can say with all confidence that this project is moving forward as planned. 


    Thank you so much for your interest and support, and please, join them for the premiere in New York, in April, 2017! 


     

    The performance will be part of the music series organized at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, an institution which aims at spreading Italian culture outside of its national boundaries, and at supporting the study of the Italian language and culture. The concert will be open to the general public, and free. Or join us for the Italian performance of Le Passioni dell’Anima, on April 2nd 2017, in Messina, Sicily, at the Filarmonica Laudamo 







    Roberto Scarcella Perino’s music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by excellent ensembles and soloists throughout Europe and The United States, including the Orchestra Arturo Toscanini, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Giuseppe Bruno and the Exclusive Saxophone Quartet. His works include three operas, 2 piano concertos, movie scores, three ballets, chamber and choral music. His first opera, A Caval Donato, commissioned and premiered by Teatro Verdi in Pisa in 1999, has since been produced at Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina (Sicily). Mr. Scarcella Perino was chosen to write the music for Verdi, Merli and Cucù, an opera commissioned and premiered by Teatro Verdi in Busseto, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of death of Giuseppe Verdi in 2001. Blackout, had its world premiere in October 2003 at the Tarrytown Music Hall in New York, and had further productions at Teatro Piccolo Regio in Turin and at Teatro Savio in Messina. His newest cantata for children’s chorus, Le Passioni dell’Anima, the sequel to his successful Le Passioni dell’Aria, will be premiered in Messina and New York in April 2017. Spring 2016 will see the world premiere of La Scolta, a new work for mezzo-soprano, women's chorus and orchestra performed by the SolEnsemble. Mr. Scarcella Perino is a Senior Lecturer at the NYU Italian Department and a Scholar in Residence at the American Institute for Verdi Studies. He has been the recipient of numerous high honors and awards, including an International Competition for Children’s Opera and the Musical Analysis International Competition N. Slonimskij. He holds degrees in Piano and in Composition from the Conservatory Martini in Bologna. He studied composition at Accademia di Santa Cecilia, in Milan at Accademia Petrassi, and also Conducting at the Juilliard School of Music. He graduated from the University of Bologna with a degree in Musicology and he taught Music Analysis at the Arturo Toscanini Foundation in Parma. Every summer, Roberto teaches a course on Italian Opera at NYU in Florence and in he is currently teaching a new class of Italian Through Opera at New York University.



    Federica Anichini is a scholar in Medieval Italian Literature. She holds a PhD in Medieval Literature from New York University. In 2009, she published the monograph Voices of the Body. Liminal Grammar in Guido Cavalcanti Rime. She has been teaching at the College level (Smith College, The College of New Jersey, Fordham University), and is currently teaching Italian Literature at La Scuola d’Italia Guglielmo Marconi, in New York. Over the past few years, Federica has worked with Roberto Scarcella Perino at the composition of musical pieces for children, writing the lyrics. The Passioni dell’anima is their second set. Le passioni dell’aria was completed in 2014.

     
  • Events: Reports

    THIS WEEKEND on i-italyTV/ NYC Life


     
  • Events: Reports

    NOIAW Celebrates its 35th Anniversary this Weekend

    New York, NY -- TheNational Organization of Italian American Women (NOIAW), the only national organization for women of Italian ancestry, celebrates its 35th Anniversary with a Luncheon and Silent Auction at the St. Regis New York on Saturday, April 16, 2016 at 11:30 AM and honors two accomplished Italian American women:

    “Since our founding in 1980, NOIAW has supported and inspired Italian American women,” saidMaria Tamburri, NOIAW Chair. “As we celebrate our 35th anniversary, we are extremely proud to honor Alisyn Camerota and Jeanne Mariani Sullivan, two women of the highest caliber and distinction. 

    Alisyn and Jeanne join a long list of distinguished NOIAW honorees, including our founding member, the late Hon. Geraldine A. Ferraro; Lidia Mattichio Bastianich; Lisa Lemole Oz; and many more.”

     
     
    Alisyn Camerota is a CNN anchor and co-host on CNN’s morning show New Day with Chris Cuomo and Michaela Pereira. Previously, she co-anchored Fox & Friends Weekend and America’s News Headquarters on Fox News. She also served as a national correspondent for Fox News, NBC’s Real Life and the crime show America’s Most Wanted.
     
    Jeanne Mariani Sullivan is a founding principal of StarVest Partners, a New York City-based venture capital firm that invests in outstanding expansion stage technology-enabled B2B companies. As Chief Inspiration Officer at Sullivan Adventures, Ms. Sullivan advises venture backed and multi-national companies seeking to promote opportunity, access to capital, board seats and entrepreneurship for women.
     
    Tickets for the event start at $295 and are available at NOIAW.org. 200 distinguished guests are expected at the event, including the Consul General of Italy to New York, Hon. Francesco Genuardi. The celebration begins with an silent auction and reception featuring gift certificates to some of New York City’s best restaurants, travel packages to Italy, handbags by Jennifer Tattanelli, Era Balestrieri, and Cole Haan, and a raffle of fine jewelry and Kate Spade handbags.
     
     
     
    ABOUT NOIAW
    The National Organization of Italian American Women is the only national organization for women of Italian ancestry. The mission of The National Organization of Italian American Women is to unite and connect women through Italian culture and heritage; to celebrate the achievements of women of Italian ancestry; to inspire and enrich members with shared interests in cultural programs; and to empower and advance the educational and professional aspirations of current and future generations.
     
    For more information about NOIAW, its members and programs, or to become a member, visit www.noiaw.org, call (212) 642-2003. The National Organization of Italian American Women, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law.
     
  • Events: Reports

    THIS WEEKEND on i-italyTV/ NYC Life


     
  • Facts & Stories

    Remembering Quake Victims. L'Aquila 7 Years Ago

    ROME -- On April 6, the seventh anniversary of the severe earthquake that devastated L'Aquila and its surroundings, Italy honored the memory of the 309 victims, who included over 50 university students. Many died when the building in which they were housed collapsed.
    Most importantly, this year's observances emphasize prevention of future such tragedies, in a nation whose geological structure makes it particularly vulnerable. Young researchers working on quake prevention were given special awards in a ceremony April 5, held in the ultra-modern auditorium designed by famed architect Renzo Piano near the ancient city's historical center and built after the quake.

     

    For the first time the various associations representing victims were present on the stage at theformal ceremonies. "We cannot forget that this year is also the 40th anniversary of the tragic earthquake in Friuli, in which almost 1,000 people died," said Adriana Cavaglia, chief coordinator of the Civil Protection Commission of the National Council of Geologists. Immediately after the quake parents of the university students who had died at L'Aquila formed an association which sent volunteers into schools all over Italy to foster the new generation's interest in the sciences, beginning with geology. These two organizations offer the awards, the Premio di Laurea AVUS, to research fellows and graduates studying prevention.

    "It is true that there is little we can do to reduce the earthquake dangers our country faces," Cavaglia emphasized. "But it is also true that it is possible to conduct a correct policy of prevention, through improvements in the sismic stability of our heritage of buildings, as well as providing sufficient inormation about natural phenomena, in so doing protecting human  lives."  

    The aim of the April 5 ceremony was to "focus interest in the civil society and the institutions on what can be done to correct the situaiton or to do more in the future," said Sergio Bianchi, President of the AVUS association of parents of the student victims. Bianchi's son  was among those who died in the quake. The AVUS financial awards come from voluntary contributions as well as from sales of "Macerie dentro e fuori" (Ruins Inside and Out) written by journalist Umberto Braccili, who covered the Abruzzo for RAI TV, as his own contribution.

    In addition, on April 6 at the Basilica of San Bernawrdino Marcello Bufalini, director of the Abruzzi Symphonic Orchestra will conduct Mozart's Requiem in a concert. Performing with the orchestra is the chorus of the A. Casella Conservatory of Aquila and several other choirs with long histories in the city: the Corale Gran Sasso the Corale Novantamovem and the Schola Cantorum San Sisto. At the opening of the concert city authorities announce the prize winners of scholarships to study music at the Conservatory offered by the Acea SpA waterworks.

    The most moving ceremony of all takes place in the Memorial Chapel in Piazza Del Duomo with a prayer vigil culminating at 3:32 am with 309 tolls of the cathedral bell to recall each person who died.

     
  • Events: Reports

    THIS WEEKEND on i-italyTV/NYC Life Italy, Art & the City


     
  • Events: Reports

    THIS WEEKEND on i-italyTV


     

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