San Vito Jazz

July 26, 2010 8:00 pm

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July 31, 2010 11:00 pm

Aots with the sponsorship of San Vito Lo Capo presents “SAN VITO JAZZ ’10″, Ra jazz event in San Vito Lo Capo (TP). International jazz players will perform in the garden of La Porta, headquarters of the city hall. The even is free to the public.

For more information, please visit www.sanvitojazz.it

Program

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Feast of St. James in Capizzi (ME)

July 24, 2010 3:00 pm

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July 26, 2010 11:00 pm

The Feast of St. James in Capizzi (ME) is probably one of the oldest and most characteristic feasts in Sicily. The saint has been venerated in Capizzi since the Norman domination.

Saint James was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was a son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John the Apostle. He is also called James the Greater to distinguish him from James, son of Alphaeus, who is also known as James the Less. James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels state that James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to follow him. According to the Gospel of Mark, James and John were called Boanerges, or the “Sons of Thunder” and also the “Saintly Brothers of Martyrdom”.[Mark 3:17] James was one of only three apostles whom Jesus selected to bear witness to his Transfiguration. The Acts of the Apostles records that Agrippa I had James executed by sword. (Wikipedia)

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Soap box race in Chiaramonte Gulfi (RG)

July 24, 2010
3:00 pm	to	9:00 pm
July 25, 2010
3:00 pm	to	9:00 pm

This soap box race in Chiaramonte Gulfi (RG) is organized by the Associazione Culturale Nusquama.

A soapbox car is a motor-less vehicle capable of holding a driver (usually a child) built for the purpose of racing or recreation. Propelled by gravity, soapbox cars can reach upwards of 50 km/h (30 miles per hour). Originally, soapbox cars were built from wooden soap (or orange) crates and roller-skate wheels, but have grown more sophisticated over time, with materials like aluminum and fiberglass being utilized. (Wikipedia)

More info at www.nusquama.it (Italian)

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The Sicilian girl: a movie about a searing drama and true event

August 4, 2010 1:00 pm

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August 17, 2010 11:30 pm

The U.S. theatrical premiere of Marco Amenta’s THE SICILIAN GIRL, begins on Wednesday, August 4. The film is based on the true story of Rita Atria, a 17-year-old Sicilian whose father and brother were both Mafia members (and victims), who breaks the vow of silence – omerta – that enshrouds her world. In 1991, during a period when the Mafia was under increasing pressure from the Italian judicial system, Rita gives evidence to famed anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino. Drawing upon the young woman’s extensive diaries, Marco Amenta tells her story, beginning in Sicily in 1985 when, as a small child, she experienced her beloved father as a respected member of the community – a man to whom neighbors would turn for help when a rapacious landlord orders their eviction. Soon after, he’s shot dead in the sun-drenched village square as his daughter looks on. Six years later, her brother is murdered. In court, Rita’s words are denounced as “the ravings of a fanatical adolescent bent on revenge.” But are they? Amenta underlines the extraordinary courage of his protagonist by including a documentary glimpse of the real-life Rita during the film’s final moments.

Trailer with English subtitles

THE SICILIAN GIRL will have a 2-week engagement, August 4-17, at Film Forum, West Houston Street (W. of 6th Avenue), with screenings daily at 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00.

Filmmaker Marco Amenta has made several documentaries about the Sicilian Mafia, including one on Rita Atria’s story, ONE GIRL AGAINST THE MAFIA: DIARY OF A SICILIAN REBEL, which had its U.S. theatrical premiere at Film Forum in 2002, and THE GHOST OF CORLEONE (2006), about the manhunt for Bernardo Provenzano, the capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses).

An enlightening factual and atmospheric account of large-scale corruption and individual courage. – Sunday Times (Australia)

Highly recommended. Engrossing. As entertaining as any Hollywood thriller.” – The Dominion Post (New Zealand)

THE SICILIAN GIRL (2008, 110 mins.) Directed by Marco Amenta. Produced by Raphael Berdugo, Tilde Corsi, Gianni Romoli, Simonetta Amenta, Marco Amenta. Written by Marco Amenta & Sergio Donati. Director of Photography: Luca Bigazzi. Editor: Mirco Garrone. Cast: Veronica D’Agostino (Rita), Gérard Jugnot (the Judge), Miriana Faja (young Rita), Marcello Mazzarella (Don Michele), Mario Pupella (Don Salvo). Italy/France. In Italian with English subtitles. A Music Box Films release.

Film Forum

Another great event attends wine lovers in Sicily: Avvinando 2010

May 23, 2010 7:00 pm

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May 26, 2010 12:00 am

The Fifth edition of the wine event “Avvinando 2010” will take place in Palermo in the charming setting of Villa Boscogrande in Palermo on May 23-24. 100 producers will showcase their products including over 600 labels of high-profile wines produced in Italy. Avvinando 2010 is an event dedicated to wine experts, but also to enthusiasts. The event offers visitors the opportunity to taste a great variety of wines, each with its historical and cultural background, an event that allows wine lovers to spend two days in close contact with producers and experts.

The exclusive location, Villa Boscogrande, is a historic building built in the eighteenth century by the San Martino family, made famous to the public by the opening scenes of the famous film “The Leopard” by Luchino Visconti. Visitors are welcomed in the beautiful garden in front of the impressive staircase, leading to the first floor where beautifully decorated halls and ballrooms host the exhibitors. It is a truly elegant and aristocratic atmosphere.

As per tradition during the event, four parallel workshops are organized reserved to 30 participants:

- “Le Grandeur du Perlage” on May 23 at 5PM;
- “Six Major Wine Regions and Six Legendary Red Wines” on May 23 at 7 PM;
- “Spirits and Cigars” on May 24 at 7:30 PM.
- “De Aetna, the Magic of a Terroir” on May 25 at 5 PM.

Entrance tickets to the event are available at the best wineshops of Palermo and its province.For more information, visit www.avvinando.it.

By Maria Lina Bommarito

Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy at Open Roads

June 6, 2010
3:30 pm	to	5:30 pm
September 14, 2010
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm

Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy  will be shown at the Walter Reade Theater at the Lincoln Center  during the “Open Roads”: New Italian Cinema series this year.

Actor John Turturro visits his ancestors’ Sicily, taking the audience on a personal tour of traditions, his family’s origins and even the local pastries. But the real object of his journey is to research a prospective film set in the world of the island’s unique puppet theater, represented by one of its last practitioners, Mimmo Cuticchio, who teaches Turturro some of the techniques of his art. A moving and revealing portrait of a Sicily little known to outsiders, and shot during preparations for the Sicilian Day of the Dead, the film develops into a reflection on the relationship between death and theatricality, reinforced through a series of encounters with contemporary Sicilians, including the author Andrea Camilleri and prince Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi di Lampedusa.

Walter Reade Theater at the Lincoln Center
165 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
Phone: (212) 875-5610

Baaria at the Lincoln Center

June 7, 2010
8:00 pm	to	11:00 pm

Baaria can be finally watched at the Walter Reade Theater at the Lincoln Center in New York Monday June 7 at 8PM.
This is the only showing of the film Baaria during the “Open Roads”: New Italian Cinema series this year.

After La Sconosciuta (The Unknown Woman) Giuseppe Tornatore, the Oscar-winning director of Cinema Paradiso, returns to Open Roads with his most personal film, set in his hometown Bagheria, just outside of Palermo. This Sicilian saga spans several decades with a multitude of characters, and involves politics, sex, poverty, dreams, and, of course, cinema. With newcomers Francesco Scianna and Margareth Madè, who recently played the role of Sophia Loren in a TV movie. The film, in which the dialogue is mostly in Sicilian dialect, premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month last year.

Walter Reade Theater @ Lincoln Center
65th St Transverse
New York, 10023
Phone: (212) 875-5600

Dear Sister: Letters Home to Sicily from Wartime America

May 26, 2010
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

A special event at the Italian American Museum in New York City to meet Pauline M. Spatafora, the author of Dear Sister: Letters Home to Sicily from Wartime America. A unique insight into the lives of Italians and Italian Americans during the tumultuous World War II Period and based on actual letters written by the author’s mother to her aunt in Sicily. This is a book that will touch everyone regardless of country of origin. This is a voyage that is not only literal but symbolic for Anna, the young woman away from family and friends – embarking on a journey filled with surprising twists.

About the Author:
Pauline M. Spatafora has had extensive experience in Corporate Management. (Director of Housing for Cornell University Medical College.) She has a background in theater, dance and music, and as the former president of P. S. Communications, designed and taught specialized programs in Communication Skills, Speech & Accent Correction and numerous workshops for Health care Professionals. For the past twenty-three years she has been a Professor of English at CUNY. Education: undergraduate studies at Queens college and graduate degree at New York University. Pauline has written three books: Proper Pronunciation Made Easy, The Absent Mother-A Psycho literary study of Virginia Woolf, and her latest, Dear Sister a book of letters from her mother in America to her aunt in Sicily during the tumultuous World War Two Period.

Italian American Museum
155 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10013
(Suggested Donation of $5 per person)

Seating is limited
To reserve a place for this event please call the
Italian American Museum at (212) 965-9000
or email: info@italianamericanmuseum.org

Sandra Virlinzi @ Daily 235 in New York City

May 2, 2010 1:00 am

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June 30, 2010 1:00 am

A Sicilian artist exhibits in New York @ Daily 235 in New York City. Born in Catania, Sandra Virlinzi lives and works between New York. Soon after completing her studies in Rome, she moves to Milan.

From 1995 to 2005 she joins the group “Ultrapop” and shows her work in various exhibitions of contemporary art in Italy and abroad. At the same time she teams up with the Milan Studio Atelier Mendini, she produces their website and develops a few design project with the studio’s graphic team. In April 2006 she inaugurates her fourth solo exhibition at the Fabio Paris gallery in Brescia and during the summer of 2006, in Catania, she organizes the group exhibition “Deck Seat Chairs” for Vulcanology, International Festival of Music and Art. The following year in the Contemporary Art Pavillion in Milan she exhibits her first experiments with trydimentional research, the sculpture puppets and the picture boxes.

While large companies like Yoox, Diesel, Replay and Swatch support her, sponsor her and commission various works of image application and graphics for communication projects, her work is exhibited in the Italian edition of the most important contemporary Art Fairs. Sandra has produced animation, textile prints, stuffed puppets, ceramics, tapestries and all kinds of experiments with every day objects. Since 2007 she has been working with Superego Design, a group of young merchants and producers of design objects.

Website: www.freakfriends.it

Daily 235
@ 235 Elizabeth Street | New York, NY 10012 | 212.334.9728
Mon – Sat 12 PM – 8 PM | Sunday 12 PM – 7 PM

The Marcello Giordani Foundation

May 7, 2010
6:00 pm	to	9:00 pm

On May 7th, 2010 Metropolitan Opera star Marcello Giordani will host a fundraising dinner and concert at which time he will launch the Marcello Giordani Foundation, a not for profit organization dedicated to assist and support promising young opera singers. The foundation, founded by Mr. Giordani, was created to encourage and enable young talented singers from around the world to pursue and achieve their career goals and transition onto the professional opera stage. The concert and dinner will take place on May 7th, 2010, at the New York Athletic Club, 180 Central Park South, starting at 6 pm.

Under the guidance of Marcello Giordani, the Foundation will establish, organize and sponsor master classes, seminars, and summer programs in the U.S. and abroad, as well as provide encouragement, training opportunities, career assistance and financial support, including scholarships and awards to promising and talented young singers. Many of them will be the great singers of tomorrow, and it is with them that the future of opera resides. It is the goal of the Foundation to contribute actively to their success.

The event will begin with a concert featuring Marcello Giordani and handpicked young talented singers from Europe and the United States: Daniela Pedi, soprano (Italy), Heather Gallagher, mezzo soprano (Miami), Dario Russo, bass (Italy), Steven LaBrie, baritone (Philadelphia), Robyn Lamp, soprano (Miami), and Sabina Kim (New York). At the piano will be Maestro Elda Laro, musical coach at the Teatro Massimo Bellini – Catania.

At the end of the concert, Mr. Giordani will present The Marcello Giordani Lifetime Achievement Award to legendary soprano Magda Olivero in her centennial year, connected with us from her home in Milano. Madame Olivero’s career and artistic accomplishments will be presented by Metropolitan Opera Star Aprile Millo.

After the award ceremony, Mr. Giordani will introduce the staff and honorary board members of the Foundation who will take part in a question and answer session with journalists and members of the audience.

The evening will conclude with a fundraising gala dinner.

For information call 347-703-5546 or write to mgfevents@gmail.com

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