The Art of ‘Italianizing’ Your Thanksgiving Table
Growing up in Southern Italy, my mother — who had been raised in the U.S. years prior — would often tell my sister and I stories about Thanksgiving. “There’s always a giant turkey,” she would explain to us, and everyone expresses what he or she is thankful for. I must admit, in hindsight, my 8- or 9-year-old self didn’t much grasp the concept of th...
Opera Delaware: 'Semiramide'
This Saturday at 1 p.m., Classical IPR presents a recent production of Rossini's "Semiramide" from Opera Delaware. The production stars Lindsay Ohse in the title role, with Aleksandra Romano as Arsace and Daniel Mobbs as Assur. Anthony Barrese conducts. The opera is sung in Italian. To see the libretto in Italian and English, click here.
True Grit: Italian Americans’ Fight for Freedom and the American Dream
Veterans Day is a time to remember the courageous, yet unheralded men and women who have defended our country, often with the sacrifice of their lives. We take pride in the fact that America is the greatest country on earth, and the bastion of world democracy, but it would not be so, except for those who have answered the call to serve. Italian Ame...
The 3rd Italian cuisine week in the world kicks off in Washington and the United States (November 12-16, 2018)
The 3rd Edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World will start in Washington DC and the USA on Monday November 12 with a vast selection of events suitable to "all palates". The Week , that has now reached its third edition, has established itself as an important event for the promotion of Italy abroad. This year, the “Week” is dedicated to...
NIAF Voyage of Discovery Program Now Open to Applicants
The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) announces today that applications are open for its Ambassador Peter F. Secchia Voyage of Discovery Program. Now in its 19th year, this all-expenses paid cultural and educational initiative sends Italian American college students to Italy each year, to strengthen their understanding of their heritage a...
An American finally has a shot at winning the World Chess Championship for the first time since Bobby Fischer in 1972
It's been a long, long, long, long wait. Very, very, very long. But for the first time since American Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky of the USSR in 1972, an American is competing for the World Chess Championship. Miami-born, Brooklyn-raised Fabiano Caruana won the Candidates Tournament earlier this year and will take on three-time world champ...
La lingua italiana negli USA: i dati di Eduitalia
Si terranno oggi, presso l'Ambasciata d'Italia a Washington, degli incontri per rafforzare le iniziative atte a promuovere l’Italia in un territorio quale quello statunitense di primario interesse, numeri alla mano, anche per il sistema Study Abroad Italiano. A darne notizia è Eduitalia, riportando i dati sulla lingua italiana negli Stati Uniti do...
The mystery behind why we pronounce bologna as “baloney”
Few lunchmeats leave us with more questions than the classic bologna. It’s perfectly round, impossibly pink, and as synonymous with brown bag lunches as juice boxes. But for something so common, most Americans know very little about bologna’s origin. While we’re not going to get into the exact ingredients used to make the homogenous meat (mostly po...
Welcome Rocco Baldelli - from a long line of Italian players
With our new manager comes a lot of new stories and expectations, but his arrival actually got me thinking about Italian heritage and the game of baseball. Like the earlier essay regarding the American Indian and another essay looking at the black pioneers who crossed that large barrier of prejudice I know that other ethnic groups also had a lot of...
IAP 75: POWER HOUR: A Power Hour History of the Italian American Experience, Part 2 of 4: Italians in America: 1890 – 1941
Hot on the heels of Part 1, Before We Were Italians: 1492 – 1890, of our four-part Power Hour series on Italian American history, join John, Pat, and Dolores as they delve into Part 2 with “Italians in America: 1890-1941.” If you enjoyed Part 1, you won’t want to miss this next chapter in the Italian American story, covering the Great Migration, th...
Ferrante fever hits the States (again)
Across the Atlantic, far from their supposed site of conception, Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels rank amongst the best-received Italian literary series authored by a woman—or rather, a pseudonymous author presumed to be female. The four-book series, centered on the impassioned friendship between two girls coming of age in an impoverished Naples,...
Andrea Bocelli Dethrones ‘A Star Is Born’ for His First No. 1 Album
It took 26 albums, but Andrea Bocelli, the Italian tenor who has embodied the popular side of classical music and opera for two decades, has finally reached the top of the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Bocelli’s “Sì” (Sugar/Decca Records/Verve), which includes collaborations with Ed Sheeran, Josh Groban and the singer’s son Matteo, among tracks in...