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If all the world’s a stage, South Philadelphia’s Italian community has provided it with an estimable list of players. Vocalists like Buddy Greco and Al Martino. Rock ‘n roll pioneers Charlie Gracie and Danny Cedrone, lead guitarist for Bill Haley and The Comets. Teen heart-throbs Bobby Rydell, Fabian, Frankie Avalon and James Darren from the Bandst...

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As Tony Ocean belted out the final notes of “My Way” to a roar of applause on May 29 at the Des Plaines Theatre, he surveyed his band onstage and his wife and family in the audience and, amid a shower of roses, wiped a tear from his eye. And why not? Ocean had just finished his 8,000th performance. There has been plenty of glitz along the way: a ru...

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To me, more than anything else, Festivalbar was a feeling. The feeling that each edition of this internationally-acclaimed singing contest, performed in some of the most important cities and piazzas in Italy, would unfailingly come to mark the beginning of a new summer filled with bouncy mainstream hits and carefree moments. Stages from Milan’s Pia...

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“A big part of playing the game is improvising. It’s using your instincts and your awareness of what’s going on around you—how you’re feeling at that moment, and what you’re seeing and sensing,” observes Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. The avid music fan, who names Phish, the Grateful Dead, Greensky Bluegrass, JRAD and Spafford among his cu...

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The popular "Opera in the Italian Garden" will be presented in the beautiful Italian Renaissance Cultural Garden Sunday, July 24 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. The live family-friendly concert highlights two of Italy’s greatest cultural arts: opera and ballet, featuring famous music from well-known operas, Broadway musicals and popular Italian songs with The C...

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James Joseph Croce was born on January 10, 1943, in the Little Italy section in the south end of Philadelphia, Pa. His father was Giacomo Alberto Croce (April 14, 1914 – March 8, 1972) who had emigrated from the community of Trasacco (population 6,241 in the 2016 census) in the province of L’Aquila in the region of Abruzzo.  His mother was Flora Ma...

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When: Thu, July 14, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM EDT - Where: I AM Books, 124 Salem Street, Boston, MA 02113 Growing up in Cosenza, Calabria, Antonio Bevacqua was inspired as a child listening to popular music. In 1996, he graduated from the University of Calabria in Modern Literature with honors and a thesis on the music and the Calabrian folk ins...

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You may have read that opera lirica has recently become a candidate to enter the UNESCO intangible world heritage: another great achievement for our beautiful country and for the world of music. Yes, for our country, because opera as we know it today was born in Italy! When you think of it, it’s not that surprising and it’s also quite evident: most...

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Ennio Morricone was a composer with a diverse 66-year-long career. He created soundtracks for about 400 films, including the historical drama “The Mission,” the horror movie “The Thing” and the gangster film “Once Upon a Time in America.” Because of this, Morricone is considered to be one of the best and most prolific composers ever. His theme for...

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It’s hard to pin down exactly when Jader Bignamini cemented his bond with Detroit. For the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s music director, appointed in 2020, perhaps it was his emotional performance of Beethoven’s Third with a scaled-down ensemble at an audience-less Orchestra Hall, the finale to a grueling pandemic year. Or possibly it was an evening...

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