Ten years ago a museum of exceptional passion for our country dedicated to Italian emigration was born in Philadelphia. It was Filitalia International that created it, a wonderful organization founded by a remarkable man, Pasquale Nestico. Today his son Saverio heads Filitalia, and he is one of those leaders who guarantee the Italian American commu...

Giusepppe Venuti was born Sept. 16, 1903, in Philadelphia. Joe was known throughout his life as being a jokester and using hyperbole to explain his early life. Did he study violin at a Milan Conservatory, learn from his grandfather or did he pick it up on his own? Whatever his true beginnings, he became the first jazz violinist. After World War I J...

For one weekend each year, the nation’s oldest outdoor continuous market transforms into Philadelphia’s largest block party. With more than 120 vendors, live entertainment, and an action-packed schedule of activities, the South 9 th Street Italian Market Festival will once again showcase the rich history and culture of this historic Philly landmark...

Anthony Roth Costanzo was hired Thursday as general director and president of Opera Philadelphia and will continue his career as a leading countertenor while taking over an ambitious company dealing with post-pandemic economic challenges. "Even though I’m an opera singer, it’s my job to ensure the health of this art form I love,” he said in an inte...

On April 24, 2024, the General Consulate of Italy in Philadelphia will host the opening reception of the exhibit "The Filangieri-Franklin Correspondence: an Enlightening Dialogue Between Italy and the USA." This exhibit, curated by Professor Amedeo Arena of the University of Naples Federico II, delves into the letters exchanged between Neapolitan E...

The Embassy of Italy in Washington and the Italian consular network in the United States are celebrating the first Made in Italy Day, on the anniversary of the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, with a program of initiatives across the country. In Washington, the Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Mariangela Zappia, hosts today the event “Italian C...

Jo Piazza's latest book is a deeply researched novel steeped in her own family's history. But the Philadelphia-based author isn't just going after the historical fiction crowd. As she writes on her Instagram, the book also has "witches and a dragon and sex in a cave." "I think it's harder than ever for authors to get their book in front of readers,...

The Angelo Pizza and Abruzzese are teaming up for a new venture at Pineville Tavern with a grand opening on April 4, writes Marilyn Johnson for Philly Grub. This collaboration, rooted in three generations of culinary tradition from Baltimore’s Little Italy, brings together Angelo’s renowned pizzas and Abruzzese’s specialty in ravioli.  The tavern w...

How do you write a delicious book — a novel that makes readers hungry as they turn pages on their couch? You have to start with eating all of the food while you write. About five years ago I set out to write the most delicious novel I had ever created: The Sicilian Inheritance. It would be a Sicilian adventure, a murder mystery, and a romp followin...

Did you know that the first mixed race baseball player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame was an Italian American? Roy “Campy” Campanella was born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia on Nov. 11, 1921. John Campanella, Roy’s father, was a son of Italian Immigrants and his mother Ida was an African American.  He later moved to Nicetown in Nor...