HITWEEK 2013 North American Return FRANCO BATTIATO | CANZONIERE GRECANICO SALENTINO & NICOLA CONTE

Nicola Conte

Hit Week – the world's only music festival showcasing Italy's current scene on the global stage — returns to North America with it's strongest line up to date.  A greatly expanded edition of the annual event touches down in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Toronto between September 7 and October 30th.  Headliners announced include iconoclastic Italian singer, songwriter and composer Franco Battiato and Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Italy's top act on the international world music circuit.  Renowned DJ, producer and musician Nicola Conte will bring his DJ set Stateside.  Additionally, 2013 Sanremo Festival winner Marco Mengoni makes his US debut appearance and critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Erica Mou rejoins the Hit Week fold after headlining the festival's inaugural event in Brazil earlier this year.

The core of Hit Week's fifth tour of the North American continent is a coast to coast run of concerts taking place between October 4th – 12th.  Highlights include Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino and Nicola Conte at the Hollywood ArtsPark (Miami) on October 5th with a redux of the bill on October 8th at New York City's Highline Ballroom.  Franco Battiato takes over the Highline stage onOctober 9th for the first in a pair of rare Transatlantic performances before heading to Canada and Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre on October 10th.  Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino then offers a California concert double header on October 11th at UCLA and October 12th at Taste of Italy Los Angeles.

Here are upcoming show dates:

September 7         Los Angeles, CA (TBA)       Erica Mou at Hit Week Preview
October 4           Miami, FL (TBA)             Nicola Conte at Hit Week / Rhythm Foundation
October 5           Hollywood, FL               Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Nicola Conte
October 8           New York, NY                Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino and Nicola
October 9           New York, NY                Franco Battiato at Highline Ballroom
October 10          Toronto, ON                 Franco Battiato at Phoenix Concert Theatre
October 11          Los Angeles, CA             Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino at UCLA
October 12          Los Angeles, CA             Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino at Taste of Italy
October 28-29       Los Angeles, CA             Marco Mengoni at The Billboard Hollywood Reporter Film and TV Music Conference

Franco Battiato

Wednesday | October 9, 2013  | Show 8:00pm (Doors 6:00pm):                      New York, NY     
FRANCO BATTIATO
Highline Ballroom431 W 16th St (Bet. 9th & 10th Ave.)
(212) 414-5994Tickets: $60-$100 in advance, $70-$100 day of show
http://highlineballroom.com/show/2013/10/09/franco-battiato/

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino

Tuesday | October 8, 2013  | Show 8:00pm (Doors             New York, NY      

CANZONIERE GRECANICO SALENTINO + NICOLA CONTE DJ Set
Highline Ballroom431 W 16th St (Bet. 9th & 10th Ave.)
(212) 414-5994Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 day of show
http://highlineballroom.com/show/2013/10/08/canzoniere-grecanico-salentino/

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Award Winning Italian Musician, FRANCO BATTIATO To Make Rare New York City Appearance On Monday October 19, 2009 at (Le) Poisson Rouge.

Multi-talented Italian singer, songwriter and composer Franco Battiato will make his first New York concert appearance in 10 years on Monday October 19, 2009 at (Le) Poisson Rouge. The 68 year-old, Sicilian-born musician will draw from a stunning repertoire spanning four decades: From his seminal 1971 prog-rock release "Fetus" (re-released in 2006 with liner notes by friend and avant-rocker Jim O'Rourke) to 2008's "Fleurs 2" which features duets with New York's Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons) and fellow Catanian Carmen Consoli. Battiato will present an intimate in-the-round show accompanied by a 7 piece group which includes the noted Italian string quartet Il Nuovo Quartetto Italiano.

The award winning Franco Battiato is internationally regarded as one of the most original creators in Italian music from the 1970s to the present. Battiato's 1970s output embraced more electronic influences than his Italian prog-rock counterparts of the period such as PFM (Premiata Forneria Marconi) and found him opening European concerts for the likes of Brian Eno and Nico. Battiato's experiments in this arena culminated in 1978's "L'Egitto prima delle sabbie" (Egypt Before The Sands) which won a Stockhausen Prize for piano composition.

Franco Battiato's recorded career continued into the 2000's with a diverse range of collaborators including Simple Minds' Jim Kerr, Middle Eastern-Electronica pioneer Natacha Atlas and the great Argentine diva Mercedes Sosa. His body of recorded work consists of some 38 studio and live album releases around the world with compositions in Spanish, French, English, Arabic and Sicilian languages in addition to Italian. Battiato has also composed 3 operas as well as classical works for orchestra, ballet and film soundtracks.

Franco Battiato web site: http://www.battiato.it

Monday 10/19/09 (Le) Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
158 Bleeker St (@ Thompson St)
Concert starts @ 10:00PM (Doors open @ 9:30PM)
Tickets: $25.00 in advance / $30.00 day of show
Info.: http://lepoissonrouge.com/ or (212) 505-3474
Tickets: http://lepoissonrouge.com/events/view/557 or 866 55 TICKETS Tweet