Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Italian American Museum Presents Two Award Winning Authors On November 6th in New York City.


THE ITALIAN AMERICAN MUSEUM IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE:
TWO AWARD WINNING ITALIAN AMERICAN AUTHORS
PRESENTING THEIR BOOKS:
NOVEMBER 6th, Friday Evening, 6 PM


DANIELA GIOSEFFI is a widely published author who has read from her books on campuses and at cultural centers, from Columbia and Princeton to Oxford or Venice, and Barcelona, as well as for National Public Radio as well as British Broadcasting. She will read from her latest book, a bilingual edition of her new and selected poems, titled "Blood Autumn, Autunno di Sangue." Her work has appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies from The Paris Review to The Nation, to Stories of the American Experience, Oxford University Press.


MICHAEL PALMA has published two poetry books, "The Egg Shape and Antibodies", and a full length collection, "A Fortune in Gold," as well as an Internet book. He has also published books by Sergio Corazzini, Armando Patti, Luigi Fontanella, and edited New Italian Poets with Dana Gioia, as well as a volume of translations from Luciano Erba with Alfredo de Palchi. His essay, “The Road to Rome, and Back Again" appeared in The Pushcart Prize XVII (2003). Michael Palma is, also the poetry editor for an Italian Americana magazine.

Visit http://italianamericanmuseum.org/

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Are Italian Americans Being Forced To Forget Their Heritage?

This past month of October we were reminded by some media outlets that we were celebrating, "Italian Heritage Month." You may have known if you read my blog or visited some of the other Italian American sites, but if you hadn't --would you have known this fact-- that nationally as Italian Americans we were celebrating October as Italian Heritage Month?

I will say, many media outlets did a wonderful job in broadcasting & reporting Columbus Day parades locally & across the nation. But, honestly...if I wasn't so involved with my site and reaching out to other Italian Americans, I don't think many people had the opportunity to know or realize what resources are available to connecting to their Italian culture.

As Americans, yes --we are just that, American, but as an American we are part of something bigger, which is our cultural history. So, when you become surrounded by no resources, a sense of assimilation, and a society who shuns cultural education..then yes..I believe it could be possible we are becoming forgetful of our cultural history as Italian Americans.

Now, I don't want this to come off as negative, but there are so many everyday examples that can add to this theory. For instance, can your cultural identity be conflicting in your everyday life? My personal experiences have always leaned toward this being true, but you make amends with your upbringing and values, which then ultimately shapes your everyday life as an American.

You know, the more and more I am engrossed with my blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc..I realize so many Italian Americans are looking for anwers, relationships, ways of connecting to their cultural pasts. The biggest reason why they or YOU seek these answers to your Italian background is because this very thing I speak of, has happened--the fact that maybe your ancestors, parents, grandparents were forced to forget their cultural backgrounds not on purpose but because that was part of fitting in and becoming American.

So, now the generations come full circle and we all seek a common connection. I can only hope that collectively through my site and other Italian driven resources that we can remain, respect, celebrate and practice our traditions and memories as Italian Americans. So, lift a glass of wine this month and toast to your cultural background and be proud to be Italian American. Salute!

An Italian Snack..Biscotti Con Pomodoro

Ok, how lucky am I that my mother made biscotto with pomodoro, peppers and basil..topped with oregano and olive oil from Italy. If you've never had this before basically its "Biscotto di Grano," which is hardened bread usually of a wheat/grain consistency. The bread is used in all types of salads, breadcrumbs and even dunked in morning latte. (which my father does) The bread is hardened but in this case to add into a pomodoro insalata we usually wet the bread with water so it absorbs the oil and seasonings and then gets soft enough with enough crunch to dip into the salad. Honestly, if you've never had this ..its a must. For me, I've grown up eating it a lot..and now that its almost the end of October my father had a few remaining tomatoes left from his garden. ( oh yes...the man is a genius) and my mother added peppers that were the last to grow from the garden as well into the salad. I don't know why this particular biscotto con pomodoro was especially good tonight, maybe because it was made with the last of the vegetables. By the way, the bread my mother brought back from Italy recently..so we had all of our ingredients ready to roll. Thanks Ma for making it!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Italian Canadian Singer, Marco Calliari Set To Perform In New York City On November 11th.

Italian Canadian singer/songwriter, Marco Calliari makes another musical debut this November 11th at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. If you haven't heard Marco's music yet, this is your chance to hear an amazing artist with an incredible musical background perform the best Italian original compositions with a flare of rock, traditional and maybe even a little folk. Marco Calliari's background is one of intrigue.. the son of Italian immigrants, who trained in traditional music, becomes a heavy metal artist and then organically evolves into performing traditional Italian music.



Sit in with us, as we interview, Marco Calliari.

Marco, thank you so much for taking the time to join us on Italian American Girl for this interview:

Marco your parents are Italian immigrants and you live in Canada. How has your Italian Canadian upbringing molded your musical career?
At home, my parents listened to a lot of opera. My dad had all the Pavarotti collection in vinyl and my mom always had the Italian radio on. So from Renato Carosone to Toto Cutugno to Pavarotti, these are pretty much my first Italian influences.


I think what’s most fascinating about you is that your musical genre started out in heavy metal and then organically grew into Italian traditional music, what about that process surprises you most? Do you still perform heavy metal music?
I’ve always been influenced by many different styles of music, going from rock to metal and pop also. Heavy metal is the music that inspired me to learn music, it inspired me to pick-up a guitar and to scream my head off when ever I felt like it. I actually just went back to playing with my metal band, Anonymus to mark their 20th anniversary. 9 shows in one month, three years after my departure really felt good…I can still kick ass!

Do you think growing up with different cultures surrounding you has made you more of aware of the message you want to convey through music?
That’s for sure, growing up in a multicultural environment just proved to me that no matter what culture, you can always find something in common. I try to create this fact in my music, I call it World music, blending traditional sounds and music from all around the world.

More recently, you made your first ever performance trip to New York City at Joe’s Pub, what was that experience like and did you feel like this is was a pivotal moment in your career?
It felt great, I love new challenges and the U.S. is a pretty huge challenge. I think starting out in New York city was a great experience, I just couldn’t wait to play at Joe’s Pub especially for the Putumayo Italia CD lauch. Performing in New York was great.

What type of music and or songs will we be hearing from you in the future? Where do you want to take the “Italian” traditional influence?
I’m presently working on my third album, a full length CD filled with original compositions. For the last four years I’ve been mixing different sounds from around the planet to create these new songs. The songs are mostly written in Italian with a little bit of French, Spanish and Algerian.

You’ve also performed in Italy, what was it like returning and performing in your family’s hometown as an Italian Canadian?
It felt like an accomplishment, as much for me than my parents. I’m very lucky to go and play in my parent’s home country, I’ve been performing there since 1999.

Do you choose to perform certain songs for their meanings?
Yes and no, I think first of all I choose a song thinking of it live wise? I think of the performance and how the public will react, will they stand up and clap or will they dance to it or even jump up and down to it?

Do you see yourself collaborating with Italian singers/ or songwriters for future albums?
Yes, I have two collaborations on my next CD, one with Enrico Greppi from Bandabardò (Florence, IT) and another Italian singer I can’t reveal for now, sorry?

What kind of career do you hope to accomplish in North America and when will we see more of you here in the United States?
Hopefully I’ll be touring across the U.S. in the years to come, but a goal for me would be to put out my next CD in the U.S. But for now I’ll be performing in November in New York city, and can’t wait to do so!

Lastly, what do you want the Italian Americans to know about Marco Calliari..?
I want them to know that there’s a son of Italian immigrants that’s pushing our Italian heritage as far as he can for the love of the music, the history and “la patria”.

Marco, thank you so much for joining us! We look forward to seeing in New York this November.

For concert info click here:

Le Poisson Rouge

November 11, 2009

(Marco Calliari Will Be Performing Along With Italian Folk Singer/Star: Peppe Voltarelli. --Italian singer).


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Attention Detroit Italian Americans!!! Comedian Frank Spadone, Will Be Live On November 7th!

If you love comedy and you love being Italian American, then you must see Frank Spadone.



Get your tix at 586-228-3030

Visit: http://www.frankspadone.com/

"Cooking With Nonna" Web Show Teams Up With KitchenAid.

Cooking With Nonna is back for a second season with all new great Italian recipes and new Nonne appearing on the show. Plus, KitchenAid, has joined forces with the Italian niche web show, where they will kick off a "10 Weeks! - 10 Appliances!" giveaway leading up to the holidays.

To be eligible to receive the appliance all you need to do is join the Cooking with Nonna Fan Club and then Join the Giveaway each week for the next 10 weeks. At the end of each week an appliance will be given out to one of our fans chosen at random. Then, to increase your chances of taking home the appliance, all you need to do is Invite Your Friends to join the Giveaway. You receive an extra entry in the Giveaway for that week that your friend joins. (see Official Rules for details).

"Tune in for Ossobuco con Gremolata with Nonna Carmen as she helps me prepare the signature dish from Milano. It is truly delicious and very easy to prepare ."--Rossella

Watch the show on Nonna TV and enjoy.

You can also follow Rossella on TWITTER-- @rossellarago

Ferrari Introduces New Ferrari 458 Italia At 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.