A couple of years ago I had the amazing opportunity to create my own radio show for Dominican University of California’s Penguin Radio. Under the excellent guidance and with the enthusiastic encouragement of Leona George-Davidson, a Humanities and Cultural Studies major with a concentration in Communications, I developed and recorded a 10 episode radio program called, Strada Facendo which I hosted as my Italian alter-ego, “Matteo”.
I’ve been following Italian pop music since my first visit to Italy in 1998, and over the years have discovered a number of amazingly talented singers and songwriters that I now follow regularly. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have the chance to see some of them in concerts both in the U.S. and in Italy. So far I have seen Eros Ramazzotti twice, and both Laura Pausini, and Giorgia once. But another of my favorite artists, Tiziano Ferro has been more elusive…
Before I ever visited Italy, the only Italian music I had really ever heard was by Andrea Bocelli or Pavarotti…or was from a commercial for Barilla pasta! And yes, there was an occasional rendition of Santa Lucia, Volare or O Sole Mio. But the first time I rented a car and turned on the radio and found the station Radio Italia, a whole new and exciting world opened up to me musically. Read more…
MATT: AT HOME IN THE WORLD 