FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2000

TARANTA POWER, a concert by the legendary:  EUGENIO BENNATO and his ensemble
MUSICANOVA


Vocals & "Beating" Guitar: Eugenio Bennato; Mandola & Vocals: Mimmo Epifani;
Cello: Erasmo Petringa;  Accordion: Geppino Laudanna; Vocals: M'barka Ben Talem;
Percussion: Roberto Menonna; Dancer: Anna Draheim


LOS ANGELES - The Taranta Power concert will be held on May 28, 2000, at 5:00
p.m. at the California Plaza, 350 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles.  Admission is
free.  Parking is located at the California Plaza for $5.00 (Enter from Olive
Street).

A native of Naples, and a noted composer of music for theater, dance, and
cinema, Eugenio Bennato has extensively researched the folk music of Southern
Italy.  Performing with his group, MUSICANOVA, he has presented, to great
acclaim the world over, traditional tarantelle, tammuriate and villanelle,
filtered through an innovative, contemporary approach to folksong.

Eugenio Bennato formed the legendary Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare in
1969, which became the most important group of the time engaged in
ethnomusicologic research and the revival of Southern Italian folk music.
With the NCCP he recorded 6 LP's, and after making his debut at the TWO
WORLDS FESTIVAL in Spoleto (1972) went on trailblazing tours in Italy and
abroad (France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union,
Argentina, etc.).  In 1976, he founded MUSICANOVA, and began working
independently as a composer, but continued to refer to traditional style in
his music.

He has spent the past 20 years performing concerts at the most prestigious
Italian and international venues, on both the classical and the academic
circuits as well as in alternative festivals and "social centers".   He recently
founded the "TARANTA POWER" movement in the wake of an extraordinary revival of
interest by the younger generation in the rhythms of the ritual tarantella.

The concert is presented in collaboration with the Italian Heritage Culture
Foundation, with the supporting of the Italian Oral History Institute.

...AND COMING IN OCTOBER, MORE MUSIC/DANCE FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN
_______________________

S a v e   t h e   D a t e ! 
 
Performing Ecstasies:  Music, Dance, and Ritual in the Mediterranean 
(Los Angeles, October 13-22, 2000)  
 
The preliminary program for this international festival, including:
conference, exhibits, concerts, music & dance workshops, food programs and
more, is now available at website: 
 
www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/Conference/home.htm 
 
Register/book hotel early online and watch this website for program updates.
To receive the full October program (in September), send your address to the
I.O.H.I.  To register by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope for 
registration form:  
 
 
Performing Ecstasies 
Italian Oral History Institute 
P.O. Box 241553 
Los Angeles, CA 90024-1553 
 
([log in to unmask]) 

Sponsored by:   Italian Oral History Institute, UCLA Ethnomusicology
Department; Istituto Italiano di Cultura of Los Angeles; Provincia di Lecce
(Puglia, Italy); Claremont Consortium for Medieval & Early Modern Studies;
Alitalia; City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, UCLA Center for
Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA World Arts and Cultures; UCLA Center
for European and Russian Studies; Craft and Folk Art Museum

With the support of: Remo Percussion Inc.; Slow Food Convivium of Los Angeles

___________
To remove your name from this list, please send "remove email address from
list" message to [log in to unmask]


Luisa Del Giudice, Director
I.O.H.I.
Italian Oral History Institute
P.O. Box 241553
Los Angeles, CA 90024-1553

Tel:  (310) 474-1698
Fax:  (310) 474-3188 
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.iohi.org



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