Performing Arts Center of MetroWest Hosting Facebook Live Concert on Saturday

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FRAMINGHAM – On Saturday, February 25, the Performing Arts Center of MetroWest and Leonardo Ciampa are co-sponsoring a special Facebook Live concert,

“Buon 1500 Compleanno, Enrico Caruso! (Happy 150th Birthday, Enrico Caruso!)”.

The noon concert features Giovanni Formisano, the renowned tenor from Naples, Italy, accompanied at the piano by Leonardo Ciampa.

The program will feature arias and songs from the repertoire of Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), widely considered to be the greatest tenor who ever lived. “Caruso was history’s first recording star,” explains Ciampa.

“He started recording when gramophones were in their infancy. He went on to sell millions of records. All singers and critics of the time were unanimous that he was the greatest singer of his time. There were no dissenting opinions. His recordings are still studied by connoisseurs of singing. They all agree that no tenor since has been able to surpass him.”

Caruso was born on February 25, 1873 in Naples, Italy. “He went on to conquer operatic stages throughout the world,” says Ciampa. “But he never forgot his Neapolitan roots. He was the first to record songs such as ‘’O sole mio’, which became famous throughout the world. That’s why for this 150th birthday concert I absolutely had to have a tenor from Naples.”

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Born in Torre del Greco, a town in the Gulf of Naples near the foot of Mt. Vesuvius, Giovanni Formisano has been called, “Truly an Italian tenor in the grand tradition.” He has received high praise for his interpretations of the Italian lyric tenor repertoire, with a special affinity for the classic songs from his native Naples. He currently lives with his family in Massachusetts. Ciampa does not hesitate to call him “the best Italian tenor in New England.”

Ciampa is a composer, pianist, and organist of international repute. He is Mechanics Hall Composer-in-Residence 2021-2023 and Maestro di Cappella Onorario della Basilica di Sant’Ubaldo di Gubbio (Italy). Ciampa is also on the faculty of the Performing Arts Center of MetroWest (known informally as PAC).

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PAC, which serves Framingham and surrounding towns, creates a welcoming community that provides high quality, affordable, and accessible education and performance opportunities in Music, Theater, and Dance for students of all ages and all stages of artistic development. PAC strives to be a valuable re-source in the community for cultural development through the performing arts.

All of the profits from the Caruso birthday concert will benefit PAC’s annual February “Show Your Love” campaign, an investment initiative to encourage investing in an organization you love on the day of love, February 14.

This year, the community has thus far contributed in excess of $7,000 for the performing arts in MetroWest.

Though not open to the public, the concert will be broadcast from PAC. It can be viewed throughout the world on Facebook Live.

The link is https://www.facebook.com/events/3450695178588506

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