Ciao tutti –
Just a reminder that Festa Italiana is this weekend at the Seattle Center. Dante’s booth is in a new location, in the corner across from the doors, away from the main stage, Booth #8. It should be quieter than our old booth but still in the thick of things.
So drop by to see us and say ciao! More details on Festa’s webpage: http://festaseattle.com/
I also want to tell you about an upcoming Italian-themed musical event by the renowned local musical director and harpichordist, Byron Schenkman. Byron is featured on more than 30 CDs of Baroque and Italian music.
Byron Schenkman & Friends, a Baroque and Classical chamber music series at Benaroya Hall is presenting an evening of Italian centered music, Boccherini & Scarlatti: Italians Abroad. The concert is on Sunday, October 14, 2018, at Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, at Third and Union in downtown Seattle, beginning at 7 pm. Prices range from $48 for Regular Price, $41 for Seniors, and $10 for Youth and Students with ID.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries Italian musicians were in demand all over Europe and many of them became more successful abroad than they had been at home. Such is the case with all three of the composers on the program. The cellist Luigi Boccherini and the violinist Maddalena Sirmen both had extensive international performing careers. Domenico Scarlatti had a more obscure existence as a harpsichordist at the Portuguese and Spanish courts, yet his music became popular in all the other places where Boccherini and Sirmen themselves performed. Four sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti will be included to celebrate the release of Schenkman’s brand new Scarlatti CD.
Dan DeMatteis
President, Dante Alighieri Society of Washington
Gabriella Vagnoli was born in Pisa, Tuscany, home of the famous Leaning Tower. She grew up in a multicultural family thanks to her Brazilian mom and remembers teaching Italian for the first time as a child to her Brazilian cousins. She obtained a Laurea in English and Spanish Language and Literature at the Università degli Studi di Pisa and during her college years spent a year in the University of Reading, UK, studying mainly the works of Shakespeare. After obtaining a Certificate as a Teacher of Italian (DITALS II) at the Università per Stranieri di Siena, she has taught in a full immersion school in Florence, a children's full immersion program in Chicago and a Community College in Illinois.
Tiziana was born and raised in Sardinia, a beautiful Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. She has always been passionate about foreign languages and cultures, and studied French and German at the Scuola Superiore Interpreti e Traduttori in Milan, where she obtained her first Foreign Languages and Interpreter BA degree. She then pursued her MA in English and German Language and Literature at IULM, one of the most prestigious universities in Milan, Italy for Language and Communication studies.
Nicla is a native of Napoli, Italy. She has a Laurea in Materie Letterarie (degree in humanities) and a Laurea in Pedagogia (degree in Education) from the Università degli Studi di Cassino. She earned her M.A in Italian and her PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington. She has published articles and book chapters on gender and theater as well as politics and religion in Counter-Reformation Italy and in the last years, has been teaching Italian literature, language, and culture in different institutions. In addition to teaching in our program, Nicla is authorized to cover the role of esaminatrice and intervistatrice in our PLIDA Examination Board.