This year, the Spoleto Festival in Umbria opened for the first time without its creator, Gian Carlo Menotti. Menotti started Il Festival dei Due Mondi – The Festival of the Two Worlds – in 1958 to bring European and American cultural artists together. In 1977, he collaborated with others to start Spoleto USA in Charleston, South Carolina. Menotti was 95 when he died in February.

 The 2007 festival of music, dance, art, theater, film, and discussion has been dedicated to Menotti’s memory, with special performances of several of his works including the popular opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. Menotti’s son, Francis, is artistic director of the 17-day event.

 Each day a series of performances take place throughout Spoleto at the opera house, Teatro Nuovo; the castle known as Albornoz Fortress; the open-air Teatro Romano; and the seventeenth century opera house Teatro Caio Melisso, which houses the midday concerts.

 The closing ceremony always takes place in the Piazza del Duomo, the main square in front of the twelfth century Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta.

 Performances also include I Grandi Processi, mock trails of famous figures conducted by noted law professionals; marionettes; and “Secret Umbria,” bus tours to secluded churches and villages. During the ride, an art professor discusses the artistic merits of the site to be visited. A concert and local food are also part of the tour.

 History of Spoleto

 Spoleto Tours

 Spoleto Festival (Mostly in Italian)

 Spoleto USA

 The Spoleto Festival always takes place around the first two weeks in July. If you’re planning a trip to Italy next year, you may want to plan to visit Umbria then.

 For information on planning a trip to Italy go to Touring Club Italiano, a member-based organization started in 1894. Browse the Web site for tips on traveling in Italy and for regional attractions. Members of the club get discounts on auto rentals, boat tours and ferries, accommodations, meals, attractions, and museums throughout Italy. (Similar to AAA in the U. S.)

 It may be too late to join the festivities of Spoleto this year, but you can still join me to help promote Italian American Heritage Month in October with Thirty-One Days of Italians. The votes have been tabulated and with the vote for the final day split among several, a new category – Your Favorite Italian – has been added. It’s a day of tribute to any Italian that is not on the list, whether well known or just special to you.

 Those who have been nominated are Fiorello H. La Guardia, Frank Capra, Giovanni Caboto, Lee Iacocca, Yogi Berra, Mario Lanza, Giovanni Verrazzano, Anthony Fauci, Rocky Marciano, Father Geno Baroni, Joe DiMaggio, Dominick Ghirardelli, Ella T. Grasso, and Robert Mondavi.

 Honorary Members are The Italian Immigrant, Andrea Palladio, Costantino [Constantino] Brumidi, Maria Montessori, M.D., Christopher Columbus [Cristoforo Colombo], Amerigo Vespucci, Amadeo Pietro [A. P.] Giannini, Antonio Pasin, Father Pietro Bandini, Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, Enrico Caruso, Arturo Toscanini, Filippo Mazzei, Enrico Fermi, Guglielmo Marconi, and Antonio Meucci.

 Honorable Mentions are Mario Andretti, Geraldine Ferraro, Ernest and Julio Gallo, Henry Mancini, Ezio Pinza, Francis Rogallo, R. A. Salvatore, and Frank Zamboni.

 Gian Carlo Menotti is on the list of nominees. You can learn more about him and the others at Contributing to America.

 I’m currently communicating with several Italian educational groups, and one is very interested in working together to promote Italian American Heritage Month. A meeting has been planned to discuss the ways to do this.

 I recently spoke with a woman from Cleveland who purchased Con Amore through a fundraiser for a local Italian church. She said the words any author would love to hear, “It’s a great summer read.” (Although I appreciated her comment, I couldn’t help but think that the book editor of the New York Times should be saying it.) She offered to promote my book through an Italian professional organization she is involved with, and I am very grateful for that.

Buon anno, buon tutto, buona vita
Janice Therese Mancuso
Author of Con Amore

www.jtmancuso.com
Thirty-One Days of Italians

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