Promoted by MiBAC, ARCUS, the Italian Cultural Institute and the ARMUSER Association, the DIVINAMENTE NEW YORK
International Festival on Spirituality will travel to New York from Rome for the second consecutive year. Divinamente New
York is a five-night festival that celebrates spirituality and artistic exploration through a range of events including musical and
theatrical performances and round-table discussions.
Divinamente New York is the off-shoot of the Divinamente Roma Festival, founded in 2008 by Italian actress, director, and cultural
icon Pamela Villoresi. Mrs. Villoresi has appeared in over one hundred plays, eleven films and twelve television productions. She
has had the pleasure of working with a number of famed actors including Vittorio Gassman and Nino Manfredi, and some of the
greatest directors including Marco Bellocchio, the Taviani brothers, Ettore Scola, and Giorgio Strehler.
The theme of this year’s Divinamente New York Festival is “The Fear of God”. Around this theme artists of different ethnic and cultural
origin come together this year, looking to a God who is not only welcoming and reassuring, maternal and tolerant, but also severe,
punitive and the bringer of justice. Fear and Trembling are the feelings which men of faith have tried most to arouse in the faithful
or the unfaithful. The word of peace has often become an instrument of war, and the signs of religion the banners of armies.
The Festival opens on Thursday April 22nd at the Italian Cultural Institute with a round table on the theme Fear of god,
with the help of Pamela Villoresi with readings from “Noah’s Ark” by Michele di Martino, Dante’s “Inferno” and “The Bacchae” by
Euripides; followed by The path of the soul with Russian duo Anton Dressler, clarinet, and Uri Brener, piano, in an original concert
featuring a number of different styles and composers.
Next, at the Symphony Space Teresa De Sio’s secular prayer invokes Paradise on earth through popular music; the Rubin
Museum is the stunning setting for the story of the love between Galileo Galilei and his illegitimate daughter Suor Maria Celeste,
played by actress Federica Bern; at St. Mark’s Church Vanessa Gravina enacts on stage the courage of Francesca, the Saint
of Emigrants.
The closing event, on Monday April 26th, again at the Italian Cultural Institute, will feature the warm and captivating voice of Evelina
Meghnagi as she relives the exodus of the Sephardic Jews through Africa and Europe to the Roman community
with the IIC Director Riccardo Viale and Artistic Director Pamela Villoresi with readings taken from Noah's Ark by Michele di Martino, Dante’s Inferno, and The Bacchae by Euripides.
Anton Dressler clarinet,
Uri Brener piano, accordion
Two outstanding musicians of Russian origin take us on a fascinating musical journey starting from Debussy’s Rhapsody,
Massenet’s Meditation and Ravel’s Kaddish, to improvisation and jazz, to the music of the troubadors and Jewish and Klezmer music.
Teresa De Sio vocals acoustic guitar, percussion,
Attilio Costa acoustic guitar,
Egidio Marchitelli acoustic guitar
12-string guitar, mandolin,
Vittorio Longobardi bass,
Pasquale Angelini drums,
Upapadia percussion, chorus
Her violin.
Teresa De Sio has designed this original
musical performance specially for
the Festival. Using as her starting point
her song Amén she calls on the gods
to intervene in earthly matters. Like a
sort of secular prayer, Teresa De Sio’s
popular music is an encouragement
to build a better future, attempting to
build “Paradise” on earth
A tribute to Sister Maria Celeste Galilei
by Valeria Moretti,
with Federica Bern,
music David Baritton
Giacomo De Caterini,
stage setting Marco Carniti
Nicolas Hunerwadel,
video installation Francesco Scandale,
light designer Paolo Ferrari
director Marco Carniti.
Galileo’s daughter Virginia was born
in 1600. At the age of thirteen she entered
an enclosed convent, where she
was to remain for the rest of her short
life. What emerges in this performance
is the wish, which was never to be fulfilled,
to see her father again.
by Enrico Groppali,
with Vanessa Gravina,
video Andrea Giansanti,
music Stefano Saletti,
assistant director Tiziano Panici,
director Maurizio Panici.
Francesca Cabrini, known as the Saint
of the Emigrants, is a wonderful example
of courage and solidarity. From the
United States to South America and
Europe, this little nun created schools,
hospitals, and orphanages, involving
artists, thinkers and politicians in her
universal project of peace.
a concert by Evelina Meghnagi,
guitars, oud Domenico Ascione,
percussions Arnaldo Vacca.
From songs in Judeo-Spanish to the
melodies of North Africa and those of
the Italian tradition, a journey through
the regions of the world of Jewish music.
The warm and captivating voice of
Evelina Meghnagi gives a fresh colour
to ancient melodies. An extraordinary
concert, a fascinating mix of languages
and music, of melodies and rhythms, of
the archaic and the contemporary.
Founded in 1961, the purpose of
the IIC is to strengthen the cultural
links between Italy and the USA by
promoting academic exchanges,
organizing visual arts exhibitions,
sponsoring the translation of Italian
books, promoting Italian studies,
music, dance, cinema, theater, architecture
and literature.
L’IIC e’ stato fondato nel 1961 con
l’intento di rafforzare i legami culturali
tra l’Italia e gli Stati Uniti attraverso
la promozione e la sponsorizzazione
di eventi relativi all’ambito
musicale, della danza, cinema, teatro,
architettura e letteratura.
Symphony Space fosters artistically
and culturally diverse performing
arts, literary, and film programs that
bring artists and audiences together
in an atmosphere of exploration and
intimacy. Today, thirty-one years later
after its foundation, a neighborhood
favorite has become a New York institution,
that still brings artists and
audiences together to make magic.
Il Sympony Space è volto alla promozione
artistica e culturale di diverse
forme d’arte in grado di immergere
gli artisti e il pubblico in un’atmosfera
intima. A trentun’anni dalla sua
fondazione, da teatro di quartiere è
divenuto un’istituzione newyorkese
che ancora unisce artisti e pubblico
in un ambiente magico.
The Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) is
a nonprofit cultural and educational
institution dedicated to the preservation,
study, and enjoyment of Himalayan
art. Opened to the public in
2004 RMA draws more than 100,000
visitors a year. The museum also
serves as a venue for traveling exhibitions
critically acclaimed.
Il Rubin Museum of Art è un’istituzione
noprofit culturale e di formazione
volta alla tutela, allo studio e alla diffusione
dell’arte Himalayana. Inaugurato
nel 2004, RMA attira piu’ di
100.000 visitatori all’anno. Il museo
viene anche utilizzato per mostre itineranti
acclamate dalla critica.
St. Mark’s Church is a progressive
Episcopal Church, a center for modern
dance, experimental theater and
poetry, and a community gathering
space and emphasizing his role in
creating the life of the Church. St.
Mark’s has a special interest in supporting
emerging artists and also
hosts modern artistic endeavors,
holding events year round.
St. Mark’s Church e’ una chiesa episcopale
progressista, un centro di
danza moderna, teatro sperimentale
e poesia, una comunità in fase di
espansione che enfatizza il proprio
ruolo creando la vita della chiesa. La
Chiesa di St. Mark è volta in particolar
modo a promuovere artisti emergenti
ed eventi di arte contemporanea che
hanno luogo durante tutto l’anno.
