A few years before becoming Jovanotti, Lorenzo Cherubini left the Faculty of Letters at Sapienza University in Rome to pursue his destiny. And in the logic of a mocking destiny, yesterday morning he found himself in a classroom at the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, as a “prof” to meet the students of the university. The “one-to-one” meeting was requested by the rector Giovanni Cuda, the mayor Nicola Fiorita and the tourism councilor of the Calabria Region Giovanni Calabrese, who hosted the singer in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine, after an inspection of the Calabria Music Arena which will host the “Jova Summer Party” on August 22nd.
After a four-year absence from the Calabrian territory – the last time was in 2022 with the «Jova Beach Party» in Roccella Jonica – the main theme of the questions posed by the students was precisely his relationship with Calabria: «I have always found a deep bond in Calabria, an affection for a world that still manages to move me. It is a world that has its roots in Magna Graecia, in the Mediterranean understood as a symbolic center, where everything starts and everything returns.”
His return to the coasts of Southern Italy after a year touring the sports halls with his latest tour is therefore emblematic: «This new format was born with the idea of getting closer to those territories in the South where large sports halls are often missing: bringing music there becomes almost a necessity, as well as an artistic choice. Today music is dematerializing and for this reason the need to meet physically, to share a real experience, is growing. A bit like what happened in Magna Graecia, where the collective dimension was central. I believe that a concert can improve your life: it makes you feel immersed in the elements, it fills you with wonder and amazement.”
He then recalled the days spent in Scilla during the recording of the video clip for «Alla Salute» (2022): «The days in Scilla were special: I was surrounded by authentic affection and immersed in a unique place, which gave even more meaning to that work. For me it is essential to find a profound meaning in what I do.” He then explained why, on the stage on August 22nd, the Calabrian musician Francesco Giannini will also perform next to him, with a version of «So solo che la vita» in Calabrian dialect: «I didn’t grow up speaking dialect, but when I hear him sing I’m always fascinated: in dialects there is a musicality that Italian often isn’t able to convey in the same way».
Also a passage on the most tragic current events: «Bombing a school is inconceivable. The idea that you can deliberately kill human beings, children, I cannot understand. I only have sensations that dismay me. I stop in my refuge which is music, where things come together in harmony.”
And then even more personal things: «I chose to make music precisely because it allows me to travel, even before with my body. It all comes from a deep desire: travel and music are my way of getting to know myself and, at the same time, of giving something deeply mine to others.”
In every song, note, word written on a crumpled sheet of paper, Jovanotti feels the need to insert a personal vision and encourages the kids to have their own idea while maintaining it to the end: «Today you make the difference, with your ideas and your point of view. It is precisely your view of the world that makes the difference. In an increasingly homogenized reality, the risk is that the individual’s point of view is pushed towards simple polarizations. If you have a strong idea, put it into circulation: observe how it is received, what the public returns. But above all, believe that your individual choices really matter. You will always find someone ready to scale back what you do: recognize it and move forward, because life is yours. The greatest contribution you can make to the world is the world inside you.”
