The incessant rhythms of the South that are combined with the charm of Irish music. Two different worlds held together by music, the universal language par excellence. This evening, as part of the twentieth edition of the Autumn Festival, directed by Antonietta Santacroce, the Grangia di Sant’Anna in Montauro, in the province of Catanzaro, will host the awaited concert of Taranta Celticexpression of an international project born from the idea by the master percussionists Andrea Piccioni and Dave Boyd.
Piccioni is a renowned percussionist who has collaborated with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Paul McCandless, Donal Lunny; Boyd is a composer who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the national theaters of England, Scotland and Ireland.
The TarantaCeltica show, supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Dublin and Culture Ireland, already made its debut with a world premiere concert in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, last April. Tonight’s concert in the fascinating setting of the Grangia will open the Italian tour.
Maestro Piccioni, how did the idea of this project come about?
«TarantaCeltica was born from the encounter that has developed over the years between me and my Irish colleague Dave Boyd, who plays the main percussion instrument of Irish music, the bodhran. Through the meeting of our tools and the respective languages of our traditions we realized that we have many more points in common than differences; therefore this idea of trying to merge the two elements linked to traditional styles arose. As for me, the Calabrian style, which I think has the most resemblance to Irish music, from a rhythmic point of view, of course».
Music, therefore, as a language that unites different worlds…
«Exactly, the challenge is precisely this: how to succeed in merging two musical worlds so strong, so rooted and with similarities, but also with great differences, without risking the identity of one or the other, but rather going to merge the two languages, in search of something new and unexpected, and we hope also engaging».
How did the audience respond to the debut concert in Ireland?
«The response was magnificent, and it was wonderful to see people, at a certain point, get up and dance, as happened every time on our tarantellas. We sincerely hope to have the same effect in Calabria ».
The project is supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Dublin. How important was this support?
«Our project immediately found the enthusiastic support of the Dublin Institute of Culture and Culture Ireland which is another very important institute in Ireland that actively supported us. And then the Arpa association in Italy which is collaborating with us for the tour, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Nocera Terinese, where I teach my frame drum class. Last but not least, support from the European Community. All these realities joined an idea, because we didn’t have anything ready and this is extraordinary, because they evaluated the goodness of the project and today it’s a dream come true».