Foggia. In honor of the great Maestro Rico Garofalo, the salient phases of his extraordinary artistic career

On Saturday 27 April at 5.00 pm in the Sala del Tribunal of Palazzo Dogana we will celebrate the centenary of the birth of maestro Rico Garofalo (01.05.1924-10.07.2000), pianist and composer appreciated above all by celebrities from the world of cinema and entertainment.

The event promoted by the children Ortensia, Gabriele, Riccardo and Marcello will retrace the salient phases of their father’s extraordinary artistic careerstarting from the end of 1943, at the time of the occupation of the American allies during the Second World War, ending in 2000, the year of his death.

Speakers will include the well-known Italian tenor Luciano Lamonarca, the pianist Federica Pagano, Salvatore Aiezza, passionate about local history and traditions, Pasquale Inglese, maestro and composer. The writer and journalist Carmine De Leo will moderate.

During the ceremony, in addition to photographs, films, anecdotes, testimonies of those who collaborated with and knew the maestro, we will talk about the Parker’s Boys orchestra, a band applauded for its American style music such as Jazz, Swing, Boogie Woogie and of which he was Rico’s very young pupil, Renzo Arbore, also takes part as a singer and clarinettist. Rico Garofalo was Renzo Arbore’s first teacher to whom he taught the first rudiments of music.

In memory are the successes of Garofalo who directed the choir of 600 students of the “De Amicis” school, the collaboration with prestigious personalities from the world of cinema and entertainment, the choice by director Lina Wertmuller for the film Francesca and Nunziata and its splendid relationship with Padre Pio of whom he was a spiritual son and to whom he dedicated the music of “The Song of Padre Pio” written by his friend and lyricist Gino Scauzillo.

The crucial moment of the evening will be the extraordinary participation of an international artist who comes from New York to pay homage to the maestro Rico Garofalo: the well-known Italian tenor Luciano Lamonarca who will sing La Canzone di San Pio, a piece composed by Rico Garofalo with words by Gino Scauzillo, accompanied by the pianist Federica Pagano.

Lamonarca chose the song dedicated to Padre Pio to offer due recognition to maestro Garofalo on his centenary, to relaunch the Song of San Pio with the hope that it will become a world hymn to Padre Pio, especially this year, considering that it falls on twenty-fifth anniversary of the beatification of Saint Pio.

The same tenor will make an important announcement relating to the Song of San Pio and will deliver a posthumous recognition to the career of Maestro Garofalo on behalf of the ONLUS Americana Saint Pio Foundation.

Tenor Luciano Lamonarca is a crossover artist, speaker, philanthropist and event producer. He has performed under the patronage of the United Nations, UNESCO, the European Union, the Presidency of the Italian Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also at the United Nations General Assembly, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna and the Teatro Politeama in Palermo.

Thus another important piece is achieved for Rico Garofalo which embellishes his extraordinary life as a generous man and formidable artist already honored by the naming of a street in Foggia and the music room of the “De Amicis” Institute.