Peppe Voltarelli wins the National City of Loano Award for Traditional Italian Music

AND Peppe Voltarelli – with the album The great race towards Lupionòpolis (Visage Music) – the winner of the National City of Loano Award for Traditional Italian Musicthe most prestigious award for traditional music in Italy, assigned every year to the best folk musical production by a jury made up of over fifty specialized journalists and scholars.

The Youth Award – awarded to the best album by a musician under 35 – goes instead to Bucolic of the singer from Campania Hiram Salsano (self-production).

A special edition: the twentieth anniversary edition is being prepared for the Award, entitled “Venti di folk”

The next edition of the Loano Prize will be held from 24 to 26 July 2024 in the Ligurian town. It will be the twentieth anniversary edition, entitled “Venti di folk”, an important milestone for the Award which will be celebrated in the name of great Italian folk music. Alongside the celebrations, the festival will dedicate an evening to the 70th anniversary of the ethnomusicologist’s trip to Italy Alan Lomax with an original production that traces the incredible best of of the Italian musical tradition compiled by the American scholar. On stage, some of the protagonists of the two decades of the Award will be called to bear witness to the legacy of that fundamental research through their music.

«It will be a special edition» explains the artistic director Jacopo Tomatis «It will be an opportunity to celebrate a milestone that cannot be taken for granted in these times – that of the twenty years of the Prize – but also to take stock of two decades of activity and to reflect on the boundaries and meaning of “traditional music” in the world of 2024″. «From this point of view» continues Tomatis, «the victory of a singer-songwriter like Peppe Voltarelli confirms both the liveliness of the contemporary production of songs in minority languages ​​and the proudly cosmopolitan vocation of “Italian-rooted” music, as it always is state. The same goes for Hiram Salsano, a young singer from Campania rooted in today, but whose artistic journey goes in the direction of rediscovering his roots. Celebrating tradition does not mean focusing on the past, but above all it means telling the present; it doesn’t mean closing oneself within one’s own boundaries, but opening oneself up to listening to what is “outside””.

“The National City of Loano Award for traditional music – recall the mayor Luca Lettieri and the councilor for tourism, culture and sport Gianluigi Bocchio – it is the main event dedicated to folk music. Every year, for three days, Loano is transformed into a large stage on which the best contemporary representatives of this particular genre take to the stage. The uniqueness of the Award coincides with its best value: the ability to describe in a simple and accessible way to all a type of music that draws heavily on the cultures of local Italian communities. Our administration has long since started an important project for the recovery of the Loan traditions: demonstrations and events such as the Award, appreciated both by musical experts and simple enthusiasts, represents the perfect opportunity to broaden the boundaries of this project and compare the peculiarities of the Loan tradition with those of other contexts, in search of that ‘common history’ that distinguishes and makes our country unique”.

“The great race towards Lupionòpolis” by Peppe Voltarelli

Peppe Voltarelli He is a singer, songwriter, writer and actor. Active since 1990 as the voice of the Parto delle Nuo Heavy, a cult band of new Italian folk, he has released seven solo albums, winning the Targa Tenco three times. In his career he has always been attentive to the music of his Calabria – for example in the album Voltarelli sings Profazio, from 2016 – like the sounds of international folk-rock. He has performed in over 23 countries and has released his own records in Europe, Argentina, Canada and the United States.

The great race towards Lupionòpolis, whose title originates from a small town in Paranà, Brazil, is an invitation to discover new places. Recorded in New York by Marc Urselli (collaborator of Nick Cave And Lou Reed) in the’East Side Sound of Manhattan and produced by the Italian pianist based in Los Angeles Simone Giuliani (to his credit productions with Andrea Bocelli and the London Symphony Orchestra), contains ten original songs of which eight in Calabrian dialect (and one in Italian, plus an instrumental waltz). Among the musicians involved Davin Hoff (double bass), Jake Owen (guitar), Stephane San Juan (drums), Mauro Refosco (percussion) and the participation of Eleanor Norton (cello), Dough Wieselman (saxophone and clarinet) e Amy Denio (voice).

“Bucolica” by Hiram Salsano

Hiram Salsano, born in Campania in 1988, lives on the slopes of the Alburni mountains, in a small village in Cilento. She trained as a performer in Basel, and at the same time deepened her study of the traditional dances and music of Southern Italy, performing as a soloist and in various groups and carrying out independent research in Campania.

Bucolic – his first album – is a story in music that starts from the countryside and the oral tradition of Southern Italy, through archaic songs, to arrive at the contemporary. Recorded in the company of Catello Gargiulo (accordionist and multi-instrumentalist), Gianluca Zammarelli (beating guitar, bagpipe, shawm), Peppe Frana (oud) e Mario Pivetta (drums), with herself on vocals, percussion and loops, the album was placed among the top ten records of the Transglobal World Music Chart and among the top twenty of the World Music Charts Europe.

The City of Loano Award for Traditional Italian Music

The City of Loano Award for Traditional Italian Music was born twenty years ago as a permanent laboratory on folk music, and promotes and enhances the contemporary production of traditional music of Italian origin through the involvement of artists, record labels, journalists and cultural operators. It is organized byCompagnia dei Curiosi Association in collaboration with theDepartment of Tourism and Culture of the Municipality of Loano, with the contribution of A. De Mari Foundation and the patronage of ANCI. The artistic direction is by Jacopo Tomatis, with the collaboration of Ciro De Rosa, Enrico de Angelis, Lucia Campana, Annalisa Scarsellini and Davide Valfrè. Partners of the Loano Prize: Andrea Parodi Award, Folkest.