In our Lifetime: Italy and the USA

“What Makes It Italian?” is a music listening and discussion group that meets online on the Zoom platform and is open to everyone.
Participation is free.
The group is led by Gina Crusco, who has also guided listening at Bard LLI and Riverdale Y; acted as maestro del coro for opera in Italy; instructed music at The New School; and directed Underworld Productions.
Please email ginacrusco@gmail.com to confirm your attendance and receive an invitation link.

As we undergo a shake-up of styles and genres, Americans emphasize innovation while Italians take inspiration from their long cultural heritage.

Italian pairing: Composer Giacomo Manzoni (born 1932) and artist Gian-Maria Tosatti (born 1980)

US pairing: Composer Dominick Argento (1927–2019) and artist James Turrell (born 1943)

What seems indescribable in music is often easy to name in the visual arts. So each session in this series we explore four works: a pairing of an Italian painting with a musical work, and a similar pair from outside of Italy. Discovering riches from painters like Sandro Botticelli, Guido Reni, Francois Boucher, and Vanessa Bell, and composers like Girolamo Frescobaldi, Joseph Bologne, Edward Elgar and Dominick Argento, we define more clearly “What Makes it Italian.”