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hplandmark.com life & Arts<br />
the highland park landmark | April 18, 2019 | 19<br />
Italian concert puts on a show at library<br />
Doug Rapp<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
The library is supposed<br />
to be a quiet place—but<br />
Highland Park made an<br />
exception Wednesday<br />
night for the powerful<br />
voice of Italian singer Gianni<br />
Coletta.<br />
Coletta performed for an<br />
event celebrating Highland<br />
Park’s sesquicentennial, its<br />
150th anniversary. Titled<br />
“Night of Italian Song,”<br />
the hour-long concert was<br />
presented by the Highland<br />
Park Sister Cities Foundation<br />
and sponsored by the<br />
Highland Park/Highwood<br />
Modenese Society and the<br />
Highwood Bocce Club.<br />
One of Highland Park’s<br />
sister cities is Modena,<br />
Italy, where the tenor Coletta<br />
lives.<br />
Carol Wolfe, president<br />
of <strong>HP</strong>SCF, spoke briefly,<br />
touting her organization’s<br />
recent awards and saying,<br />
“We know building bridges<br />
is important.”<br />
She said <strong>HP</strong>SCF had<br />
previously brought opera<br />
to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,<br />
another sister city.<br />
“It was opera meets<br />
mariachi and it was amazing,”<br />
Wolfe said. Coletta<br />
performed there in 2016<br />
and first performed in<br />
Highland Park in 2017.<br />
Accordionist Linda Iovino<br />
began the show solo.<br />
She said she began playing<br />
accordion as a child when<br />
her father won free lessons<br />
through a raffle.<br />
“I hope you recognize<br />
these songs,” Iovino said,<br />
“If not, I’ll tell you.”<br />
Her first tune, “Arrive<br />
derci Roma,” from the film<br />
Seven Hills of Rome, drew<br />
murmurs of recognition<br />
from the large crowd seated<br />
in an open space on the<br />
main floor of the library.<br />
Coletta then appeared,<br />
opening with “L’Danza,”<br />
or The Dance. Singing<br />
without a mic along to prerecorded<br />
piano, the bearded<br />
and bespectacled singer<br />
moved freely about the<br />
stage, gesturing broadly<br />
with his arms.<br />
Playing solo again, Iovino<br />
segued into the theme<br />
from The Godfather,<br />
smiling as the audience<br />
clapped.<br />
Coletta stepped back up<br />
on stage to sing another<br />
song, but stopped when Iovino<br />
began accompanying<br />
him. He politely reminded<br />
STARTS NOW<br />
her this song only needed<br />
the prerecorded piano. As<br />
she laughed along with the<br />
audience, Coletta kissed<br />
her hand diplomatically.<br />
For the next song, Co-<br />
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Linda Iovino walks among the audience members while playing her accordion. Photos<br />
by Nicole Carrow/22nd Century Media<br />
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During Gianni Coletta’s break, audience members Filippo DiVagno and Josephine<br />
Campagni offer the audience an impromptu song at Highland Park Library on April 10.
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