Romina Arena

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER

Posted: November 3rd, 2012 / 07:20 AM

Ennio Morricone has always been one of film music’s most intensely lyrical composers. Indefatigably writing one great theme after the other through over five decades and a few hundred scores. Morricone’s soulful, longing melodies have always come across like songs just waiting to happen, a feeling often reinforced by the wordlessly haunting, female vocals of Edda Dell’Orso. But when it’s come to doing an actual songbook based on Il Maestro’s work, Italian chanteuse Romina Arena has done a yeoman job of making Morricone her own, with a number of beautiful tunes that don’t play so much as film music set to lyrics as they do as transfixing tales of female empowerment, “I Will Survive” the Ennio way if you will.

Internationally known for her crossover work in the “Popera” field, Arena can now consider herself an innovator at transforming score into songs. Sure “Morricone. Uncovered” isn’t the first time this has been attempted, as film soundtracks have long tried to turn their main themes into chart-topping songs upon a picture’s release. Though this album is long after the fact for the films it draws from, Arena’s channeling of the instrumentals into her own sonorous poetry makes the melodies entirely fresh. Better yet, Arena’s choices from Ennio’s boundless repertoire are far from the obvious picks. While American fans will likely be impressed with how well recognizable pieces from ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, THE UNTOUCHABLES and CASUALTIES OF WAR tenderly take flight anew, a great deal of the songs draw from Ennio’s European repertoire like LA PIOVRA, MALENA and LE PROFESSIONEL giving the album a true sense of discovery. Singing in English, Italian and French, Romina Arena’s voice has a truly beautiful quality, as do her own lyrics about broken love, sacrifice and personal perseverance, making the album as much about one woman’s personal journey as her own interpretation of a composer who’s inspired so many artists like her.

It’s no wonder that Morricone has personally approved Arena’s tribute, which one can easily imagine being done on the concert stage, especially given its impressive production values (recorded at studios the world over) that range from the intimacy of a piano and strings to the emotional rush of a booming orchestra. It’s done very much in the “Popera” tradition of switching between more contemporary uptempo arrangements and classically symphonic renditions, which comes through powerfully with Arena’s duet alongside Marcello Giordani for “Per Amore.” But then, every aspect of “Morricone. Uncovered” impresses with its passion, right down its lavish booklet filled with impressionistic artwork by Melinda Surga. Well worth picking up for Morricone diehards and casual listeners alike, “Morricone. Uncovered” goes beyond a singular composer to reveal just how well film music can be interpreted for a whole new Arena. - By Daniel Schweiger - Assignment X

What Is It?: Ennio Morricone has always been one of film music’s most intensely lyrical composers. Indefatigably writing one great theme after the other through over five decades and a few hundred scores. Morricone’s soulful, longing melodies have always come across like songs just waiting to happen, a feeling often reinforced by the wordlessly haunting, female vocals of Edda Dell’Orso. But when it’s come to doing an actual songbook based on Il Maestro’s work, Italian chanteuse Romina Arena has done a yeoman job of making Morricone her own, with a number of beautiful tunes that don’t play so much as film music set to lyrics as they do as transfixing tales of female empowerment, “I Will Survive” the Ennio way if you will.

Why You Should Buy It?: Internationally known for her crossover work in the “Popera” field, Arena can now consider herself an innovator at transforming score into songs. Sure “Morricone. Uncovered” isn’t the first time this has been attempted, as film soundtracks have long tried to turn their main themes into chart-topping songs upon a picture’s release. Though this album is long after the fact for the films it draws from, Arena’s channeling of the instrumentals into her own sonorous poetry makes the melodies entirely fresh. Better yet, Arena’s choices from Ennio’s boundless repertoire are far from the obvious picks. While American fans will likely be impressed with how well recognizable pieces from “Once Upon A Time in America,” “The Untouchables” and “Casualties of War” tenderly take flight anew, a great deal of the songs draw from Ennio’s European repertoire like “La Piovra,” “Malena” and “Le Professionel,” giving the album a true sense of discovery. Singing in English, Italian and French, Romina Arena’s voice has a truly beautiful quality, as do her own lyrics about broken love, sacrifice and personal perseverance, making the album as much about one woman’s personal journey as her own interpretation of a composer who’s inspired so many artists like her.

Extra Special: It’s no wonder that Morricone has personally approved Arena’s tribute, which one can easily imagine being done on the concert stage, especially given its impressive production values (recorded at studios the world over) that range from the intimacy of a piano and strings to the emotional rush of a booming orchestra. It’s done very much in the “Popera” tradition of switching between more contemporary uptempo arrangements and classically symphonic renditions, which comes through powerfully with Arena’s duet alongside Marcello Giordani for “Per Amore.” But then, every aspect of “Morricone. Uncovered” impresses with its passion, right down its lavish booklet filled with impressionistic artwork by Melinda Surga. Well worth picking up for Morricone diehards and casual listeners alike, “Morricone. Uncovered” goes beyond a singular composer to reveal just how well film music can be interpreted for a whole new Arena. - By Daniel Schweiger - Film Music Magazine

Award-winning Italian international pop opera star Romina Arena has performed before Popes, Presidents and other luminaries. She’s sold more than four million records worldwide and has garners a gaggle of major honors, including the United Nations Global Citizenship Award for her humanitarian support for the children of Haiti. Her most recent album—Morricone Uncovered—made in collaboration with Academy Award-winning film composer Ennio Morricone is still making a splash. Another album The Best Of Silent Hill, released in October 29th with the song I Want Love recorded by Romina from the up and coming exciting soundtrack tribute of Silent Hill, the famous horror film and video game franchise. Read our exclusive interview with Romina in the next issue of ALO. - See more at: http://alomagazine.com/promos/romina-arena/index.php#sthash.W7TXCoWz.dpuf - Alo Magazine

Ennio Morricone revisits some of his most memorable motion picture compositions with the benefit of modern technology and the amazing vocal talent of Romina Arena. It’s a pristine, modern collection of just a few his timeless masterpieces. You’ll recognize almost every song along this trip down hollywood memory lane, and you’ll hear them anew all over again - Highly Recommended.

Ennio Morricone is one of the most famous film composers of all time. He is also one of the most prolific having scored nearly 500 films over the last several decades. Most of us will recognize his signature sound in the Clint Eastwood western triology “A Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More,” and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” Ennio also scored “Once Upon a Time in America” and the Oscar-winning picture “Cinema Paradiso.” Ennio Morricone has sold millions of albums, writing not only film scores, but songs for major singing stars. His work has garnered him an Oscar, a Grammy, and several Golden Globes. He has worked with some of the world’s great film directors, including Roman Polanski, Giuseppe Tornatore, Oliver Stone, and Brian De Palma.


Romina Arena was only 13 years old when she first met Ennio at his home in Rome. She was accompanied by her mother, who was helping guide her career as a singer and dancer, which started at the age of 4. Romina wanted to work with Ennio immediately, but he advised her to study music, improve her vocals and gain more performance experience. Finally in 2011, with success under her belt, abundant sales of her own albums and a more-powerful voice, Romina met her mentor in Rome, accompanied by her manager and producers.


Maestro Morricone was impressed by the dominant power of Romina’s voice, and the concept for this album was born: his music and her voice and lyrics. Now you, too, can embrace this “work of heart” in Morricone.Uncovered - Rust Archives

Walking thru a sparkling mountain stream, skiing after a fresh sunrise snow, running thru a summer sun shower are so refreshing. So it is with some people who saunter across the path of our lives. After conversing with them, we feel energized, upbeat and optimistic. They exude a refreshing honesty that brightens the rest of your day. Romina Arena defines joie de vivre. Chatting with her inspires and the rhythm, poetry and sensitivity of her words draw us closer to our Creator.

I could write volumes on the accomplishments in her brief three decades of life. I will leave most of those details to the book and the movie, scripted and based upon her life. To truly understand this gifted entertainer, one should visit and read that official biography and eventually watch the movie depicting her triumphant life. Both should be accessible soon.
A child prodigy, Ms. Arena started her career at 4 years of age as a Disney Mouseketeer in Italy. A musical genius and a trained ballerina, she also taught herself to speak ten languages. She accomplished this while travelling around the globe. Humble, Romina chooses to praise her Sicilian nuns’ teaching skills for her facility with this multiplicity of languages.

Tragedy rudely forced its way into her life and tar brushed her innocence. While on a musical tour, an assailant slashed Romina’s throat with a pocket knife. Comatose for several months, her mother Rita visited her every day, cleaned and washed her, whispered in her ear, and prayed endlessly. For years this devoted single mother with limited income, raised her child as best she could. An accomplished dancer, songwriter, and singer, Rita introduced Romina to the magic of music and helped to mould and hone her child’s talents.

Suddenly, her mother found herself isolated with her comatose child at her side. All that mattered to Rita at that moment was her daughter’s survival. Miraculously, the sixteen year-old awakened one day. Despite a tickle in her throat, she tried to speak to her mom immediately. Her lips moved, but her voice was absent. She broke into a cold sweat. Confusion overwhelmed Romina. Terror and frustration cast their ugly shadows over her. To make matters worse, her attending physicians told her that she’d never sing again. She felt her blood boil. The room seemed to close in on her. That life sentence was unacceptable to Romina. At that crossroad of her life she focused on the heavens and vowed, not only to speak without the medically predicted raspy voice, but to resume her singing career. As the cliché states, “The rest is history.”
During our conversation, Arena mentioned that her life appeared to be, “a series of strange coincidences,” and sensed that she was meant to make a mark on the world. Of course, she never forgot that vicious attack on her, but instead of hating the troubled perpetrator, she concentrated on helping others and developing her skills as a writer and singer.

Messina, Sicily native Salvatore Pacino (Al’s father) assumed the role of her father, took her under wing, and brought her to the USA to study. He and his wife Katherine helped pioneer a production company with her. Romina kept reflecting on a conversation she once had with the brilliant, Italian Oscar winning cinema music composer Ennio Morricone. At twelve, he’d served as her mentor. As a pre teen, she asked if she could work with him. Morricone suggested her going to America to study and then contacting him again. She ended up doing just that. Fate? A score of years later, he presented her with the opportunity to make a major recording based on his movie scores entitled, Morricone Uncovered. On September 18, 2012 the recording, showcasing Romina’s voice and lyrics will be released internationally by Perseverance Records.

Our interview flowed so smoothly that I tossed the rest of my questions into the pail. As alluded to before, Ms. Arena has a gift for uplifting her fellow man. She could easily assume the role of a “life” coach or a “motivational” coach. She said that her philosophy was,” To do something positive every day, and to avoid hatred because, hate only consumes you.” She adheres to those words in her day-to-day life. Thru numerous appearances and concerts, Romina raised moneys for the children of Haiti, the Red Cross, and the Yellow Ribbon group. That organization collects money for children of our military casualties in Iraq. She said, “If one is truly a humanitarian, then one needs to share.”

Quite witty too, she labels herself as the “anti-diva” since she laughs freely and frequently and loves to run around in blue jeans. Whether she regards herself as a diva or not, the fact remains that after her trauma, she was blessed with a five-octave vocal range and is the only female tenor (tenorette) in the world.
Multi-talented in a multiplicity of ways, Ms.Arena signed a contract to complete five books. Her first one will be released by Quill Drivers Books, in the spring of 2013. After talking about manuscript proposals, I put my notepad down.

I needed to clear up a recurrent thought I had about Sicily. I asked her if she ever intended to move back to Sicily. We discussed the notion espoused by many that “Sicily is the land of forbidden dreams.” A proud Sicilian she said, “I’m an ambassador for my heritage.” While she loves Taormina’s beauty, and owns a place in Palermo, she reminded me that she’d left Sicily to forget the pain.
Prior to leaving the Isle, she’d agreed to meet with her father. She’d not seen him since she was three-years old. She anticipated a joyous reunion and reconciliation. Before they met, he died suddenly and unexpectedly in Sicily. The attack on her vocal chords took place there too. There were too many sad memories attached to a homeland she’d loved. Arena paused for a few seconds, and then offered some words of wisdom someone once tossed her way. A movie director once told her, “You’re always where you need to be.” I asked her if she had any advice for me. She paused and shared a saying of her own. She wrote it and she followed it. Romina simply said, “Live the life you love.”

I’ve only provided a glimpse of this Sicilian who conquered America. Conquered America, you wonder? That was one of the headlines related to Arena, posted in the Giornale di Sicilia on January 29, 2012. I suspect that with her spontaneity, spirituality, courage, and talent headlines around the world will soon proclaim, “Romina Arena Conquers the World.” Everyone who samples her art or chats with her will feel refreshed by an artistic breeze, revive, rejuvenate and “live the life they love.” - By: F. Anthony D’Alessandro - Times of Sicily

Italian expat singer and Malibu resident Romina Arena has overcome many obstacles on the path to success.

By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times

Malibu is now host to a recording artist that has sold more than four million albums, toured internationally, performed with artists such as Andrea Bocelli, and sung for President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II; and you’ve probably never heard her name.

Romina Arena has long been on the radar in Europe and the Far East, winning accolades for her soaring (five octave range) brand of “Popera” (a mash up of pop and opera) and garnering Italy’s top artistic awards.

Last week, she released her 14th album that represents a first in recorded musical history-a compilation of music by the Oscar-winning film composer Ennio Morricone, famous for Sergio Leone films like “Once Upon a Time in America,” “The Untouchables,” “Cinema Paradiso,” “Malena” and dozens of others (in 2007, he won the Academy Honorary Award for his “magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music”). However for this album, Arena wrote the lyrics herself, in four different languages.

“Maestro Morricone has always been a huge influence and inspiration for my music from the time I was a little girl,” Arena said. “This was the greatest honor for me to record his music with my lyrics.”

Arena’s musical story began early. She was a Mouseketeer for the Italian version of Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club, “Topolino,” by age four. Working with international talent at such a young age allowed Arena to learn to sing in 10 languages, and by the time she was a teenager, she was touring and recording around the world.

While waiting backstage to perform in a television broadcast at the age of 16, she was attacked by a fellow performer and suffered a severe cut to her throat. She was comatose for months and, when she finally awoke, unable to speak, let alone sing. As if the attack was not enough, her father had just died, crashing his car while on his way to see her for the first time in 12 years.

“I was devastated, my life was over,” Arena said. “The doctors told me I would never sing again. I didn’t speak at all for three years and had to write everything down. But I had three surgeries and speech therapy and one day I woke up and my voice was back.”

She also woke up with two more octaves added to her upper range. She made up for lost time by touring, writing, scoring film soundtracks and video games, and working with a variety of Grammy-winning music producers. But her one, long-desired project didn’t materialize until last year.

“I had always loved the music of the great Ennio Morricone,” Arena said. “He is a legend in Italy and I wanted to meet him.”

When Arena was 12 years old, a director friend had arranged for her to meet the great maestro. Her mother accompanied her to Morricone’s Rome villa, where they were greeted by the entire Morricone family. Arena tremblingly told him her dream was to sing his music. Morricone obligingly listened to a tape the youngster had brought, then told her to come back and see him after she had learned her craft and achieved some success.

Flash forward 20 years and Arena has become an international recording star. Last year, she signed with a new agent, who also happened to represent Morricone. A meeting was arranged.

Morricone received Arena in the same palatial villa (actress Sophia Loren was the former proprietor) of 20 years previous. Crying and shaking, she asked him, “Maestro, do you remember me?”

In fact, he didn’t. But she reminded him of what he had told her all those years ago and he escorted her to a private room to listen to her latest CD.

By the second song, he told her, “You’re the most dominant voice I’ve heard today.”

“I knew I could now die happy,” Arena said. “So I told him I wanted to write lyrics to some of his best soundtracks and record a CD. He said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Arena worked closely with Morricone’s son, Giovanni, submitting songs and adjusting words and feelings, all while working in four languages. They recorded the album internationally as well, working in Budapest with the Dohnanyi Orchestra Budafok, and in studios in Italy, Canada and the U.S.

The album, just released in the U.S. on the Perseverance Records label, is titled “Morricone. Uncovered.” Arena plans to tour with the music next year.

When asked why he decided to collaborate with Arena at this time, Morricone responded by email, “I decided to work with her because of her hard work and incredible successes achieved. But most importantly, I consider her the most dominant voice I have heard in my life. I do not allow just any artist to write lyrics to my movie scores. But for her I make the exception.”

It all adds up to a time of success for Arena, who first became acquainted with Malibu after working with producers in Los Angeles and loved it. Next month she will move into a permanent home in the Paradise Cove area.

“I love living in Malibu,” Arena said. “It’s the closest thing to the Amalfi Coast to me. And the greatest people live here. They’re down to Earth. When I need to calm down and center myself, I like to be in Malibu.” - Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times

Anyone considering their first listen of modern opera (or popera, as it's officially known) would do well to start with Italian singer and European soundtrack queen Romina Arena, who was invited to sing lyrics over Ennio Morricone's theme for Once Upon a Time in America when she was just 12. The famous film composer must've liked her interpretation because he became her personal mentor, and has helped her arrange, produce, and add vocals to Morricone Uncovered, a collection of 15 of the composer's biggest scores.

The songs on Morricone Uncovered are really a vehicle for Arena's five-octave vocal range, caused by a knife attack to her throat and strong enough to catapult her to the finals of America's Got Talent. On "Il Cuore Mio – Mi Corazon," which last appeared as the tear-jerking theme to Italian miniseries La Piovra, her voice climbs higher than the strings, while "Ritorneral Dolce Amore" finds Arena warbling quietly along to the intimate horns of Brian De Palma's Casualties of War.

Curiously, the songs that feel overly melodramatic are those she sings in English. "The Woman in Me," from 1997's Lolita, pastes bunny-boiler lyrics over Morricone's twinkling orchestral score, and Arena's groan of "They say I'm too young/To fall in love with you/I waited a long time/Before falling in love with you…" feels oddly staged. The cover of the theme music from The Legend of 1900 finds Arena sticking her heart right in your face, crying, "What can I do/If you go away/And leave me here/With all my fears," over syrupy piano. It's awkward, but taken in the context of a tale of a gifted but cripplingly agoraphobic pianist, it might have you reaching for a Kleenex.

No one could accuse Arena of holding back on emotion, and the amount of hurt she pours into Morricone Uncovered is almost visceral. When she howls, "I cried a million tears," on "Requiem of Love," a duet with Marcello Giordano, you can imagine her counting each one. On this and the majority of the rest of the songs, she holds the notes like she's got a third lung, the power in her voice compensating for the overly saccharine moments. It also helps her overcome the language barrier just as gracefully as her mentor seduced audiences with his music. - George Bass - Slant Magazine

The history of popular music is rife with artists’ hard-luck tales about the obstacles, indignities, and sacrifices they were grudgingly forced to endure for the sake of their craft — from Elvis’s childhood poverty to Michael Jackson’s lack of parental affection to Britney’s starring role in Crossroads.

But virtually any other performer’s claims of personal struggle become petty gripes when compared to pop-opera singer Romina Arena’s seemingly impossible triumph over adversity.

Born in Sicily and raised by her mother after her father abandoned them, Arena began performing at age four when she became a Mouseketeer in Italy’s Mickey Mouse Club. An accomplished ballerina, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist before she was a teen (as well as fluent in several languages; today she can speak and write in 10 of them), at age 16 she almost died after being beaten and having her throat cut — severing her vocal cords — by a jealous male performer. Arena remained in a coma for a year and a half, and was told by doctors that she would never sing again. Miraculously, not only did this not come to pass, she also achieved a five-octave range as a strange side effect of the trauma to her pharynx.

Now based in Los Angeles, Arena has established herself as a rising international star, selling over four million albums (including gold discs in Italy and Japan) and expanding her talents into the worlds of acting, writing, public speaking, and entrepreneurship. An autobiography is forthcoming, and a Broadway musical and motion picture about her life are currently in development.

And the ultimate confirmation of one’s arrival as a bona fide celebrity also came recently: a booking on Orpah.

Romina Arena makes her Vancouver debut when she sings and speaks as part of the every WOMAN Vancouver Celebration of Movement Dinner, Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Pacific Palisades Hotel (1277 Robson), 7 pm. Tickets $85-$125 from every WOMAN. - Vancouver WestEnder, WestEnder Staff

ORLANDO, FLA. -- The city of Orlando will play host to an Italian singer and songwriter this week, as she makes a five-show appearance in that city's Plaza Theatre, starting Wednesday.

Romina Arena, a husky-voiced young woman approaching the age of 30, has been well-known in Europe since she was a teenager, though she remains something of a mystery to many audiences in this country.

Arena is not entirely unknown. She has performed in venues as diverse as Las Vegas, public television, and the White House.

"In America, you know, I hear a lot of people pronounce it like 'arena,'" she quipped, "But that's okay, too. You know?"

Where audiences know of this young woman, they know of an energy; a grace and good humor.

They also know a voice that can soar without effort in a range that covers five Octaves, and can carry a melody in any of 10 languages she speaks with facility.

Her rendition of "La Forza," in her native Italian, can make a person catch his breath in amazement; and cause the statues of Rome to change their age-old cool regard to that of wonder.

She can display a depth of emotion that runs from the light touch of pop music to the richly-woven tapestries of the classical. In full voice, her singing can be a haunting but welcome companion to memories.

Not bad for someone whose vocal cords are thick with scar tissue.

Romina was 16, and on the cusp of a singing career, when she was attacked by a rival performer. The performer, who had intended to leave her maimed or dead, was caught and jailed for the crime.

According to Arena, she remembered being beaten unconscious. It was only later that she was told that the other performer had cut her throat, slashing through her vocal cords and leaving her in a coma for nearly 18 months.

After multiple surgeries, she was able to speak again; but never as clearly as before.

"People don't believe, they can't believe, that I'm a singer," she said. "They think I have a cold, a constant cold."

She said she had to learn new vocal techniques, familiar to classical singers but unknown to her.

The episode marked a new beginning for the young woman, who at times seems amused at the turn her life has taken since then.

"My voice came back with a wider vocal range," she said, "So it's kind of amazing. My voice was not as clear before the attack as it was after the attack."

For some, the act of overcoming adversity would be sufficient in and of itself. For her, it marked a new path of inventiveness and creativity.

Romina began working with a singing style she calls "Popera."

"It's a fusion between popular music, pop sounds of music, and classical elements to it," she said, "Which appeals to a younger and an older generation."

She said it just seemed like a good way to pull two diverse musical styles together, and get people to see how they could appreciate both.

The styles are evident in music she has already produced, including a collection of English and French lullabies.

Romina also draws on the visual arts for inspiration, and that is the foundation for her visit to Orlando. She worked with another Italian producer to create a Christmas album inspired by the artwork of American Jim Shore.

The resulting work is a selection of songs in a compilation called "A Joyful Christmas."

She is enthusiastic about the music, but even more animated about how everything comes together in a live venue.

"We have all kinds of surprises," she said. "You're really going to like this. We have music, we have art, we have such an ensemble. You should come. You're really going to like this."

The AAA is helping to support and promote this concert series in Orlando, giving members a 20 percent discount on admission as a way of making sure they get to the Plaza Theatre and see the concert.

Romina said she is thrilled with the concerts, and with the way her music continues to evolve as one idea strikes sparks off another.

If pressed even slightly, however, she admits that she would be just as happy to be singing for one person as for a thousand.

"Writing music, singing music, that was the life I was given to," she said. "Some people sing because they get famous. Some people sing because they get money. I sing because I love to. I sing ... it makes me alive."

Romina will be in concert Dec. 9 through Dec. 13 at Orlando's Plaza Theatre. - Floridia Broadband News, by Alan McBride

American tenor and film star Mario Lanza was the first to fuse opera with pop music.
Lanza died in 1959, the year before Andrea Bocelli was born. Bocelli often is credited with creating “popera,” the genre sneered at by opera purists but adored by fans worldwide. “Mario Lanza was the first tenor who created accessible music,” says Romina Arena, the 27-year-old who is one of the most prominent female popera singers in the world. “Mario Lanza never considered himself a true tenor, a true classical artist, but a pop artist with a classical sensibility to his voice.”
More than 20 years after Lanza’s death, Bocelli became an international sensation.
“Andrea made opera reachable to younger generations and to people who wanted to feel inspired by music,” says Arena, a native of Sicily who lives in Los Angeles. “His music elevates you, takes you to different dimensions. Popera is not as dramatic as opera but it is still passionate and very romantic, very unique.”

Almost 20 years after Bocelli arrived on the scene, along came Arena, Josh Groban and Alessandro Safina, perhaps the hottest popera star in Europe. Good news for popera fans — you can see them all in Las Vegas this month.

Bocelli, Groban and Michael Buble perform in “A Tribute to David Foster” on May 23 at Mandalay Bay. Foster produces the three artists.

Arena, Safina and American popera artists Chris Riggins and Marc Schreiner perform Saturday at the Cannery. If you’re on a budget, the Cannery concert is $29.95 compared with $185.75 and up at Mandalay Bay.

Arena created the concert for the Cannery with the help of entertainment director Kathy Spehar. The venue turned it into a Mother’s Day event for mothers, wives, girlfriends and anyone else who likes popera. Spehar says if the concert does as well as she expects, there will be more in the future. “I think it’s going to be phenomenal,” she says. “Some big property may take the idea from me, but I love to try something new, something out of the box.”

Arena, who studied opera at La Scala in Milan, Italy, has been a devotee of popera for a decade. “I was classically trained but I never really performed pure opera,” she says. “I’ve always performed pop music with a classical sensibility to my voice. People tell me if Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli had a daughter, it would be me. I’m right in between.

“My performances always have been pop songs, but very powerful, with a great deal of passion. My songs become an experience, an incredible journey I like to take my audiences on.”
Arena, who is fluent in nine languages, has taken her popera to the world.
“My music reaches everyone — all generations,” she says. “The music world today is a world of crossover, not just one genre. It takes parts of different musical components and combines them to make new sounds. “I like to try new things. It is challenging. But the pure opera world has a hard time accepting the popera world. But look at the numbers.”

Billboard, the 104-year-old bible of the music industry, recently added a crossover music chart to its list.

“That brings me to believe that this music is becoming huge,” Arena says. “Popera is the most prestigious and high-end music today with its very luxurious sound.” Arena has performed with Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti.
“The biggest tenors in world,” she says. “I am happy these people would choose me to work with them. I feel very humbled. I didn’t think a kid from Sicily would be able to work with such great artists.” - Las Vegas Sun, by Jerry Fink

The Queen Mary will be ground zero next week for an ambitious attempt at merging the arts and the international community. Arts Olympus will bring a massive mash-up of cultural exchange to Long Beach’s historic icon for four days. The ship is being used as a press launch for a project that involves a traveling international community of the arts.
The idea to have the launch in Long Beach was a natural one for founder and president Robert Slaughter.“I’ve worked literally all over the world, and now I’m coming home,” the former Long Beach resident said. “We’re doing our world press launch on the most famous ship in the world.”
A Golden Orb Awards fundraising gala will be hosted at 6 p.m. Saturday. Awards will be given to several big name philanthropists including: Romina Arena, Jane Russell, Linda Gray, Soheir Khashoggi, Robert Muller and Ed Begley Jr. This gala will have special performances and food, with a tax deductible cost of $125.

- Long Beach Gazettes, By Jonathan Van Dyke

Romina Arena
Vincitrice Globo Tricolore 2010 Tricolore Globe winner 2010
Dagli Stati Uniti la cantante internazionale che a soli trenta anni ha già conquistato il mondo. From the U.S., the international singer that just thirty years he has already conquered the world.
Vive in California ma ha origini siciliane. He lives in California but has roots in Sicily. Si è allontanata dall'Italia dopo un incidente che l'ha ridotta in coma. Has moved away from Italy after an accident has reduced into a coma. E' stata adottata all'estero dal Sal Pacino, padre di Al Pacino (nella foto a destra). It 'been adopted abroad by Sal Pacino, father of Al Pacino (pictured right). Oggi è famosa negli Stati Uniti, Giappone e Australia per la sua incredibile estensione vocale. Today it is famous in the United States, Japan and Australia for his incredible vocal range. Ha venduto oltre quattro milioni di dischi in tutto il mondo. He has sold over four million albums worldwide. Ha creato un nuovo genere musicale. He created a new genre. Sulla sua incredibile storia sono iniziate le produzioni tra Hollywood e Broadway. On his incredible story began production between Hollywood and Broadway. Grande dimostrazione di forza, coraggio e talento italiano nel mondo. Great show of strength, courage and Italian talent in the world. - Italian Women in the World