ITALIAN
HERITAGE MONTH
The best of Italian culture, heritage and cuisine will take centre stage during Italian Heritage Month in June at the Columbus Centre. Villa Charities will celebrate the cherished annual occasion with a series of engaging events and programming throughout the month.
Thank you for participating in 2024’s Italian Heritage Month!
Please check back again next year in June as we will celebrate the cherished annual occasion with a series of engaging events and programming throughout the month.
For the latest program updates, subscribe to the Villa Charities newsletter.
Italian Heritage Month Event Archive
“Bedda Sicilia Terra di ’Ncantu”
A Photographic Journey of Sicily by Marcello Tarantino
- May 17 – June 28, 2024
- Opening Reception:
Tuesday, June 4, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
In celebration of Canada’s Italian Heritage Month 2024, Villa Charities and Viva Vitalità Italiana present the astonishing beauty and magnificence of Sicily in a photographic exhibition by Marcello Tarantino.
Tarantino explores the length and breadth of Sicily, displaying 100 of his photographs that include Palermo, Catania, and Siracusa, as well as the smaller but no less charming towns of Ortigia, Noto, and Enna. He also captured the beauty of ancient Ragusa Ibla.
Calabrian-born and raised, Marcello Tarantino hopes to preserve his Italian cultural heritage through his work. He was inspired to travel throughout Italy and photograph the beauty he happened upon as part of his desire to embrace his roots. This was the inspiration for Viva Vitalità Italiana, which he founded in 1998.
His new book “Bedda Sicilia Terra di ’Ncantu: A Photographic Journey by Marcello Tarantino” will be launched during the opening night reception for the exhibition, with copies available for purchase.
Price:
FREE
Location:
Upper Gallery
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Presented in partnership with Viva Vitalità Italiana.
Unveiling the Queer Italian-Canadian Experience
- June 4 – June 28, 2024
- Opening Reception:
Tuesday, June 4, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
“Unveiling the Queer Italian Canadian Experience” is a literary and photographic artistic project, a collaboration between Toronto photographer Vincenzo Pietropaolo and Montreal writer Liana Cusmano. The photographs feature queer Italian-Canadian persons in Toronto and Montreal in spaces where their queer and Italian-Canadian identities meet. This intersection is further explored in poetry and poetic prose.
Price:
FREE
Location:
Lower Gallery
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Presented in partnership with Accenti Magazine.
L’eco dei dialetti
A Celebration of Dialects
- Wednesday, June 5, 5:00 – 9:00pm
L’eco dei dialetti is a celebration of Italian dialects through the performance of original works. Authors of poetry, prose and song will highlight the rich and varied heritage of the many dialects Italy has to offer. Join us for this free celebration of dialects with music, food and laughter!
L’eco dei dialetti Organizing Committee: Bruna Di Giuseppe Bertoni, Sabrina Baldesarra, Bruno Magliocchetti, Alfio Foti, Thomas Lombardi, Gianni Mignardi, Gianna Patriarca, Giulio Recchioni – Executive Director of Cultural Programming, Mirella Tersigni – Cultural Manager
Price:
A ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ EVENT
(Donations welcome at the door.)
Light refreshments will be served.
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
A Celebration of “Here & Now – Volume 2”
Readings and Discussion
- Thursday, June 6, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Villa Charities invites you to a celebration of “Here & Now – Volume 2” with the editor and contributors. “Here & Now – Volume 2: An Anthology of Queer Italian-Canadian Writing” is the most comprehensive volume yet of queer Italian-Canadian writing and a milestone in Italian-Canadian studies and Canadian literature. The book includes short stories, poems, memoirs, excerpts of novels and interviews in English from 50 established and emerging writers.
With Licia Canton (Editor), Scott Belluz, Anna Camilleri, Paul Coccia, Liana Cusmano, Julia-Rose DiPalo, Konrad Eisenbichler, Paolo Frascà, Elio Iannacci, Ariana Magliocco, Steff Mendolia, Anna Nobile, Christopher Sisca, Vic Valente, Nikki Donadio, Julian A M.P.
Let’s celebrate Pride Month together!
Price:
A ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ EVENT
(Donations welcome at the door.)
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Presented in partnership with Accenti Magazine and Longbridge Books.
Why Me?
Lu Sicilianu Raggiatu Comedy Tour
with Special Guest Marc Anthony Sinagoga
- Friday, June 7, 8:00 – 10:00pm
From the small screen of your social media pages to the big screen in hit movies and comedy clubs across the country, Lu Sicilianu Raggiatu’s energy, honesty, and Italian family stories deliver non-stop laughter.
The popular comedian will be returning to the Columbus Centre with his new tour, “Why Me?”, hitting stages all across Canada and the US.
Don’t miss your chance to experience his hilarious sketches and unique style in his latest stand-up comedy show.
Price:
$50.00
(Cash bar available)
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Coro San Marco
Peace in the World / Pace nel Mondo
- Monday, June 10, 7:00 – 8:30pm
Artistic Director Daniele Colle leads the acclaimed Coro San Marco in an extraordinary concert featuring a repertoire of inspirational classic and contemporary music to express the universal longing for peace and harmony in the world. The choir is accompanied by pianist Adolfo De Santis and violinist Carina Sandejas.
During the concert, Coro San Marco will award scholarships to young musicians who will pursue their music studies in a Canadian University.
Price:
$15.00
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Viva Verdi!
- Wednesday, June 12, 7:30 – 9:00pm
One of the most important opera composers of the nineteenth century, Giuseppe Verdi was Italy’s best dramatist as the successor to Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini. His powerful operas and famous arias became almost like anthems for a united nation. Four esteemed operatic soloists present an exciting concert of Verdi’s most famous arias and duets. Featuring: Sara Papini, soprano, Julie Nesrallah, mezzo soprano, Romulo Delgado, tenor, and Andrey Andreychik, baritone.
Part of our popular “Opera è Vita” series that explores the captivating world of opera with some of the best voices on the stage today.
Price:
$40.00 (Adults) / $25.00 (Seniors/Students)
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
The Love Boat
It’s Shirley Happening
- Friday, June 14, 8:00 – 10:00pm
All aboard “The Love Boat…It’s Shirley Happening!” Step aboard to meet cruise director Shirley Happening, your drag ‘hostess with the mostess.’ She’s set a course for adventure to ‘Shirley’ find the meaning of love. A fun-for-all live, singing, campy cabaret, this new cruise show has all the amenities to entertain and delight. With Special Guest, Tony Astri. Get your boarding tickets now!
“The Love Boat…It’s Shirley Happening!” is brought to you by Sal Figliomeni, a third-generation Italian actor, director and producer.
Price:
$30.00
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Columbus Concert Band
Celebrating Italian Heritage Month
- Tuesday, June 18, 7:30 – 9:15pm
The Columbus Concert Band, under the direction of Annamaria Mazzaferro, celebrates Italian Heritage Month with a repertoire of folk and popular music from Italy, as well as music from Italian composers. Enjoy all that Bella Italia has to offer with a performance by this award-winning band, now in its 13th season!
Price:
$15.00 (Adults) / $10.00 (Seniors/Students)
Tickets available at the door only.
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Beatrice and Adolfo
Our Story
- Wednesday, June 19, 7:30 – 8:45pm
Italian Canadians Beatrice Carpino (singer) and Adolfo De Santis (pianist) return to perform live at the Columbus Centre. This classically trained duo will be performing selections from opera, Broadway, Neapolitan songs, and Italian and English favourites. Enjoy Beatrice’s rich, sultry vocals, and Adolfo’s expressive, virtuosic piano skills as they take you on a musical journey through their lives, sharing with you the music that influenced and inspired them.
Price:
$20.00 (Adults) / $15.00 (Students/Seniors)
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Michael Occhipinti &
The Sicilian Jazz Project
- Thursday, June 20, 7:00 – 8:30pm
Michael Occhipinti’s JUNO-nominated Sicilian Jazz Project with special guest award-winning songwriter and jazz singer Laura Campisi will perform a mix of songs in Italian, Sicilian and English.
The Sicilian Jazz Project has been dazzling audiences world-wide with its thrilling mix of Old World Sicilian folk and the New World sounds of electric guitars, global funk, chamber music, and jazz improvisation. Using music sung by Sicilian fishermen, miners, and folk musicians as a starting point, the music is like a trip on the Mediterranean that detours to Mali, Jamaica, New Orleans, and Toronto. The Sicilian Jazz Project features some of the best musicians from Toronto’s vibrant music scene as well as a variety of international guests. The group uses Sicilian folk music as a starting point, but then takes off as a vehicle for improvisation and ambitious arrangements across multiple styles. Michael wanted the Sicilian Jazz Project to reflect the diversity of modern Canada, and the result is a group like no other.
Price:
$25.00 (Adults) / $20.00 (Seniors/Students)
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Sponsored by Spina Davies Law.
With support from the Sicilian Cultural Society of Canada.
Aria Delights
- Thursday, June 27, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Join us for a delightful evening of classical music arias performed by the soprano singers of ArsMusica, Canada’s BIPOC Ethnocultural Music and Opera Company. Enjoy a repertoire of renowned arias from Italian operas by Puccini, Verdi, and Rossini, as well as classic songs from “Porgy and Bess” and “Show Boat.” Performers include ArsMusic Founder Cherry Ann Mendez, Gail Malcolm, Anna Chirichella, Catherine Anita Pennie, and Sonia Stillo, accompanied by pianist Adolfo De Santis.
Price:
$20.00 (Adults) / $15.00 (Seniors/Students)
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Presented in partnership with ArsMusica.
For more information, please contact:
Mirella Tersigni
Cultural Manager, Cultural Programming
Email: MTersigni@villacharities.com