"Newpolis specialty is the roots of Italian folk music, meaning classical traditional folk songs played by the farmers of Neapolitan suburbs during the Period were Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi were performing their operas."
- Boston Phoenix
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NEWPOLI
Originally formed in October of 2003 by a group of Italian students at Berklee College of Music, Newpoli was immediately selected to perform at the Colleges annual International Folk Festival. Since then, the group has been performing at venues across New England with great success and is currently in the studio recording their debut CD. This Southern Italian Folk Group consists of two singers, a Tamorra player (traditional Italian percussion), a percussionist, an accordion player, a classical guitarist, a double bass player, a flute player and a violinist.
Newpoli brings together the traditional music of Southern Italy performing a wide variety of styles such as Tarantella-Pizzica, Tammuriata, Villanella and the Neapolitan Canzone. The music traverses a period of time spanning from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.
Italian folk music, with the exception of a small number of Neapolitan songs, has not received its deserved attention or popularity, neither in Italy nor abroad. Guided by their passion for playing and researching these seldom played traditional styles, Newpolis main goal is to make this music heard again and to share the joy and the beauty and to tell the tale of the ancient stories and rituals described in the lyrics.
Among other venues, Newpoli performed at the Berklee Performance Center, Ryles Jazz Club, and Zeitgeist Gallery. The group always connects instantly with the audience and receives enthusiastic comments talking about the energy and spice of their music. Recently Rai International, the Italian public television, interviewed them at one of their concerts and broadcasted the performance throughout the World.
"Italy took the stage with a dramatic rendition of traditional southern Italian songs"
- Kerry Malloy, Berklee Correspondent - International Folk Festival 2004
Click here to download our One sheet presentation
