Alessandra Belloni And I Giullari Di Piazza Return To Cathedral Of St. John The Divine In May

I Giullari di Piazza performance troupe, led by Alessandra Belloni (Founder) and John T. La Barbera (Musical Director/Co-Founder), will return to Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue (at 112th Street), May 16 with "Mystic Rhythms & Sacred Chants for Seven Black Madonnas from Italy to Spain."

The event is a retrospective concert of healing chants, ritual drumming and trance dance ceremonies that honor the different faces of the Seven Black Madonnas. Beside a dynamic mixture of musical, dance and drumming performances (details below), the evening features guest artist Giovannangelo de Gennaro, a leading expert in medieval and early music, performing medieval sacred chants taken from Livre Vermelleis (The Red book).

I Giullari di Piazza, founded  in 1980, specializes in medieval pilgrimage songs, Southern Italian tarantellas and devotional chants, and folk and ritual drumming traditions. This concert celebrates the 45th anniversary of the group's founding and features  selections from its original opera, “Voyage of the Black Madonna," which was a watershed creation for the company. It  premiered at Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 1991, earned the ensemble a residency there, and led to Belloni's book “Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna” (forward by Matthew Fox, published by Inner traditions) and her recent documentary film, "Musical journeys with the Black Madonna in Southern Italy.”  The film premiered at NYU Casa Italiana on February 6, 2025 with initial funding provided by Casa Italian Zerilli Marimò and is having further screenings this Spring. (More info and screening schedule: see below).

This concert will include a special additional performance. Accompanying himself on authentic period instruments, guest artist Giovannangelo de Gennaro from Puglia, Italy will perform medieval sacred chants from Livre Vermelleis (The Red Book), a collection from the monastery of Montserrat (Barcelona) that honor the Black Madonna of Montserrat and other Italian Black Madonnas who are known collectively as the Seven Sisters. He is renowned for his expertise in medieval and early music and for undertaking pilgrimages that connect his faith and music. He is distinguished by his dedication to preserving and revitalizing early music and his unique approach of integrating historical instruments and spiritual journeys into his artistry distinguish him in the realm of traditional and medieval music.

THE CONCERT IN DETAIL

The artists of I Giullari di Piazza, who specialize in ancient Southern Italian musical arts, will open a portal into the sacred sites of the mysterious Black Madonna in Italy and around the world in this enchanting journey of discovery of  the Seven Black Madonnas.  It illuminates the ancient Neapolitan legend, known in Southern Italy as the "Seven Sisters," delving into traditional legends, miracles, and history; transporting audiences, through sacred healing chants, ritual drumming, and trance dances, to a time and place where an unbroken and ancient tradition continues today.

There will be healing chants, ritual drumming and trance dance ceremonies from Southern Italy, France, Spain and Brazil that honor the Seven Black Madonnas. Music includes the ancient chant to the Madonna of Montevergine (Avellino) from the region of Campania.  She is the Black Madonna known as Mamma Schiavona, the Serving Mother, and is considered the most important of the Seven Sisters. Initially, in the region of Campania, the legend says that the seven Madonnas were all sisters.  The last one was believed to be the ugliest, which made her run away to the high mountain called Mount Partenio.  The pilgrims searched hard to look for her and, when they did find her, they saw that she was the most beautiful of all. Mamma Schiavona continues to be venerated on a high sacred mountain where pilgrims still climb barefoot while chanting and drumming in her honor. 

[BACKGROUND: It is believed that the Roman Poet Vergil went up the Mountain "Partenio " (Monte Vergine) to find inspiration for his poems. He evoked the response of the Goddess Cybele (Gaia) through the mythical Prophetess Sibilla Cumana (the Sybil). In her temple he passed his journey of initiation (seven stages) and became "Mago-Poeta" (healer/poet).]

Drumming includes the Tammorriata, a sensual dance done by couples playing castanets which dates back to the rites of the Mother Earth Goddess Cybele, now worshipped as Black Madonna.  Since pre-Christian times she has been the   protector of gays, transgender and LGBTQ+ people, known as Femminielli in the Neapolitan Culture and Galli in Rome (where they were priests of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, or Magna Mater).

Musicians appearing will be: Alessandra Belloni (Artistic Director; percussion & vocals), John T. La Barbera (Composer & Music Director; guitar, mandolin & chitarra battente), Mara Gerety (vocals & violin), Christa Patton (harp, oboe & recorder) and a special guest from Puglia, Italy, Giovannangelo de Gennaro (vocals, vielle, accordion, flutes & percussion). Dancers appearing will be Dancers appearing will be Francesco Silvano, Amara and Mark Mindek (stilt dancer in the role of the Poet Virgil).

Music content will also include original compositions dedicated to the Earth Goddesses (Isis, Artemis, Cybele, Aphrodite) by John T. La Barbera  and  original compositions by Alessandra Belloni for the Black Madonnas, the African Yoruba tradition of the Orishas,  the Black Madonna of the Gypsies from France, and Mary Magdalene.

The concert will end in a traditional Tarantella dance for the Black Madonna and the authentic Pizzica Tarantata, the healing trance dance  from Puglia, done to cure the mythical bite of the Tarantula, which was believed to be the cause of a depression  that afflicted mainly women.

WHO IS THE BLACK MADONNA?

The Black Madonna is a Christian tradition with origins in pre-Christian devotion to the Earth Mother Goddess and the African Mother.  She is the female aspect of God. The Black Virgin also represents the womb of Earth, the dark side of the moon, the universe, the cosmos, and the mystery of the life-giving woman. As the Earth continues to regenerate herself, she nourishes us, even if we are abusing her with pollution, mining, and global warming but sometimes she can destroy.

ABOUT Alessandra Belloni

Alessandra Belloni is a world-renowned percussionist, singer, dancer, and actress born in Rome. Voted one of the best female percussionists in the world by Drum Magazine, she designed a signature series of tambourines for REMO, Inc. She is the founder and lead performer of “I Giullari di Piazza,” an Italian music, theatre, and dance ensemble, and is an Artist-in-Residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. She teaches workshops and healing retreats around the world and lives in Edgewater, New Jersey. More info: www.alessandrabelloni.com and www.igiullaridipiazza.com. She was featured with Oscar Winning actress Marisa Tomei in the PBS series "Dream of Italy," part 3, which discussed the Black Madonna in January 2024.

ABOUT JOHN T. LA BARBERA

John T. La Barbera, a film score composer, producer, guitar and stringed instrument virtuoso and concert artist, has won several awards and commissions from The Jerome Foundation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Martin Gruss Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, UMass-Dartmouth, and ASCAP.  He has contributed to the off-Broadway productions "Souls of Naples" (Theater for a New Audience) and Martha Clark's adaptation of Luigi Pirandello's short stories in Kaos (New York Theater Workshop). His folk opera, Stabat Mater-Donna di Paradiso, was commissioned and performed at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine. His film scores include documentaries, features and silents.   He recently produced "I'm a Typical New Yorker" for actor Dominic Chianese and worked for several labels including: Shanachie records, Meadowlark, Rounder Records, Lyrichord Disks, Ellipsis Arts, and Bribie Records. Since 1973, he has performed in concert halls throughout Europe, South America, Canada and the U.S. as composer, solo guitarist and chamber musician.  He is author of prominent books on the mandolin and an adjunct faculty professor of music at Bergen Community College.

ABOUT THE FILM

"Musical Journeys with the Black Madonna in Southern Italy" is a documentary written and produced by Alessandra Belloni and directed and edited by Francesco Piccolo.  We follow a series of musical pilgrimages that Belloni leads each summer to the Southern Italian regions of Campania and Sicily, visiting the sacred sites of the Black Madonnas known to local folklore as the “Seven Sisters.” It is an intimate and participatory journey, with the camera closely following Belloni and her students as they learn and perform the music and dances associated with each Madonna, taking part in the feast-day celebrations and experiencing their power and mystery in the first person. It also features workshops of ritual drumming and dance featuring authentic tarantella and tammurriata in the region of Campania, led by Belloni and featuring guest artist Nando Citarella on percussion and vocals. Based on the book Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna (Inner Traditions | Bear and Company, 2019) by Alessandra Belloni. This film is made possible with funding by NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhFRYTOg-b8

Upcoming screenings:

May 3 -- Garibaldi Museum in Staten Island 

June 7 -- Italian Charities of America in Queens