The Orchestra Popolare La Notte della Taranta is back on tour on September 17 and 18 in North Macedonia and on September 21 in Switzerland.

An exciting show in which the artists of the Taranta who will pass through the cities of Kumanovo, Skopje and Locarno will give the audience great music and strong emotions. The international tour of the Orchestra, official ambassador of pizzica in the world, resumes from the places of culture in North Macedonia in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Belgrade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Embassy in Skopje.

The artists will be guests of the Cultural Center "Traiko Propopiev" in Kumanovo and the Albanian Theater in the capital Skopje. The singers Enza Pagliara and Giancarlo Paglialunga will tell the story of the beauty of traditional music through the sounds and dances of Salento, accompanied by musicians Nico Berardi - wind instruments, Gianluca Longo - mandola, Antonio Marra - drums, Mario Esposito - bass, Alessandro Chiga and Carlo De Pascali - tambourine, Attilio Turrisi - chitarra battente, Bruno Galeone - accordion, under the direction of anthropologist mandolinist Peppo Grassi. The dancers Lucia Scarabino and Stefano Campagna will dance.

There is great anticipation in Switzerland for the arrival of the Notte della Taranta, guest of the Festival dei Popoli. In Locarno, the community is working on a concert scheduled for Saturday, September 21 in Piazza Grande, which promises to be an immense embrace between the Ticino community and that of Salento emigrants.

After the great success of the Concertone di Melpignano, the Orchestra Popolare returns live with all its energy and its unmissable hits: Vorrei Volare, Lu Ruciu de lu mare, Acqua de la Funtana, Aria Caddhipulina, Calinitta and the overwhelming pizzica. The Festival dei Popoli will also feature songs in Arbëreshë and Grico to pay homage to the linguistic minorities of the world.

On the stage in Locarno, among the greatest interpreters of the pizzica salentina, the unmistakable voices of Antonio Amato, Giancarlo Paglialunga, Salvatore Galeanda and Consuelo Alfieri directed by Peppo Grassi - mandolin and accompanied by the musicians Gianluca Longo - mandola, Giuseppe Astore - violin, Nico Beradi - wind instruments, Roberto Chiga - tambourine, Mario Esposito - bass, Roberto Gemma - accordion, Antonio Marra - drums, Attilio Turrisi - chitarra battente.

Dancing: Mattia Politi, Fabrizio Nigro, Stefano Campagna, Serena Pellegrino, Mihaela Coluccia, Lucia Scarabino.

“We have been working for several months on this project that promotes dialogue between peoples,” highlights Nancy Lunghi of the Department of Social Affairs, Youth and Culture of the city of Locarno. “We want to offer the many tourists present this season an unforgettable experience. We are transferring to Piazza Grande all the magic of the popular festival of Salento, which here meets the beauty of the sounds, dance and landscape of Ticino.”

The Ticino singer-songwriter Diamante will open the Notte della Taranta Concert, accompanied by the Locarno fire dancer Brenno and the dancers Eva M and Sophie Pennella.

A project by the Fondazione La Notte della Taranta that also includes the presence of the Corpo di Ballo della Taranta on September 20 at the Locarno La Carità Regional Hospital for a series of pizzica workshops aimed at the healthcare personnel and patients of the facility. Music does not heal but cures. Music therapy in the Locarno hospital is a therapeutic technique that through harmony, melody, rhythm and timbre promotes the physical, psychological and emotional integration of the patient and the dialogue between doctors and patients.

The Orchestra Popolare La Notte della Taranta after New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Beijing, Seoul, Pyeongchang, Havana, London, Berlin, Novi Sad, Warsaw, Zaragoza, Moscow, Dubai, Kuwait City, Baku, Algiers, Singapore, Santiago de Chile, Moscow, Tirana, Tunis, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Amman will return to South Korea in November with a concert in the capital Seoul.