Journey to paradise: Celebrated Italian violinist to perform Dante-themed composition

Rock and pop violinist Andrea Di Cesare's résumé is a Who's Who of the Italian music scene.

He has played on 20 platinum and gold records in his native Italy and is also a solo artist known for his innovative style, akin to a one-man band. This month, he'll return to Binghamton University and the surrounding community to play his latest composition: a three-part piece based on Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired by Binghamton students' passion for the medieval poet.

"It's going to be such a special visit," said Associate Professor of Italian and Medieval Studies Dana Stewart, who is teaching a class on Dante this semester.

Di Cesare will perform on the Binghamton campus, as well as venues in the City of Binghamton and the Village of Owego. His trip culminates with Italian Medieval Night on Nov. 1, part of the City of Binghamton's First Friday Art Walk; during that event, he will perform the entirety of his Dante piece.

Di Cesare has been visiting the University since 2013, when he came as an accompanist to another Italian musician. Around the same time, the Department of Romance Languages began hosting Italian Night during the community's First Friday celebration, giving Italian musicians like Di Cesare a dedicated venue. In some years, such as this one, the program partners with the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

"We invite the whole community to experience these incredible world-touring musicians who are coming over from Italy," Stewart said.

During his prior visits, Di Cesare chatted with Binghamton students studying Dante in class. One of Italy's most important literary figures, Dante Alighieri, lived in the 13th century; his Divine Comedy is considered the greatest literary work in the Italian language, authored at a time when most poetry was penned in Latin.

"Dante is a big deal in Italy. I don't know if there's anything like it here in America - maybe if you combined George Washington and Shakespeare," Stewart said. "Andrea was so moved by the fact that all these Americans in upstate New York are passionate about studying Dante, and it gave him the idea to compose a piece based on the Divine Comedy."

Originally planned in 2020, the performance was delayed by the pandemic and other scheduling considerations; Di Cesare wanted to time his performance for a year when Stewart was teaching her Dante class.

Mirroring the three acts of the Divine Comedy, the first part is based on the Inferno, the soul's trip into the darkness and chaos of hell. Then, the music moves into the hope of Purgatorio before its final, uplifting sojourn into Paradiso. Di Cesare doesn't play in a classical style but uses effects pedals and loopers to make his violin sound like an entire band - all during a live performance.

The violinist will visit Stewart's Dante class to discuss his piece and play a preview, as well as the first-year seminar course on festivals, fans and jam bands taught by Stewart, who is also the collegiate professor of the Mountainview College residential community. As luck would have it, the violinist will be there during jam practicum day, when students are invited to bring instruments and jam out in class.

During the Appalachian Dining Hall's Italian Night on Oct. 24, he will trade off sets with Nino Samiani, a local crooner who sings Italian and Italian-American favorites. Di Cesare will return to the Appalachian Dining Hall on Oct. 25 for a special edition of Mountainview Jams, an open-mic jam session featuring students, faculty and staff. He'll play with the jam's host band, Dr. Dana & the Jam Dept., which features Stewart on vocals and guitar and her husband Bob Rynone on lead guitar.

Di Cesare will head to Owego Originals on Lake Street in the village for a 7 p.m. Oct. 26 solo concert, and then jam with Stewart's rock and soul band for the second set. On Oct. 29, he will visit Union-Endicott High School's Italian class for a lunchtime performance, followed by a visit to the University's radio station, WHRW, and a stop at the Italian Table, which hosts conversations in the language.

The First Friday event at the University Downtown Center begins at 6 p.m. Nov. 1 with a concert by Nino Samiani, followed by Di Cesare and his full Dante composition. He will finish his visit on Nov. 2 with a performance at the Lost Dog in Binghamton at 7 p.m.

"He really takes you on an emotional journey with his music," Stewart said. "You really have the sense that you're watching a master."