“Music Speaks Italian” – Italian Language Week Celebrated In Song
This October begins the 15th annual Week of the Italian Language in the World, a celebration of the Italian language recognized by many different countries, universities, and cultural institutions. Started in 2001, each year marks a different category of the Italian language that is celebrated. This year’s theme is “Italian music, music of Italy,” recognizing the Italian language as both a musical language and celebrating the richness of music written in the Italian language. I-italy.org created a special video (above), “La Musica Parla Italiano“, featuring Italian Academy Foundation, Inc. Chairman Steve Acunto. The Italian Academy Foundation, Inc. has alway supported music and musicians who continue the tradition of Italian musical excellence in Italy and abroad.
The Italian Language Week, October 19 to 24, includes a discussion of cultural industries by Italy General Directorate for the Promotion of the National Economy. The event is organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Academia della Crusca, and by heads of Italian and cultural institutions abroad. Many guest speakers are featured at Universities across the globe, discussions are led in accordance to each year’s theme, and a large videoconference and writing contest are held. The videoconference features institutes communicating with each other from all over the world and the writing contest is titled “Scrivi con me,” meaning “Write with me,” in which high school students from any country can compete.
This year, some main events of the Week of the Italian Language are occurring in Washington D.C. Georgetown University, the Embassy of Italy, and the Italian Cultural Institute in D.C. are hosting a conference on tried methods of teaching, researching, and second-language learning in regards to Italian language and culture. The Keynote speaker is Nicoletta Marini-Maio, a professor from Dickinson College who specializes in Italian cinema.
This is only one of the many events that celebrates the Week of the Italian Language, a tradition that inspires educated discussion about not only appreciation for the Italian language, but about awareness of other languages and cultures. The celebration inspires a coming together of countries across the globe under a common goal to celebrate outside cultures and recognize the beauty of the Italian language.
-Marisa Wherry
