Alla Boara, an Italian folk ensemble from Cleveland, will perform at Ohio University Southern at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, in the Riffe Rotunda. 

The music of Alla Boara, described by Cleveland Magazine as “historical preservation and top notch musicianship.” features Amanda Powell, vocals; Anthony Taddeo, percussion; Dan Bruce, guitar; Tommy Lehman, flugelhorn/trumpet; Ian Kinnaman, upright bass; and Mark Macchelli, accordion and piano.

Alla Boara celebrates the deep history of human music-making by cultivating fresh sounds from the ancient roots of regional Italian folk songs. 

Amanda Powell’s impassioned vocals burst with the drama and humor of Italian life propelled by drummer and ensemble founder Anthony Taddeo. 

The storytelling behind this daring ensemble is intoxicating and has the dazzling soloing of a veteran jazz ensemble to Taddeo’s imaginative re-composition of these ancient songs, many of which have disappeared in a tide of modernity. 

Becca Stevens, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter praised Alla Boara for “breathing new possibilities into timeless stories while weaving in limitless and unexpected musical flavors, and the ensemble’s debut recording “Le Tre Sorelle” was praised by Cleveland Magazine for its “top-notch musicianship.”

The band has received critical acclaim from NPR’s “Shuffle,” SWR2 in Germany, All About Jazz, Jazz Weekly, and Cleveland Magazine. From the specific dialects, stories and songs of Italy’s pre-industrial past spring Alla Boara’s dynamic and touching performances that inspire listeners of any heritage to treasure their ancestral roots and to revel in our shared humanity, which is as surprising, playful, mournful and tender as the songs themselves. (Admission is $15 and can be paid at the performance with cash or a check payable to the “Ironton Council for the Arts.” 

The concert is free for students of all ages and children. 

The original date of Sunday, Feb. 9, was changed at the performers’ request. Ohio University Southern is handicap accessible.

https://www.allaboara.com/).

The Ironton Council for the Arts received ArtSTART and Ohio Artists on Tour grants from the Ohio Arts Council for the 2024-25 subscription concert season which will help defray performance costs and would like to thank the Ohio Arts Council for these awards.