WOMEN OF NAPLES
Flo
Flo, whose real name is Floriana Cangiano, is one of the most appreciated and recognized voices on the Italian music scene. Born in Naples in 1983, at just 12 years old she began taking singing lessons encouraged by her father who loved music even though he was not a specialist in the sector. After a degree in Economics he decided to follow his true artistic vocation: he graduated with top marks in singing and choral music at the Conservatory of S. Pietro a Majella and embarks on a brilliant career as a singer-songwriter and actress on the theater. It took its first steps under the guidance of Claudio Mattone, a great Italian composer, lyricist and publisher. His recording debut came in 2014 with “D'amore e di altre cose irreversibili” received with great enthusiasm by critics and awarded with some of the most important Italian awards: Musicultura Award 2014, Radio Rai 1 Award for best music at Musicultura 2014, Absolute Andrea Parodi Award 2014, Best music at the Parodi Award 2014, Best arrangement at the Parodi Award 2014). In 2016 he published “Il mese del Rosario” with which he won the 2015 Musicultura Prize and the prize for the best text at the Bianca d'Aponte 2014. The album was also nominated for the prestigious Targhe Tenco in the Best Record of the Year and Best Song categories. 2018 marks a turning point with the release of her third studio work, “La Mentirosa”, which establishes her as one of the most refined interpreters of world music by authors. Some major international music magazines such as fRoots and Songlines praise his unique style and his ability to blend different cultural references into a personal and recognizable sound language. With his projects, Flo rides the stages of important world music festivals in Italy and around the world, performing in Europe, South America, Africa and Canada. In parallel with the music, Flo carries on an intense theatrical activity. He is the protagonist in numerous prose and musical shows, working with directors such as Alfredo Arias, Mimmo Borrelli, Davide Iodice, Claudio Mattone, Massimo Luconi and Gino Landi. She also shared the scene with Daria Bignardi in two highly successful shows: “Anxiety Consciousness” and “Books That Ruined My Life.” Flo is also the author of soundtracks for cinema, theater and television, writing the music for films such as “We are Francesco” and “Last stop”, as well as composing for the TV series “Mina Settembre 2” with Serena Rossi. He has also hosted a cycle of musical broadcasts for Swiss radio and television, taken part in documentaries for Deutschlandfunk Kultur and written articles for In November 2020 his fourth album of unreleased songs was released, “31Salvitutti”, produced by the French musician Sébastien Martel. In 2022 he tries his hand at an ambitious project: his first concept album, “Brave Ragazze”, which represents a musical journey through the works of some of the most daring and unconventional artists in the Latin world, translated and reinterpreted in a personal key. Flo is much more than a talented musician: she is a woman who has made her art an instrument of identity, freedom and commitment. With her strong and intense voice, her lucid thinking and the courage to choose unconventional paths, she represents a strong and inspiring female figure in the contemporary cultural panorama.
Conservatory S. Pietro Majella
Naples, city of music and good works. From the union of these two aspects, starting from the mid-sixteenth century, four music conservatories were born, managed by the city clergy: the Conservatory of the Pietà dei Turchini, of the Poor of Jesus Christ, of Sant'Onofrio a Porta Capuana and of Santa Maria di Loreto, intended to host poor, orphaned and abandoned children. From the 16th to the 18th century, conservatories, in addition to the charitable function of welcoming and educating young people, carried out the task of producing music for private, religious and public clients considering that Naples was the capital of the Spanish Viceroyalty and music was used at the court, noble families and churches of new and constant construction. Subsequently, starting from the end of the eighteenth century, the conservatories were suppressed for various economic reasons and merged until the French Decade (1806-1815) was reached when, due to the needs of centralized control in the management of assistance bodies by the State, King Joseph Napoleon in 1806 brought together all the conservatories in the single Pietà dei Turchini with the new title of Royal College of Music. In 1808, needing larger spaces, the musical school was moved to the Monastery of the Ladies Nuns of San Sebastiano and took the name of the Conservatory of San Sebastiano, where Vincenzo Bellini studied. In 1826 with the restoration of the Bourbon Kingdom, King Francis I of the Two Sicilies moved the Conservatory again to its current location in the former convent of San Pietro a Majella. A plaque placed at the entrance to the building testifies to the birth of the “Royal Conservatory of Music of San Pietro a Majella”. The Conservatory, bearer of the dictates of the Neapolitan musical school, is a point of reference for musical culture throughout the South and welcomes “up to 300 or more young people” as Giovanni Battista Chiarini testifies in 1858 in updating the News of the beauty of the ancient and the curious of the city of Naples by Carlo Celano. With the unification of Italy, the Conservatory must conform from a regulatory and administrative point of view to the indications of the central government, of which the Ministry of Education is the direct contact, but after a long claim relating to the freedom of teaching and defense of its characteristics as an autonomous moral body, it was recognized in 1890 as an autonomous body. The current building is part of the convent complex of the Church of the Celestine Fathers of San Pietro a Majella, founded between the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Used by Celestines until the arrival of the Conservatory, it was suitable for current use with rooms and classrooms dedicated to the study of music. There are two courtyards: the first, also visible from the entrance on via San Pietro a Majella, is from 1660 and in the center there is a statue depicting Ludwig van Beethoven by Francesco Jerace from 1895 and is adjacent to the auditorium, while the second – smaller – leads to the library and the conservatory museum. Musical manuscripts and opera librettos from the Neapolitan school from the 17th to the 19th century are preserved in the library. In the museum you can admire historical instruments linked to important personalities linked to the world of music. Among the best-known students of the Conservatory are Maestro Riccardo Muti, Saverio Mercadante, Vincenzo Bellini, Ruggero Leoncavallo.
