Music filled the streets just outside of St. Peter's Basilica, but it wasn't coming from a church choir.
It was the band of Canicattini Bagni, a town of just over 7,000 people in eastern Sicily. They traveled to Rome to perform at the Pope's General Audience, and to mark the band's anniversary.
MARIELENA MICELI
Mayor, Canicattini Bagni
“We came here to celebrate 150 years of the band's founding, so we are here today to represent our city and entrust our town to Pope Francis' prayers after a year and a half of the pandemic, just now as we are starting to reopen. We can say that here we are marking our reopening in the best way possible.”
The band, comprised of musicians of all ages, performed two songs after the General Audience, including one they hoped that might catch the Argentinian Pope's attention.
SEBASTIANO LIISTRO
Conductor, Band of Canicattini Bagni
“We prepared two songs for him, one is a song from our city, Canicattini Bagni, that is typically played during Holy Week. The other was an Argentinian song, of an Argentinian image of Mary. Combining both of these songs before the Pope was such an exciting moment.”
Even for the most experienced of conductors, performing before the Pope is an experience unlike any other.
SEBASTIANO LIISTRO
Conductor, Band of Canicattini Bagni
“I've been conducting for 10 years, and even through some rather difficult situations, it was still a challenge, not only to contain the emotions that I had in my heart but also in terms of organizing this trip. But we did it, we are here and we very happy with how it turned out.”
The Canicattini band had been planning their trip to Rome for months leading up to the pandemic. Over a year later, they've finally reached their dream of performing for the Pope and the pilgrims gathered in the streets of Rome alike.
JM
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