Italian tenor now calls Harmony Township home
Marco Fiorante is a lyric tenor born in the city of Cellino San Marco in Italy. Now a teacher assistant in fourth grade special education for the Ambridge Area School District, he has released “Love,” an album of popular Italian songs.
Sylvester Washington Jr.|Calkins Media
Italian opera singer Marco Fiorante, now a Harmony Township resident, will perform Saturday at St. Catherine of Siena church in Crescent Township.
Italian singer and recording artist Marco Fiorante came to America as a tourist, but soon found singing gigs. At one event he met the woman he now will marry, having relocated to Beaver County where he has been singing at local churches, such as St. Catherine of Siena in Crescent Township, where he will perform Saturday.
Sylvester Washington Jr.|Calkins Media
Marco Fiorante is a lyric tenor born in the city of Cellino San Marco on the southeast coast of Italy. He now lives in Beaver County, where he has forwarded his singing career with the release of “Love,” an album of popular Italian tunes.
Marco Fiorante will perform Saturday at St. Catherine of Siena church in Crescent Township.
Here's the cover of "Love," the new album by singer Marco Fiorante.
Marco Fiorante enjoys a beverage. The Italian tenor now calls Beaver County home.
Marco Fiorante, a singer with a warm tenor voice, has recently been making his mark in the Pittsburgh region.
Having moved to America in 2014 from Italy, settling down in Harmony Township and working as a teacher assistant in fourth grade special education for the Ambridge Area School District, Fiorante has had a busy holiday concert schedule.
In the past five weeks, he has entertained locally at St. John the Baptist in Baden, St. Cecilia in Rochester, St. Stephen’s in Sewickley and St. Monica in Chippewa Township.
Fiorante also has become a go-to singer for Italian-themed events at the Sen. John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.
“He offers something to the community we really appreciate, that nostalgia we feel when we hear him singing music we heard our parents and grandparents play in their homes and at local events,” the History Center’s curator of Italian American Programs, Melissa Marinaro, said. “We enjoy his talents. He’s a wonderful singer.”
This past August, Fiorante released an album, “Love,” available at Spotify, Amazon and iTunes, with songs also streaming on YouTube.
The 10-song collection ranges from passionately rendered Italian tunes like “Vivere,” “Il Tuo Mondo” and “Torna A Surriento,” to a somewhat disco-flavored “Volare” to a full-gusto take on one of Frank Sinatra’s signature tunes, “My Way.”
Fiorante sang for a worldwide TV audience on “Cristianità,” a program airing on the RAI International network. Viewers of that show, which like its network is aimed at Italian expatriates and those interested in Italian culture, saw Fiorante confidently belting out the Italian standard “Mamma” as part of a broadcast during the national holiday of Immaculate Conception Day. He received praise from viewers in Argentina, Brazil and Australia for that performance he now streams on his website, marcofiorante.com.
Completing his studies in opera performance at the Conservatorio Tito Schipa in Lecce, Italy, and earning a master’s degree in professional music education from the Giustino Fortunato University in Benevento, Italy, Fiorante first came to America as a tourist in 2009, and soon found himself getting invited to sing at prestigious events at places like the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C., the FBI Headquarters and the Italian Cultural Society in Naples, Florida.
At a National Italian-American Foundation event he met a volunteer from Beaver County, named Gina, who would soon become his girlfriend.
“We started to talk and date, and the rest is history,” Fiorante said.
They are engaged to be married this year.
And so just like the title of his album, love is what made him stay in America.
He’s felt a little homesick for his Italian family over the Christmas holiday, but has adjusted well.
“I like the food here. I find a way for steak, mashed potatoes and corn bread, though I also miss my Mediterranean diet regarding fresh tomatoes and fresh vegetables, because I lived on a farm in Italy,” Fiorante said. “It’s very difficult to live on your farm and then come here to a country where everything is so different, that is true.”
In the meantime, he’s got a wedding to prepare for while keeping busy with his budding singing career.
“I try to promote myself, and bring a little of the Italian spirit to America,” Fiorante said.