Pippo Pollina

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Pippo Pollina (Palermo, May 18, 1963) born Giuseppe Pollina is an Italian singer-songwriter. He lives in Switzerland (Zurich) and his music is known in German speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) as well as in Italy. Even though being Italian, his success in Italy was a delayed success compared to Central Europe.

Early life

Pippo Pollina was born in and grew up in Palermo (Italy) where he studied law at the university of Palermo. At the same time, he studied classical guitar at the conservatory “Amici della musica”.

Also, he was engaged in the anti-mafia movement. Being a student, he furthermore worked as a journalist for the monthly journal “I Siciliani” but quit when the editor in chief, Giuseppe Fava, was murdered by Cosa Nostra.

Pippo Pollina

Career

Agricantus

Together with other musicians from Palermo he founded the group “Agricantus”. During this collaboration he gained first experience in on-stage performance and concerts in and outside Italy. On top of that, the band held seminars in junior high and high schools addressing topics such as music, history and also mafia.

Solo career

In late 1985 Pippo Pollina left Italy to start a journey whose destination was not even clear for himself. After three years of traveling the world, the young Sicilian got settled in Switzerland where he was discovered while playing in the streets of Lucerne. He has lived there for more than 20 years. So far, Pippo Pollina has published more than 150 songs on more than 20 albums and gave more than 3000 concerts (solo, duo or with band) in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Benelux, France and Egypt. His songs vary in melodic styles and have a high poetic value. Interestingly, the lyrics also include texts in different languages since some of his songs are written in Italian, German, French or Spanish.
Various awards at music contests in Italy and elsewhere are just one indication for the link of his work to the tradition of the Italian canzone d’autore. The presentation of “Ultimo Volo” (The last flight) in Italy, Switzerland, and Germany about the Ustica massacre enthused both audience and media. The work is composed of musical and narrative parts and tells the story of an Italian air flight that suffered an in-flight explosion on its way from Bologna to Palermo.
Pippo Pollina is an artist who is in constant creative movement. Several collaborations with other musicians and groups, e.g. Georges Moustaki, Inti Illimani, Franco Battiato, Nada, Charlie Mariano, Konstantin Wecker, Linard Bardill, Patent Orchestra, Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra etc. are emblematic for his career. A recent project, a tour of 15 concerts in Italy together with the Youth Orchestra of the Conservatory of Zurich under the lead of Massimiliano Matesic had its premiere in Zurich, Switzerland. More than 1200 people celebrated the performance which was then staged successfully in Italy in October 2009.
In 2010, Pippo Pollina has been be on tour in Europe together with an international women’s string quartet (Piccola Orchestra Altamarea). Premiere for this program was January 15, 2010, in Stuttgart (Germany).
For 2011, two projects are planned in Europe. After a successful tour with the Youth Orchestra of the Conservatory of Zurich, Pippo Pollina will perform in six prestigious locations in Switzerland. The Notabene Orchestra of Zurich, again under the lead of Massimiliano Matesic, will accompany the artist during this tour.
A second project planned for 2011 is a combination of music and text. In addition to his songs, Pippo Pollina will read excerpts from a new book about his past 30 years as an artist and, hence, together with his audience look back to the beginning of his career.
Also in 2011, Pippo Pollina will give his debut in the United States in Salt Lake City.

Discography

• 1987 - I Nu Passaran (Collaboration with Linard Bardill)
• 1987 - Aspettando che sia mattino
• 1988 - Participation at a compilation Viva Natira with the song La casa di Armon
• 1989 - Sulle orme del Re Minosse
• 1991 - Nuovi giorni di settembre
• 1993 - Le pietre di Montsegur
• 1995 - Dodici lettere d’amore
• 1997 - Il giorno del falco
• 1998 - Il giorno del falco (Italian edition)
• 1999 - Ken (maxi single)
• 1999 - Finnegan’s Wake (Single + video Finnegan’s Wake)
• 1999 - Rossocuore (Storie di note, SDN 002)
• 2000 - Elementare Watson
• 2001 - Versi per la libertà (Storie di note, SDN 020)
• 2002 - Insieme (with Linard Bardill)
• 2003 - Racconti brevi (Storie di note)
• 2004 - Camminando (antology) (Storie di note)
• 2005 - Bar Casablanca (Storie di note, SDN 043)
• 2006 - Racconti e canzoni (Storie di note, SDN 057; live CD and DVD)
• 2007 - Ultimo volo (Storie di note, SDN 060; live)
• 2008 - Di nuovo insieme (with Linard Bardill)
• 2008 - Caffè Caflisch
• 2009 - Fra due isole (live)

Books

• Vigne, B. and P. Pollina (1997). Camminando camminando. Besigheim, Faceton Verlag.
• Loeffler, S. (2005). Begegnungen mit Pippo Pollina. Ulm, kawe8 Verlag.
• Vassia, F. (2010). Abitare il sogno - Vita e musica di Pippo Pollina, Stampa Alternativa

External links

1. http://www.pippopollina.com (official website)
2. http://rossocuore.altervista.org/ (website about Pippo Pollina)