Ignazio’s friend Roberto Amadè

In a number of articles, I’ve mentioned the Amadè-Boschetto concert which was organized through the Cultural and Artistic Center “Ignazio Boschetto,” with the support of The Town Hall of Marsala. The Teatro Impero Archipelago hall has long applauded this initiative which brought together several artists from Marsala. This concert was held in February 2014.

This was a wonderful collaboration between Ignazio Boschetto and Roberto Amadè to help young people in their careers. In February 2014, Katya Pantaleo, a young singer from Marsala, won the Premio della Critica at Sanremo with the song “Come in Paradiso” music, lyrics and arrangement by Ignazio.

Many of you have asked me who Roberto Amadè is and how this collaboration came about with Ignazio?

Roberto Amadè is an Italian singer and songwriter. He was born in Vercelli, Italy on April 3, 1982. He is the son of Claudio Chapel bassist in the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala of Milan since 1979. Like Ignazio, Roberto plays multiple instruments. He graduated from the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts of Turin. One of his works entitled “Abbado” (dedicated to the conductor Claudio Abbado) is on exhibition at the Teatro alla Scala Foundation.

Roberto was very fascinated by music for cinema and in 2008 he composed the soundtrack for the film “La terra nelanque” (The Land in the Blood).

In December 2010, Roberto was the winner of Arena Sanremo with the song “Come Poggia,” (Like Rain) and thus was admitted to the 2011 Sanremo Festival where he won third place in the “Young” category. The song “Come Poggia” is arranged by Roberto Amadè together with Celso Valli. (We know the name Celso Valli, he was also one of  the producers of Il Volo.)

With his participation in 2011 Sanremo Festival, his debut album “Tutti gli incanti della vita” (All the Charms of Life) was re-released on February 16, 2011, with the new title “Come Poggia,” by Universal Music Group and Roberto, at the time, came under contract with Michele Torpedine. And so, the friendship with Ignazio begins.

Two amazing entertainers and one smart manager!

But Roberto’s talent doesn’t stop there!  I would like to turn your attention to a special project that Roberto has been working on. It’s called Leri Cavour. As I mentioned, Roberto was born in Vercelli and he has been married for nine years to Marianna Fusilli, who was also born in Vercelli. They have three children, Amelie Grace, Isabel and Xavier.

This is what Roberto wrote about the founding of the Leri Cavour Foundation. “Thanks to my father, I discovered my love for Music and Art and I have always pursued both disciplines with passion and dedication.

So, after graduating in painting at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts of Turin, I met Michele Torpedine and signed a contract with Universal Music Group.

In 2011, I participated in the 61^st Sanremo Festival qualifying third in the young proposals category. In 2014, I did a live in-theater with Ignazio Boschetto of the opera trio “Il Volo” with whom a great friendship was born and is still alive today.”

The Abandoned Village of Leri Cavour

“On November 1^st, 2018, during a visit to the Borgo di Leri with my wife, Marianna, our lives changed. We were enchanted by a wonder of history that was left incredibly alone like a diamond in the desert. We understand that Leri’s rebirth can be concrete and we can see for a few seconds, in front of our eyes, the project already completed. Thus, we began a journey made of research, sharing and discoveries that animate our daily life, deeply convinced that the history of all of us Italians must be preserved and not lost.” 

Roberto and his wife Marianna along with Luciano Vigani took on the project of restoring Leri Cavour. The great love for the history of Leri and the deep conviction in its rebirth pushes Luciano to be strongly present in every activity of protection and recovery of the Borgo.

The area that is now known as Leri Cavour has long been an example of agricultural growth. Having been the site of a religious order as far back as the 15^th century, the land was used to grow grain and other crops as the farmers’ processes evolved. The rural production thrived until the land was acquired by Napoleon who then sold it off to help pay a debt, which is how it found its way into the hands of the Marquis Michele Benso di Cavour. The property changed hands many times and by the late 1960s, Leri Cavour was abandoned.

On November 1^st, 2020 Roberto said, “Today is an important day, to celebrate, despite everything and despite the serious moment we are living in the world. Today marks exactly two years…. Two years full of dreams, projects, friendships. It was November 1^st, 2018 and in that very moment Marianna and I decided to dedicate our lives to Leri Cavour. For a short moment, before our eyes, everything was clear, precise; there was no hesitation about what we should have done. I remember it was windy. We looked at Cavour’s house, we looked at each other…. it was there, in that precise moment, that it all started.

The first flame was born that day two years ago, it’s true, but that same fire today is inside many people, men and women who became friends, who became a big family for us. It’s an incredible emotion to see them every day in the village so full of passion. I still cannot express how proud I am of them. Do you know what drives us apart from the initial flame? PERSEVERANCE! The only attitude so strong that we can always carry on, even when at first, we were crazy, even when we found the abusive campers who started the fire or the French who wanted to run us off the road or when we found the Gypsies in the church or the nutrient hunter…. perseverance leads us to keep taking care of Leri every day, find a broken window and fix it…. find it broken and keep fixing it because if it’s true that Leri is an ambitious and immense project, so should our vision and our feelings. Because in the end Perseverance is an act of love, a love the World will always need!”

We thank Ignazio for introducing us to this amazing man.

We wish Roberto, Marianna and Luciano much success in this wonderful project.

This is one of many projects that are going on in Italy today. Many feel as Roberto does that Italy’s history must be preserved!

To learn more about the Leri Cavour project visit their website:

Leri Cavour Project – Click Here

Be sure to visit the Gallery to see all the beautiful buildings they will be restoring.

If you don’t have a translator on your computer, you can go on Google Translate and translate all the Italian stories into English.

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.