Episode Two: Gianluca’s Story

I’ve always said Gianluca is very different from Piero and Ignazio. He had a calm and peaceful childhood. He didn’t have the challenges that Ignazio had or the intense classical education that Piero had. No, Gianluca lived a very simple life.

When Gianluca describes his life it’s almost like a fairy tale. His childhood is about the sea and the sky and faraway places that allure him. His description of his childhood does not include reality! Instead, it takes us inside Gianluca’s mind and leads us Through A Valley of Make Believe to a place where his passions grew and where his love for family, life, music and country came to life before they were revealed to the world.

It was Gianluca’s imaginary world that surfaced and became a phenomenal reality on the day his voice was revealed. It was his secret voice. The voice he hid away out of shyness. The voice that captured so many yet caused Gianluca to turn and hide every time he was asked to reveal it! A phenomenal voice that rose from a small classroom to a local choir and finally made itself known to all the world.

I’ve said this before, in Abruzzo they have an expression. Molto gentile! (very gentle) What they are saying is there are people who are kind and peaceful people. They live what they love through passion and always find a calmness in it. They live simple lives.  

They spend time walking in the mountains and immersing themselves in the beauty around them.

There certainly is a lot of beauty around these people from the grandeur of the Gran Sasso to the beautiful beaches along the Adriatic, all that you can see, touch or feel has a beauty and calmness to it!

I understand these Abruzzese people and how they live because they are my people too. So, it seems for Gianluca, from his very early years there was no pressure, no concern for anything other than living this peaceful life.

I believe this allowed Gianluca to spend all his days singing and listening to the music he loved. This beautiful peaceful life would explain why, when Gianluca goes home, he feels like he is on vacation. Montepagano is a very beautiful town. It sits at the top of a hill facing the Adriatic Sea. It is like a picture-perfect postcard!  It’s no wonder Gianluca is at peace here. Montepagano is Gianluca’s paradise. Within this peaceful environment, Gianluca developed his great passion for music. And from this came our great passion, which is the embodiment of Gianluca, his music!

As you know, Gianluca’s mother worked, so, he went to after-school session with the nuns. He had a teacher named Gabriella. One afternoon, while Gianluca was doing homework, he suddenly got up and started singing Time to Say Goodbye. The teacher was speechless. “What a voice you have, what a wonderful voice,” she told Gianluca. “But do you know Andrea Bocelli?” She could not believe how it was possible for such a small child to have such a voice and to know a singer of that kind.

“Of course, I know him,” Gianluca said, “he’s my idol, my favorite singer,”

Gianluca said this with a certain pride. “Only I do not have his CD yet.”

Gabriella said, “I’ll bring it to you tomorrow, I’ll gift it to you.”

Gianluca says, “I was seven, maybe eight years old and thanks to Gabriella I was able to start listening to Andrea Bocelli as often as I wanted.’

As a child, Gianluca was very shy especially when it came to singing. Let’s listen to what Gianluca had to say about this shyness….

It also happened that at school. The teacher knew about my particular voice and in the classroom, in front of my classmates, about twenty children of my age, I was asked by the teacher to sing: ‘Gianluca, make your voice heard to us, guys, let’s listen to Gianluca’s voice, she said.’

Do you know how I reacted? I sang, of course, because it was the teacher who asked, but first I went to hide behind the blackboard and put myself face to the wall. I was ashamed to die. I still remember that feeling of being hidden while I sang, without seeing anyone. Also, because I was already singing with this voice that tended to the baritone, it was really special. I understood that it was a beautiful thing, which everyone liked, but I was still ashamed. Dad says I also did it at home to turn my face to the wall while I was singing. What could I do? I was a very shy and a little insecure child. I’ve always been looking for confirmations since I was a child.

But now, the shyness is over. I considered this a defect when I was a child but now, I have overcome the shyness.

Yes, this was Gianluca’s passion as a young boy to sing Bocelli songs. And he sang them all the time. But it was music itself that motived Gianluca.  In an interview with the “Rosetana Star” Gianluca said: “Music for me is the oxygen of my life.”

And it wasn’t just Bocelli as Gianluca will tell you. As I grew older, I became more passionate about singing, including the great American classics, first of all Frank Sinatra.

Gianluca was in awe of Sinatra but, I personally think Sinatra would be in awe of Gianluca. Love you Frank but Gianluca’s got this one!

So, how did Gianluca get to where he is today!

We know Gianluca never took a singing lesson or entered a competition before Ti Lascio Una Canzone but he was a member of the Piccolo Choir of Roses. And if it wasn’t for this choir, Gianluca may not have been discovered.

Piccolo Choir of Roses is one of the local branches of the Zecchino d’oro. The Mago Zurlì, who was the presenter of the event when Gianluca was in the Choir, was Gianluca’s father, Ercole Ginoble.

But, let me let Gianluca tell you how this all came to be….

When I sing, I don’t forget instinct.  What does that mean? As I said, I have never studied singing. I learned to ‘use’ my voice only thanks to my musical ear. I listened to the music, and it transmits everything I know. And I especially thank the Little Choir of Roses.

When I was about eight or nine, all those who knew my voice gave me the same advice: go sing in a choir. In Roseto there was the Piccolo Choir of Roses directed by the master Susy Paola Rizzo. They sang the songs of the ‘Zecchino d’oro’ or other famous songs with arrangements in that style, with music for children. The Mago Zurlì, that was the presenter of the event, was my father. He had been for a couple of seasons.

This is where I started. It was nice because we studied the songs throughout the winter season, not the technique of singing, the songs. It was different, because we did not study the notes and how to do them, rather we studied instinctively, following what the teacher said and what our ear heard.

Then, in the summer, we demonstrated our work in the Municipality of Roseto. We sang in the squares during the local festivals, in the lidos, in the bathing establishments, around the whole of Abruzzo, all these tiny villages.

During the performances with the choir, besides the repertoire of the Zecchino d’oro, we sang the songs of Bocelli: Misere, Il Mare Calmo Della Sera, La Voce Del Silenzio.

The choir brought Gianluca to the center stage because they recognized the value of his voice and on most occasions, he became the lead in the group. It was during one of these events that Gianluca became front and center and would become the main event in the one and only competition he was ever a part of.

I always like to include interviews in my stories but today I want to include an article that was written by Maura (Nonna) Pucci for Flight Crew in June 2020. Maura holds a special place in Gianluca’s heart. He refers to her as Nonna (grandma).

Maura wrote….

…. Gianluca sings with all of himself, with his eyes, with his facial expression, with his hand movements, even with his body posture. He sings a song, he does not perform part of his work, but “brings out” the passion for music that he has in himself, to transfer it to those who listen to him: he is fulfilling a mission…. because he “feels” the music, to the maximum degree.

Maura recalls: I saw Gianluca with an entranced expression, listening with closed eyes, to the splendid voice of Piero, who sang beside him, “O Holy Night.” These are things that move me and are not forgotten.

Gianluca brings to the stage all the behavioral and character characteristics that distinguish him in his private life.

Always in search of perfection, he is PROFESSIONAL to the maximum degree, GENTLEMANLY attitudes, CHEERFUL and SMILING, sometimes even LIVELY, but never too EXUBERANT. WITTY, but with measure; RESERVED, but no longer shy as in the past; ROMANTIC, TENDER, helpful, full of affection for fans, just as he is towards family members, friends, children, the disabled.

I want to add a quality, which with the presence on stage, perhaps not involved, is also sincerely MODEST and not “arrogant” as many insinuate.

Some time ago, he said something that struck me, and now I will try to summarize. I still find it hard to realize that I, who have had idols since I was a child and still have them today, may in turn have become an idol for many people.

Maura concludes: This is “my” Gianluca, as I see him, and, according to my personal tastes, I have found in him all the qualities that make him a son, a brother, an ideal nephew. In fact, I consider him a virtual “grandchild” ……….

We are at the conclusion and until now, I never said that he is also beautiful! Yes, because I wonder how much it costs for a show artist to be BEAUTIFUL too. 

It depends. Being beautiful counts a lot for a movie star, how many beautiful actors have been successful without being able to act!

But a singer is asked …… a beautiful voice, that he knows how to use and that enchants those who listen to him.

Like Gianluca’s voice, a healthy bearer of strong and contagious emotions.

If then, the lucky singer is also pleasant in appearance, that is just a plus that does not hurt.

Well Maura, I think you summed this up for me! All those beautiful traits come from the man who can certainly walk Through A Valley of Make Believe and come out a superstar!

In Episode Three of Gianluca’s Story we will meet the woman who heard the voice and knew he needed to step on a stage and make his voice known to others worldwide!

To all the American fans I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and a joyful day with all your friends and families! On this day of Thanksgiving let us all (every fan) pray for peace in this world!

What I have written here are excerpts from the book the guys wrote about their lives. “Il Volo, Un’avventura Straordinario, La Nostra Storia.” (An Extraordinary Adventure, Our Story) This is just a small piece of each man’s story. The book is written in Italian. If you can read Italian, I would highly recommend that you read it. It’s wonderful! If not, I can only hope that someday it will be translated into English. Or you can use Google Translate to translate it.

I also recommend you read their second book “IL Volo: Quello Che Porto Nel Cuore” (What I Carry in My Heart).

Just in time for Christmas, the guys released a new EP 4Xmas Amazing Grace, O Tannenbaum, Feliz Navidad and Happy Xmas (the War is Over) order yours now on Spotify, Amazon, etc.

Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure. Next week we rejoin Piero on the road to Stardom!

If you would like to share a story with me, please email:  susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com

To read more Il Volo stories visit us at www.ilvoloflightcrw.com and don’t forget to visit the Archives.

Credit to thew owners of all photos and videos.