Biography

Eugenio Bennato founded the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare (New Company of Popular Song) in 1969, at that time the most important ethnic research and revival group in Southern Italy. He recorded six albums with the NCCP, and after his debut at the Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto (‘72) toured with great success in Italy and abroad (France, England, Germany, Yugoslavia, USSR, Argentina, etc.)

In 1976 he set up Musicanova and began an independent career as a composer, referring heavily to the popular style. He released many successful albums, including Brigante se more in 1979.

He has written numerous soundtracks for cinema, theatre and classical ballet.

Most prominent among them are Don Quixote by Maurizio Scaparro (1984, Colonna Sonora (Soundtrack) prize), Cavalli si nasce by Sergio Staino and La stanza dello Scirocco by Maurizio Sciarra for which he received the most prestigious recognition in Italy for soundtrack composition, the Nastro d’Argento (1988 and 1999).

In 1998 he founded the movement Taranta Power, which in the wake of an extraordinary renewed interest in the ritual Tarantella rhythms among the younger public, advanced the proliferation of this dance through various creative forms (music, cinema, theatre). Taranta Power (1999) has become also a CD: the musical synthesis of a movement that breaks with the past of Italian popular music.

Eugenio Bennato’s international Taranta Power tour began in Autumn 1999 and to be continued to day with concerts in prestige theatres in the principal cities of Eastern Europe, in Morocco, Tunisia, Australia, Canada, U.S.A., Argentina, Spain, France, Algeria and Turkey.

On 17 February 2001 he took part in the Adelaide, Australia edition of the Womad Festival, originally founded by Peter Gabriel.

The tour, Che il Mediterraneo sia, begun in summer 2002, culminated at the closing event of the Festival of Egyptian Cinema at the Cairo Opera in December 2004. Eugenio collaborated

with his brother Eduardo Bennato on the composition of the soundtrack for the animated film, Totò Sapore (a Medusa - Lanterna magica coproduction), released in the cinema at Christmas 2003.

2007 Eugenio Bennato write Sponda Sud which contains previously unpublished tracks. On 26 February 2008 Eugenio Beannto performed at the 58th edition of Sanremo Festival (a music festival on Italy television) with the track “Grande Sud” from his last album Grande Sud.

In 2008 and 2009 Eugenio Bennato was Artistic Director of the Kaulonia Tarantella Festival, a festival that features important national and international musicians like Noa, Hasna El Becharia, Roi Paci and Tony Esposito.