Roots tourism between music and entertainment. Fossa, a small village in the Abruzzo region in the province of L’Aquila, welcomed a roots traveler from Argentina in July. She is Elizabeth Ridolfi, a musician currently serving as the viola soloist of the Argentine National Orchestra of Music ‘Juan de Dios Filiberto’, with a rich history as a concert soloist in theatres worldwide. Elizabeth’s visit was organized as part of the Italea project. Thanks to the Turismo delle Radici project for small municipalities, which the municipality of Fossa joined from the beginning, Elizabeth arrived in Abruzzo on 2 July to explore the places from which her grandparents departed in the early decades of the last century. Elizabeth Ridolfi’s journey marks one of the first visits to Abruzzo by prominent international figures of Italian origin in this 2024, the Year of Italian Roots in the World.

 

Elizabeth Ridolfi is a renowned violist and active teacher at the Argentine National Music Orchestra in Buenos Aires. Her musical tradition is rooted in her family, with her grandfather, Tito Ridolfi, born in Fossa, who influenced the family with his intense musical activity as an immigrant in America. Her father, Ángel Ridolfi, was a famous double bass player with Astor Piazzolla and a soloist at the Teatro Colón Philharmonic. Elizabeth Ridolfi has been invited to perform with renowned international artists such as Luis Miguel, Ricky Martin, Caetano Veloso, Mercedes Sosa, and many others. She received an honorable mention from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and has performed in several cities around the world, including Rome, Milan, London, and Montreal. In January of this year, she undertook an international tour of over ten cities in Japan with Quinteto del Ángel, a tango ensemble directed by her brother, violinist Humberto Ridolfi. Elizabeth Ridolfi has received numerous awards in Argentina and has been selected as a soloist for concerts with various orchestras in the country, including the Philharmonic Orchestra of Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

The village of Fossa (known for the Church of S. Maria in Cryptas, completely frescoed by 14th-century artists, and for a Roman necropolis) has experienced depopulation, decreasing from 1,600 inhabitants in 1924 to the current 690. It was Mayor Fabrizio Boccabella of Fossa who invited Elizabeth to the small village in Abruzzo, where she stayed until 6 July to visit the places of her ancestors and participate in the first evening of the Feast of St. Cesidio da Fossa, St. Anthony of Padua, and Blessed Bernardino da Fossa. On 5 July, the ‘special’ tourist offered a concert to the village community. The concert took place in the MAP San Lorenzo village (Piazza Gemona), i.e., in the post-earthquake village area. Immediately afterward, a public celebration was held for the rediscovered “town of Fossa”.