Although he grew up in Quebec, musician Marco Calliari has never strayed too far from his Italian roots.

He performs at Fratters on July 18th.

Growing up he was surrounded with the melodies of the opera until at age 14. He then began to follow a very different sound: wild, screaming heavy metal.

It is at that time that he co-founded, with his friends, one of the most interesting metal groups in Quebec – Anonymus.

In 2006, after more than 15 years and five solid albums, Calliari ended this musical adventure to fully throw himself into his own thriving solo career which he began to pursue in 2003.

His first composition, a festive album called Che La Vita, borders what can be called World Music, jazz, poetic music, with all the lyrics and music written by Calliari — and all in Italian.

After this ground-breaking success, he recorded his second solo disc Mia Dolce Vita in 2006, in which he remakes his own versions of traditional Italian songs, including L’italiano, Bella Ciao and L’Americano.


In September 2008, Calliari released a new compilation of his first two records for the European market, distributed in France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.

Touring in Europe, he performed in stadiums in Florence and Milan with Bandabardò, famed for their lively stage shows. Since then he is going back and forth between Canada, Europe and New York all the while exploring new grounds.

During these travels, Calliari found inspiration for his third album, Al Faro Est (2010).

His latest CD, Mi Ricordo, was released last year.

-Weber