On the occasion of the visit to Scotland of the Italian Ambassador to the UK, H.E. Raffaele Trombetta, the Consulate General of Italy for Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the support of the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh, are pleased to invite the Italian community to a reception on Monday 21st February 2022 at 6:00 pm at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
A concert performed by Raphael Gualazzi piano solo, with Emma Morton as special guest, will mark the event.
BY INVITATION ONLY.
RAPHAEL GUALAZZI
Raphael Gualazzi is a songwriter, composer, arranger, musician and producer. He has always experimented with different musical genres, giving life to a very personal style, a mix of piano stride, jazz, blues and fusion. In 2011 Gualazzi won – with the song “Follia d’amore” – the Youth category at Sanremo Music Festival, the “Mia Martini” Critics Award, the Radio and TV Press Room Award, the Assomusica Award for the best live performance and reached the second place at the Eurovision Song Contest with “Madness of Love”.
In 2014 Gualazzi participated in the most renowned festivals in Europe (including the “Saint Germain Jazz” in Paris and the “Dìa de la Musica” in Madrid) and made his debut in film music signing the entire soundtrack of Pupi Avati’s “Un Ragazzo d’Oro”. In the same year, he became the testimonial of the “Successful Made in Italy Abroad” during the Italian Innovation Day in Brussels.
After several live concerts in Italy and abroad, the singer-songwriter was back on the recording scene in 2016 with the new single “L’Estate di John Wayne”, immediately at the top of the radio airplay and Platinum Record: the song was part of the album of unpublished songs “Love Life Peace” that became soon Golden Record. Gualazzi also landed in Japan in 2018 with his “Best of”, a collection of hits contained in his three previous albums, and a great live at the Blue Note in Tokyo. The following year, he was awarded the prestigious Bertoli Prize “A Muso Duro”, for his ability to face his artistic career in an independent and intellectual way. In February 2020, his new album “Ho Un Piano” was released and presented to the public on the occasion of the 70th edition of the Sanremo Festival, where he participated with the overwhelming “Carioca”.
EMMA MORTON
Emma Morton is a Scottish songwriter whose work aims to deconstruct myths and stigmas around mental health, sexuality, class and gender with an approach to making music which is visceral, experimental and personal. She uses a hybrid of traditions from jazz, folk, rock, while still eradicated in her Scottish roots; her lyrics are presented in her native East Lothian dialect.
Emma has collaborated on stage and in studio with artists such as Alejandro Escovedo, Paolo Nutini, Olly Murs, KT Tunstall, DJ Molella, Glen Hansard, Gary Lucas, and Raphael Gualazzi. Her debut album “Bitten by the Devil” was recorded live in an analog studio. Guests and collaborators include Grammy Award winner Gene Paul (USA), Antonio Gramentieri, Raphael Gualazzi (piano) and Gabriele Evangelista (Doublebass). Her compositions for film soundtrack “Saremo Giovani e Bellissimi” were nominated for a David Di Donatello Award in 2019, and won Venice Film Festival’s Soundtrack Stars Awards in 2018.
Emma’s ascendancy through the DIY music scene has seen her work gain increasingly high profile recognition: beyond the mounting number of successful European Tours, TV and radio performances over the last few years, Emma has reached over 250K+ downloads on Spotify and performed at major festivals like Paris Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Great Escape, Wilderness, Brighton Fringe Festival. Emma uses her music to raise awareness on political and social issues facing today’s society. Her unique and empowering performative act of song and dance takes us on a journey of rebirth and discovery of cross-cultural sounds. Inspired by her personal life experiences she tells us stories of epic battles with devils, with loss and fear.
Covid-19 policy: to protect everyone’s health and well-being, the Embassy of Italy kindly asks guests to show either proof of complete vaccination, proof of recovery in the last 6 months or a negative covid-19 test taken in the 48 hours prior to the event. The use of face masks is highly recommended except when food and drinks are served.