This Easter Sunday international superstar Andrea Bocelli will be performing live in Milan at the Duomo Cathedral. There’s just one thing that will be missing: an audience. Due to COVID-19, the Duomo, along with most other places of worship, are closed to the public. Bocelli will essentially be performing all by himself, with only the cathedral organist Emanuele Vianelli as accompaniment.
The performance will be available as a global livestream event on YouTube, with pieces like “Ava Maria” and Mascagni’s “Sancta Maria” slated as part of his set. Bocelli’s team will stream the concert on the performer’s YouTube channel, starting at 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET.
Bocelli: Music for Hope will begin in Italy—Bocelli’s home country—at 7:00pm that evening. Bocelli said in a statement,“I believe in the strength of praying together. I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone—whether they are believers or not—truly needs right now. Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded earth’s pulsing heart, this wonderful international forge that is the reason for Italian pride. The generous, courageous, proactive Milan and the whole of Italy will be again, and very soon, a winning model, engine of a renaissance that we all hope for. It will be a joy to witness it, in the Duomo, during the Easter celebration which evokes the mystery of birth and rebirth.”
And as he says, even if you’re not religious, you can enjoy his gorgeous performance.
Italy has been one of the hardest hit countries during the coronavirus pandemic, and on top of this special performance, Bocelli’s foundation has also given more than $140,000 through GoFundMe efforts to purchase various supplies for hospitals in the hardest hit regions.
Bocelli is also slated to perform at Global Citizen’s mega event, “ One World: Together At Home,” on April 18.
Featured Image: Decca