Headshot of Carmen Marsico
Alum

Carmen Marsico

Assistant Professor
Affiliated Departments
Voice

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Award-winning Italian vocalist, composer, lyricist, and dancer Carmen Marsico hails from the mountainous and wild region of Basilicata, a dramatic landscape that also inhabits her heart and can be heard in her music. She comfortably crosses genres between Mediterranean music and contemporary jazz. 

Currently best known as lead singer and front person with the Mediterranean/Italian world music group Newpoli, she has immersed herself in the traditions of the south of Italy and tirelessly dived deeper into research on the origin of sound. With the group she has created a bold new direction they call Mediterranean pulse, or ritmi della terra (the rhythm of the earth). The group crosses time and boundaries, and incorporates traditions from all over the Mediterranean.  

Her performances have been heard on radio all over the Americas and Europe. She has performed and taught Italian folk dances in venues and at festivals such as the Library of Congress (Washington D.C.), CRASHfest at House of Blues (Boston, Massachusetts), PVDFest (Providence, Rhode Island), Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago, Illinois), and Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater (New York, New York) in the United States, and Adriatico Mediterraneo Festival (Ancona, Italy) and La luna e i calanchi Festival (Matera, Italy) in Europe, to name just a few.

Career Highlights
  • Featured on NPR’s The World in 2018 and 2019
  • Interviews with the Library of Congress with Stephen Winick, 2018; Transpacific Sound Paradise on WFMU with Rob Weisberg, 2018; RAI 3, Italian National TV, 2014, 2015, and 2018; and Folk on WGBH, WGBH public radio
  • Appearances on Rai International, March 2006 and March 2008
  • Certified in Level I, II, and III of Somatic Voicework™ by the LoVetri Institute
  • Actress and member of Pazzi Lazzi, an Italian-language theater troupe based in Boston
  • Recordings include Mediterraneo (2018), Nun te vutà (2015), Tempo antico (2013), Musica di Natale (2012), and Newpoli (2008) with Newpoli; and Pizzica la taranta - Il Folklore del Salento (2017)
  • Studied with Kevin Mahogany, Sheila Jordan, Dave Holland, Bob “Rakalam” Moses, and Charlie Banacos, among others
Awards
  • Finalist in the World Music category, USA Songwriting Competition, 2018
  • Nominee in the Loano National Award for Traditional Italian Music, 2018
  • Winner of the Club Passim Iguana Music Award, 2017
  • Nominee for Best European Album and Best World Song, Just Plain Folks, 2017
  • Winner in the Best World Album category, Independent Music Awards, 2016
  • Finalist in the World Music category, USA Songwriting Competition, 2015
  • Nominee in the Loano National Award for Traditional Italian Music, 2015
  • Finalist for the International Massimo Urbani Award, 2005
In Their Own Words

"The first thing I say to my new students is to consider themselves as athletes; they wouldn’t decide to run a marathon without proper training. A solid and healthy vocal technique is what will make them free to express themselves. I teach them to be patient, but determined because if they keep their daily routine, results will come."

My aim is to motivate students to begin a personal exploration toward a personal style that truly reflects who they are. This can only happen if they get genuinely inspired by the improvements they see in their voices and feel confident in their ability to sing: in a word, empowered."