Romina Arena is an Italian singer-songwriter who performs, pop

classical crossover Crossover is a term applied to Musical composition, musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience, audiences. This can be seen, for example, when a song appears on two or more of the record chart, record charts, which tr ...

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

and

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

Early life

Romina Arena was born and raised in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, Sicily, to a Sicilian mother, Rita and a Roman father, Renato.

Career

In 2001, Arena covered the classic Japanese song, "Subaru", originally written and recorded by

Shinji Tanimura was a Japanese singer-songwriter. Life and career Tanimura set up the musical group Alice together with Takao Horiuchi in 1971 and released his first extended play musical album in the following year. Alice produced its first album two years ...

. In 2003, Microsoft used her first

single "Satellite (Italian version)", recorded in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and composed by Romina Arena and David Polish, in the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Project Gotham Racing 2 ''Project Gotham Racing 2'' is a 2003 arcade-style racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox (console), Xbox in November 2003 as the succe ...

. In 2013 she covered "I Want Love" (originally from Silent Hill 3, composed by Akira Yamaoka) in the cover album "The Best Of Silent Hill (Music From The Video Game Series)" by Edgar Rothermich released in 2013 on

Perseverance Records Perseverance Records is a record label which releases film scores on CD and online. Releases are usually accompanied by extensive booklets. Extras, such as audio interviews with composers, are also sometimes included. Discography * *''No Pass ...

. In 2012, she released the album ''Morricone.Uncovered'' in which she covers film music by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

to which she had set her own lyrics. In 2015, Arena signed to

Lakeshore Records Lakeshore Village Entertainment, LLC was an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Bev ...

for a studio album to coincide with her book ''Where Did They Film That Italy''. The album, titled ''Where Did They Film That Italy – The Music Journey'', was released in June 2016 as a companion to the travel guide. Her song "Every Day Is Christmas Day" appeared in the movie ''A Christmas To Remember''. She was one of the special guests in Jim Wilson and Friends: A Place in my Heart live at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts in Amarillo, Texas. Romina Arena has starred and produced ''ABC Holiday Movie Skating Spectacular'', hosted by

Kristi Yamaguchi Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American former competitive figure skater, author and philanthropist. A former competitor in women's singles, Yamaguchi is the Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, 1992 Olympic champion, ...

Brian Boitano Brian Anthony Boitano (born October 22, 1963) is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California. He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985–1988 U.S. National Champion. Boitano turned profession ...

, and World Champion

Kimmie Meissner Kimberly Claire Meissner (born October 4, 1989) is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2006 World champion, the 2007 Four Continents champion, and the 2007 U.S. national champion. She is the first American and the first wo ...

alongside a cast of various Olympic figure skating stars performing on ice to holiday music performed live by Romina and special guests, The Four Phantoms.

Discography

* 1984 to 1993 – From the age of 4 to 13 years old Arena was signed to Disney Italy's Mickey Mouse Club and the companies "Prima Ribalta", "Shasa Digital Sound" and released three compilations and singles – Italy. There are no documents that certify this thing * 1994 "Una Vita Senza Vita" from San Remo Nuovi Talenti (New Talent) Festival Compilation – Italy (appeared as Romina Notarbartolo) There is no news about this song and even the event management denied this participation. * 1994 "You're The Only One" Peter Ciani Music – Australia (Single) * 1994: "Smile" released by Danilo Sulis Recordings – Sicily, Italy (Single) * 1994 "As Beautiful as You" CP Productions/

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

– Germany * 1995 "As Beautiful as You" CP Productions/

– Australia * 1998: "Fateci Santi" for The Vatican & Pope John Paul the second, produced & released by Beppe CAntarelli – compilation album * 2000 "Unreleased Album Project" produced by

Bob Johnston Donald William "Bob" Johnston (May 14, 1932 – August 14, 2015) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel. Early life and career Johnston was born into a profe ...

– US * 2001 "Subaru" Design House/

Toshiba-EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Wh ...

– Japan * 2003 "Romina Arena" for Miller's Gin – Miller Spirits – US & UK (Premium) * 2003 "Satellite" Soundtrack from Xbox Video Game

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...

– US/Italy/International * 2004 "Romina Arena" American Entertainment Records– US * 2006 You're Gonna Hear from Me Outback Records – US * 2006 "Cuerpo Sin Alma" (Spanish) Outback Records – US * 2008 "Believe" NMG Records (Single) * 2009 "A Joyful Christmas" NMG Records * 2010 "Romanza" (The Love Collection, Limited Edition) – NMG Records * 2010 "

How Do You Keep the Music Playing? "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" is a song composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the 1982 film '' Best Friends'', where it was introduced by James Ingram and Patti Austin. The Austin/Ingram version became ...

" NMG/Macs Records – Italy/US * 2011 "A Mother's Prayer" NMG Records (Single) * 2011 " Arthur's Theme" (The Best That You Can Do) NMG Records (Single) * 2011 "Life" released September 6, 2011 – NMG Records * 2012 "Morricone.Uncovered" released September 18, 2012

* 2012 "Un Sogno Che Sognai" "

I Dreamed a Dream "I Dreamed a Dream" is a song from the 1980 musical ''Les Misérables''. It is a solo that is sung by Fantine during the first act. The music is by Claude-Michel Schönberg, with orchestrations by John Cameron. The English lyrics are by Herbe ...

" from ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' released December 4, 2012

(Single) * 2013 "Romanza" (The Love Collection, Limited Edition) Re-release with new bonus tracks January 8, 2013 – NMG Records * 2013 "Subaru" "スバル" " Romina Sings Japanese" released January 8, 2013 – NMG Records * 2013 "I Want Love" from the album "The Best of Silent Hill" released October 29 –

* 2014 "Corazon Italiano" released June, NMG Records (Single) * 2014 "Annie's Song" released November 4, PoperaStar Records (Single) * 2015 "A Mother's Heart" April 28, PoperaStar Records * 2016 "Where Did They Film That Italy – The Music Journey" based on the book from the same title –

released June 24 * 2019 "Baby Mine" performed in tribute to Disney's Dumbo – Poperastar Records (Single) * 2019 "A Beautiful Surprise"
18-track album
Poperastar Records released * 2020 "Cinematica, Vol 1"
14-track album
Poperastar Records released * 2020 "Holding You"
single
Poperastar Records released * 2020 "Verte Amor"
single
Poperastar records released * 2021 "Amore y Amor
10-track album
Poperastar Records released

Books

* ''Where Did They Film That Italy'' (travel guide). Fresno: Linden/ Quill Driver Books, 2016. ,

Awards

In 2010, Arena received several awards. She was one of the seven recipients of the Tricolor Globe Award from the organization Italian Women in the World, one of the five recipients of the CSNA Award (Confederation of the Sicilians in North America) for promoting Sicilian culture worldwide, In 2012, Arena was one of the 20 recipients of the Premio Sicilla for being an "Ambassador of bel canto in the world". In 2021, Romina Arena was named the "Official Ambassador of Italian Excellence In The World" by the President of M.I.R.E. (Movement of Italians Residents Abroad) representing Italy and major Italian cultural events, awards, consumer experiences around the world. In 2022, the Italian President and Onorevoli at the Camera Dei Deputati awarded Romina the "Patrimonio Italiano" as Italian Ambassador of Italian culture at the Italian Parliament in Rome.

Articles and Interviews

Inspiring Interview at ForbesBooks Podcast with Build-A-Bear CEO, Sharon Price JohnL’ Artista ROMINA ARENA in CalabriaEstate 2023

References

External links

Romina Arena Official websiteInspiring Interview at ForbesBooks Podcast with Build-A-Bear CEO, Sharon Price JohnL’ Artista ROMINA ARENA in CalabriaEstate 2023
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arena, Romina 20th-century births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women singer-songwriters American ballad musicians French-language singers of the United States Italian emigrants to the United States Italian women singer-songwriters 20th-century Italian singer-songwriters 21st-century Italian singer-songwriters Italian television personalities Japanese-language singers of the United States Singers from Los Angeles Spanish-language singers of the United States Singers from Palermo American torch singers EMI Records artists Italian women writers Italian writers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters People from Palermo 20th-century Italian women singers 21st-century Italian women singers Singer-songwriters from California