Roberta Gulisano is a Sicilian artist known for blending tradition with innovation. Her early career began with the Compagnia Triskele, a group dedicated to Sicilian folk traditions, where she performed as a singer and dancer. These performances in local squares soon led her to pursue a more personal artistic path.
Gulisano’s songwriting was shaped by Italian cantautori of the 1970s and 1980s. Seeking a broader musical language, she studied jazz at the Conservatory of Palermo, focusing on harmony and composition.
In 2010 and 2012, she won Best Lyrics at the Bianca D’Aponte Prize. In the same period, with Compagnia Triskele, she earned the Andrea Parodi Prize for the song Fimmini, celebrating women’s resilience.
Her debut single, Troppo profondo per le 23 (“Too Deep for 11 PM”), appeared in 2011, followed by her first album Destini Coatti (“Coerced Destinies”) in 2012. The album, selected for the Tenco Prize’s Opera Prima section, highlighted her ability to tell personal yet universal stories.
In 2016, Gulisano released Piena di(s)grazia (“Full of (Dis)Grace”), produced by Cesare Basile. Marked by hypnotic riffs and lush arrangements, the album was a Tenco Prize finalist and signaled a pivotal evolution in her style. She later collaborated with Basile on his project U fujutu su nesci cchi ffa? (“The Fugitive Comes Out to Act”).
After relocating to England in late 2016, Gulisano paused public performances to focus on new material. Her 2024 album A ccu apparteni (“Whom Do You Belong To”), again produced by Basile, marks her return to recording.
A ccu apparteni features original compositions and reimagined traditional songs. Drawing on instruments such as friscaletti (Sicilian reed flutes), marranzani (jaw harps), bagpipes, mandolins, guitars, tambourines, and electronic textures, the album explores themes of identity, displacement, and resilience. The Sicilian dialect serves not as a nostalgic device, but as a means of articulating universal experiences: poverty, alienation, hope, and endurance across generations and geographies.
The title references an old Sicilian greeting used to inquire about a person’s family origins, emphasizing the enduring moral and communal bonds that shape identity.
Roberta Gulisano shared: “This album represents my personal journey of recognizing what I belong to. It embodies me and all those who no longer live in the land where they were born, carrying with them their solitude and pride—the uprooted people of every time and place.”
Discography:
Destini Coatti (2012)
Piena di(s)grazia (2016)
A ccu apparteni (Mhodí Music Company, 2024)
Author: Iliana Cabrera
