FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

(Washington, DC – October 1, 2003) Acclaimed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform Thursday evening, November 20, at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan as part of his Fall 2003 North American Tour. The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) will host a private reception immediately following the concert for people who have purchased their premium concert tickets through the Foundation to benefit the NIAF/Bocelli Scholarship in Music. The NIAF has secured some of the best seats in the house, including select front row-seats. Bocelli will also perform in Providence, R.I. on November 23 at Dunkin Donuts Center.

“Andrea Bocelli, has been a blessing to our Foundation. Not only is he one of the great talents of our time, but we are fortunate to have him as a loyal supporter of the NIAF,” Frank J. Guarini, NIAF chairman, said.

Bocelli received the National Italian American Foundation’s U.S./Italy Friendship Award during the NIAF gala awards dinner in October 2000. More than 3,000 prominent Italians and Italian American leaders in business, sports, entertainment, the professions, and government attended the dinner.

Bocelli has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide since he entered the American music scene in 1997 with the release of his CD, Romanza and the single “Con Te Partirò” (Time To Say Goodbye).Romanza topped the charts in more than 13 countries and sold more than 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone during the first three months of its release. In 1999, Bocelli received his first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, while four of his albums charted simultaneously on the Billboard Top 200 chart, a feat achieved only twice in recent memory, by Garth Brooks and U2. Millions of Americans continue to watch his PBS television specials and listen to his four platinum albums, Romanza, Aria, Sogno, and Sacred Arias. Bocelli’s first complete opera recording, La Bohème, was released in 2000. His most recent CDs, Sentimento (November 2002) and Puccini’s Tosca (May 2003), have been well-received and further secure the tenor’s place in Italian music history.

To date, only front row seating is available at $1,000 per ticket, contact: Kristina Pappalardo at 202/939-3109, kristina@niaf.org or visit www.niaf.org