Dr. Fiumara hosts KSLU’s radio show “Caffé Italia” following the show’s 10th anniversary. Rachel Taylor/The Lion’s Roar

KSLU’s Italian program “Caffé Italia” recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary with a special episode centered around Italy’s “Festival di Sanremo.” The festival, which lasts five nights, is one of Italy’s most popular musical festivals. “Caffé Italia” host and Italian professor Francesco Fiumara played songs from the festival’s past ten winners, using “Festival di Sanremo” as a way to take the listeners through the changes Italian music has made in the past 10 years.

Before “Caffé Italia” was at the university, Fiumara worked at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and hosted the show on their station WESU.

KSLU General Manager Todd Delaney explained how “Caffé Italia” was first brought to the university.

“Dr. Francesco Fiumara was on campus interviewing for a position with the university ,and he came by the radio station because he had done radio in the past, and I got to talk with him,” said Delaney. “He said, ‘Hey, if I come over here, would you be interested in having an Italian radio show?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ They hired him, and so he came on over and started radio with us.”

Fiumara elaborated on his radio background.

“My background in radio was exactly 40 years ago,” said Fiumara. “I was around 15 years old, and I started in a little commercial radio in my hometown in Italy, and that’s where I learned all the basics of radio broadcasting.”

“Caffé Italia” is syndicated, and still airs at WESU as well as at KSLU. Delaney explained the value “Caffé Italia” has in the Hammond community.

“We have a strong Italian community in our region, and I think they’ve received it well,” said Delaney. “It’s neat to have him showcase the culture of Italy and bring that here, and it’ll reflect what our local community is doing as well.” 

For Fiumara, there is added value for the university students learning Italian.

“I thought this would be good for my students to get something different about Italian culture, especially music,” said Fiumara. “Young people like music, but they barely know what is going on in Italy. That is why I had the idea of mixing music with cultural talk, and sometimes interviews.”

KSLU Underwriting and Development Representative Rachael Domiano Beard, an alumna of the university, was one of the first students to benefit from assisting Fiumara with “Caffé Italia.”

“At that particular semester, there were no more advanced Italian classes available,” said Beard. “A professor suggested that I do an independent study with Dr. Fiumara, and so I tried to get in touch with him, and I eventually just ended up leaving a note on his door that said, ‘call me.’”

Beard went on to explain how “Caffé Italia” contributed to her learning.

“It gave me an amazing outlet for using my language skills in a practical sense,” said Beard. “You’re reaching out, and you’re trying to think of words that you didn’t even know you needed. It really helped with my development and how my mind processed language.”

Simone Brighenti, an Italian exchange student from the University of Verona, is currently helping Fiumara with “Caffé Italia.”

“He brought fresh music to the show,” said Fiumara. “I am a bit older, and I like certain kinds of music. He is young and brought some new music from Italy that I was not aware of.”

Brighenti explained how he came to be a part of the show.

“There was this chance to start and learn how to manage a radio program,” Brighenti said. “I said, ‘Yes, I will like to do this,’ because I love music. I love Italian music.”

Some of the music Brighenti brought to the show with him was songs by Italian artists such as Jovanotti, Marco Mengoni, Thegiornalisti, and Francesco Gabbani.

“Jovanotti is one of my favorites,” said Bringhenti.

“Caffé Italia” also utilizes phone interviews, and has had Italian and Italian American guests in the past, such as Italian American author Anthony Valerio.

“If we have a special guest talking about a book, we try to tailor the music selection on the topic he is going to talk about,” said Fiumara. “When we had, for instance, Anthony Valerio, I selected Italian American music because he was talking about some Italian American people.”

“Caffé Italia” airs every Sunday from 8-9 p.m on KSLU 90.9 FM.