Don Domenico – Operatic Tenor – Raconteur – All Around Cool Guy – and 91 years young!
Holly Addy
May 30, 2009
Turning 91 this past February – he still possesses a great cache of "cool." – People of all ages seek him out wherever he goes. The cool cache stems from Domenico being "interested" which makes him "interesting."
Despite two strokes in the past two years– he can sing younger singers under the table with his rendition of Nessun Dorma from Puccini´s Turandot. Even Domenico has no explanation why his voice has stayed intact at an age when the majority of singers and opera singers in particular are no longer singing.
Of Sicilian roots –Domenico grew up in New York City – got kicked out of Catholic School for his independent personality and drove a cab as soon as he could drive for his uncle´s cab company. Eleanor Roosevelt, Babe Ruth and Howard Hughes were among his fares. His stories of life in NYC have high entertainment value with his listeners and keep them coming back for more.
Domenico was the top turret gunner and engineer on the B17 during WWII based in England. He did 35 missions over Germany. After the War he came West, became a electrical engineer**, also enrolling in several opera training programs in Los Angeles where he quickly became in demand for his beautiful tenor voice and impeccable musicianship.
FYI-Dom worked on the first computers when they took up a whole room. He worked on Government projects-like computers for subs, ships etc.
In the heydays of the great singing restaurants in Los Angeles, Dom was a featured singer at Maldonado´s, La Strada, Luigi´s, Café del Opera and Marcello´s to name a few entertaining loyal customers with his showmanship, be it an opera aria or duet, a classic Italian song, a Broadway show tune or Neil Diamond´s Solitaire.
Domenico also sang throughout the state singing with such singers as Carmen Tejada, Norma and Danny Guerrero, Mario Storace, Chris Laconas and other well known California opera personalities and starred in many full-length operas presented at Café del Opera a famous gathering spot for opera lovers as well as The Hollywood Bowl as well as other venues.
Dom passed his vast knowledge on to countless young singers and musicians in Los Angeles. As music director at Luigi´s restaurant on Vermont Avenue famed for its singing waiters and waitresses and musical shows during the 70´s and 80´s, he put together opera and Broadway evenings with up and coming talents such as K.T. Sullivan (well known Cabaret Diva), Roberta Wall, Gabriel and Deborah Reoyo, Carl Hieger and many others who under his tutelage gained invaluable performing experience and acquired enormous repertoires of crowd-pleasing music which has propelled them to the operatic, Broadway and Cabaret stages.
Through the years, Domenico has garnered a loyal following of fans. For his 90th birthday, he wife of 50 years – Adeline – compiled recordings of opera arias, Operetta and art songs as a favor at his birthday party. Word soon spread about the CD and it is now on its third printing with Addie being busy this past year sending them out to all parts of the globe.
As a performer, Dom has that rare presence to give his artistry to his audience. If he ever has a thought about hitting a note just right or remembering his words, his listeners are totally unaware. His communication goes directly to audience and is not about self, but the giving and sharing of self
Cool - yes! Interesting – you betcha! Beloved – without a doubt!
For more information about Domenico, please email: hollyholly@aol.com or visit www.myspace.com/domenicosings or www.domaddie.com.
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