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160 pages

English

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After spending years researching his ancestry and finally gaining the knowledge of past generations, Jim Neglia can now begin to understand his connection to the past. Neglia learned about his relatives and their dedication to music, their passion in life and in this book highlights two of his ancestors and their illustrious careers.
Are our abilities passed down from generation to generation, or are a family's talents developed during their formative years? The author takes the reader on a journey through eight generations of musicians to help answer that question. Among other things, Neglia explains how strong family genes are coupled with the nurturing of our talents by our elders.
Along with discussions on his ancestry and beliefs are journal entries and recountings of current events, including the crippling COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the music industry. In the process, Neglia relays an amazing tale, weaving the past and the present to tell a story 200 years in the making, sharing his views on the complexities of his family's personalities by sharing intimate stories of life as a Neglia.

Sujets

Musique

Art performance

Music

Performing arts

Informations

Publié par	AuthorHouse
Date de parution	18 janvier 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781728377261
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	4 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0450€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

MUSIC IS IN OUR BLOOD

JIM NEGLIA

AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 833-262-8899

© 2023 Jim Neglia. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/17/2023

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7727-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7728-5 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7726-1 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

“Ancestral spirits of your father’s house [do] not identify you by looks or stature but by the DNA they buried deep down [within] your blood.” ―Ikechukwu Izuakor
After a nearly forty-year hiatus, my father and I sat down together and shared a meal. Our conversation covered many areas, but focused on his immigration from Italy to the United States, our heritage, and our ancestors. For the first time in decades, I heard family stories I never knew. I learned about my great aunts and uncles, their parents, and how generations of Neglias were devoted to music. We reminisced about his sister, my aunt Maria, who would give me and my brother violin lessons when we were very young. During our meal, I learned more about my father’s side of the family than I had known my entire lifetime.
It was after this meeting that I first contemplated writing a book on my ancestry. Now, armed with more knowledge than ever before, I felt I had enough to connect the dots between the Neglias of the past to those of the present. In this book, I hope to illustrate our deepest family bond, music.
And so, I began.
I researched, identified, and recreated our family tree, focusing on my father’s side. I traced our tree back to my great-great-grandfather in Sicily in the early part of the 19 th century.
Devotion to music has been constant, as most in our family are musicians. And at least two of my ancestors had not only a deep love of music but demonstrated their talents through illustrious careers. My grandfather’s brother, my great uncle, Francesco Paolo (22 May 1874 † 31 July 1932), is one of them. He was a prolific composer, concert violinist, conductor, and educator. Struggling to find work in Italy prior to World War I, Francesco relocated to Hamburg, Germany, where he flourished and gained the respect of the community and beyond. His popularity had grown so much that he opened the Neglia Conservatory in Hamburg and later another school in Legnano, Italy. He was friends, colleagues, and collaborators with such personalities as Enrico Caruso, Felix Weingartner, Richard Strauss, Marco Enrico Bossi, and Giacomo Puccini, to name a few. He led a fascinating career which I will cover in-depth in this book.
The other family member that reached worldwide acclaim is my father’s sister, my aunt Maria (7 August 1927 † 27 August 2016). She was a gifted violinist and child prodigy. During the 1950s and 1960s, Maria was a regular guest on the Ed Sullivan Show (appearing 24 times), as well as the Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, and Joey Bishop shows, and most importantly, on the Arthur Godfrey Show. It was on her first television broadcast with Godfrey that she was discovered.
Florida’s Senator George Smathers, along with fellow-show business stars Bob Hope, Arthur Godfrey, Jackie Gleason, Martha Raye, Kate Smith, Jack Paar, and Ed Sullivan, wrote to the U. S. senate to attest to Maria’s talents and extraordinary personality. Ultimately through a special vote, Smathers helped clear the path for her United States citizenship. This special legislation was approved and signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, who quickly became friends with my aunt Maria. Maria performed at the White House several times, for President Eisenhower but also for President Nixon.
Francesco and Maria’s silent influence showered over me from the day I was born into the family. There are others in our extended family with musical talent, but I feel these two stand out from the others. I hope to illustrate the many parallels between my past ancestors with the present family, including myself.
I spent a lot of time debating if we inherit music or any craft from past generations or if we learn via exposure. I understood the discrepancies between the two and began my research. My goal wasn’t to qualify what I believed but to understand better genetics and how they impact the family tree.
DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is the self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms and is the main constituent of chromosomes.
When using an autosomal test (a term used in genetic genealogy to describe DNA inherited from the autosomal chromosomes) like the one they use in Ancestry® or My Heritage™, the results can go back up to eight generations. Knowing and understanding this timeline, I chose to trace our family tree back 200 years, starting with Domenico Neglia.
Researcher Miriam Mosey, a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said: “The idea that an externally imposed (music) practice regime can and will lead to expertise seems to be wrong. Rather, an innate ability should also not be seen in a deterministic way. Naturally, practice will almost always lead to an increase in ability, but not necessarily to high-level expertise.” The study concluded that genetics play a prominent role in musical abilities, much more than practicing, regardless of the hours put in.
Drawing on my musical abilities and those of my ancestors, my belief aligns with the concept that our musical talents are passed down from our ancestors. Those who have others in the household who can nourish a budding musician will help to increase or heighten those inherited talents, but I believe that music is in our bloodline.
My roots are deeply embedded in European traditions. My father’s family hails from the small town of Enna, Sicily, and my mother and her family were from Corleone, also in Sicily. My siblings and I are first-generation Italian-Americans. We are all musicians, all making our living in our field. My children and those of my siblings are either musicians or musically inclined.
In 1986 I made the journey to Enna for the first time, and while reflecting on that visit, emotional memories came flooding back. Most prominent were my footsteps walking through my great uncle’s theater located in Enna’s Town Hall, which houses Francesco’s piano, much of his furniture, musical scores, his conducting baton, two violins, and other personal belongings.

F.P. Neglia’s Piano (above) and violin (below), on display in Town Hall, Enna, Sicily

F.P. Neglia’s metronome and baton
While researching our family, I obtained a great deal of information on both Francesco and Maria. I was happy to find articles, letters, concert reviews, and other documents. Much of the material I discovered on Francesco, especially from his Hamburg days, was in either Italian or German. To better understand Francesco, I began the painstaking task of translating each letter, article, and review into English. This process took me a good deal of time, but ultimately, I accomplished my goal. I was proud to gain the much-needed knowledge and understanding to begin sharing his story. Not only did I find the act of translating the precious articles interesting, but I also gained a deeper understanding of my family’s devotion to music.
Apart from the musical bonds passed down through generations, I learned of another unexpected similarity. My great uncle’s son, Giuseppe, affectionately known as Peppino, kept a journal on his family and life’s progression. I used many journal entries in my first two books to highlight my journey through music and life itself. It might simply be coincidental, but understanding just how deep our roots are connected, I feel that the act of documenting is also a shared art between the generations.

Jim 1964 ― one year old
I am proud of my heritage and bloodline and hope to illustrate our deep connections to music and each other in this book.

CONTENTS
Reflections
Maurizio Agrò
You Do What?
Interlude: Meet My Great-Uncle
The Who
Colleagues
Hugh Jackman
Heartache
Maria Neglia
Shane
A New Beginning
And Then, COVID-19 Hit
Life in Legnano
Battling the Pandemic
Royal Caribbean
And in the End
Nimrod
Siblings
Moments in Time
Appendix I - The Neglia Family Tree
Appendix II - Jacksonville Safety Protocol For Covid-19
Acknowledgments
About the Author
REFLECTIONS
“Children begin by loving their parents; after time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.” ― Oscar Wilde
Like many marriages, my parents’ ended in a divorce. The circumstances which led them to its dissolution began in the earliest days of my memory. As a result of the split, I became somewhat estranged from my father. For roughly 35 years, we rarely spoke, communicating via email, with an occasional phone call.
Growing up fatherless, yet needing guidance beyond my mother’s strength, I turned to my oldest brother, Joe. Although I needed him, during my teenage years, in my young, immature mindset, I resisted his help.
I struggled with the hierarchy of the fami