Zampogna beckoned to Pizzoferrato

Daniel Pizzoferrato says that the first time he heard someone play the zampogna, it felt like he was listening to the sound of his ancestry.

That moment 10 years ago prompted Pizzoferrato to embark on a journey to master the ancient Italian instrument, which he now showcases at Italian-American Christmastime celebrations in the Chicago area. He also occasionally plays with La Tosca Italian Mambo Ensemble, based in Chicago.

So why was hearing the sound of the zampogna so touching for him that first time?

“I grew up with a lot of music and people who played the Italian accordion, the organetto. Everyone would get together and dance to all these songs they knew from growing up on their farms,” says Pizzoferrato, who lives in Plainfield in southwest suburban Chicago.

“Every Christmas I would hear my grandfather talk about the zampogna, but I had never seen it in person. It seems like the zampogna fell out of favor as people moved and they didn’t pass it on in the United States. It felt like a full circle moment when I heard it.”

Born and raised in Chicago Heights, Pizzoferrato works as a dual language Spanish-English teacher at Wolf’s Crossing Elementary School in Aurora.

He is a graduate of Marian Catholic High School and Columbia College Chicago, where he majored in music performance for guitar in 2012. He later earned a master’s degree in elementary education from Roosevelt University.

In 2014, Pizzoferrato was working making mozzarella at Eataly in downtown Chicago when a coworker mentioned that her father, Lionel Bottari, played the zampogna. Curious to see the instrument he’d heard so much about, he went to see Bottari play, and immediately loved its “open-air ringing sound,” he says.

On the spot, he decided he wanted to learn how to play.

First, though, Pizzoferrato needed a zampogna of his own. He spent the summer in Italy, where he worked on farms to perfect his cheese-making skills and looked for a zampogna for sale. At one point, he found a seller, but the man was skeptical that Pizzoferrato would actually play once back in the United States. Eventually, Pizzoferrato’s mother’s cousin pointed him to someone in the mountains of Lazio who agreed to sell him the instrument.

Pizzoferrato’s father was born in Pratola Peligna, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. His mother’s family is originally from Amaseno, in the Lazio region. Growing up, Pizzoferrato was surrounded by relatives who spoke their respective Italian dialects, along with neighbors who spoke dialects from Naples and Sicily. “It was a little confusing learning how to speak Italian, because we heard, basically, different languages,” he recalls.

The zampogna is a very difficult instrument to master, says Pizzoferrato, who is married and has three young daughters. “With the accordion, you just pick it up and push buttons,” he says. “But with the zampogna, just to be able to make it sound and keep playing for even 30 seconds, that took me a long while.”

Pizzoferrato had help from his father, who set out to examine the instrument and figure out its mechanics; Bottari, who gave him pointers about how to use his hands and what to focus on first; and videos from a zampogna player who gave demonstrations.

Still, it took him a long time to figure out how to make the zampogna sound in tune, Pizzoferrato says. “Every time I pick it up, I have to check it’s in the right tune. That’s because it’s wood, and wood can be finicky. It changes pitch when you get it wet and it dries a little.”

Pizzoferrato started playing in public around 2017 during Epiphany Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompei Church in Chicago, and later during Advent celebrations at Casa Italia in Stone Park. Last year, he played at a 9/11 memorial at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and Shrine in Melrose Park.

He recently started teaching others how to play — he had his first student this fall — and would like to go back to Italy to learn more from master players.

“I do still get nervous,” he says. “I feel really proud and joyful to play for people, especially when I see people interacting and getting excited at seeing the zampogna.”

To book Pizzoferrato for an upcoming event, call 331-222-2014 or email danpizzo89@gmail.com.