Founder, Honorary Chairman, President and CEO, Saint Pio Foundation (Board Member)
Maestro Luciano Lamonarca is an opera singer, crossover artist, keynote speaker and philanthropist, whose international work has supported charitable causes in Europe and the United States. He has performed under the sponsorship of the United Nations, the European Union, the Presidency of the Italian Republic, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has sung in concert at Carnegie Hall, the New York Theater for the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, the United Nations General Assembly, the Palais Liechtenstein Museum, the Teatro Politeama in Palermo, and many other venues.
Luciano has been interviewed and featured in numerous articles from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Daily News, The New York Post, Fox News, NBC, CBS, News 12, RAI Uno, RAI Tre, RAI International, The Italian Times, The Italian Tribune, Italia! magazine (in Russian,) La Repubblica, America Oggi, Quotidiano.Net and Il Corriere del Mezzogiorno.
Luciano has used his vocal talents to support many worthy causes. Having performed in more than two hundred benefit events from 2008 to 2018, his commitment to making art with a purpose and his involvement in numerous charitable causes has earned Luciano Lamonarca the nickname “The Goodwill Tenor.” Two of his albums, “Mamma“ and “The Impossible Dream,“ were conceived and realized for the purpose of producing art with a social and humanitarian goal.
In 2013, Luciano founded the Puglia Center of America, which actively supported global efforts for positive change while promoting the culture and the arts of the Puglia region of Italy. He successfully negotiated joint declarations of cooperation between Westchester County, the State of Connecticut, and the Puglia region of Italy, and he established working relationships with dignitaries at the highest levels, international officials, academicians, and celebrities. Under his leadership, the Puglia Center of America authored numerous initiatives. He created the project “United Academia,” conducted under the patronage of the United Nations Academic Impact (a global U.N. initiative) which fosters collaboration with institutions of higher education, scholarship, and research. As the keynote speaker at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Maestro Lamonarca shared the platform with Kiyo Akasaka, Under Secretary of the United Nations Department of Public Information, at the symposium “On the road to Rio – Making development sustainable.”
In April 2014, he founded and assumed the role of President and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation, a U.S. non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the awareness of Saint Pio and his charism nationally and internationally by working with institutions and individuals, who share the same vision of serving “those in need of relief from suffering.“ Under his passionate leadership, the Saint Pio Foundation was able to raise millions dollars in the first five years, drawing numerous supporters whose financial resources, cultural energy, and spiritual guidance have enabled the Saint Pio Foundation to flourish. Under his direction, the Saint Pio Foundation has brought national attention to Saint Pio through initiatives that include the annual Saint Pio Award, the Adelia Award, and most recently, the first American tours of the authentic relics of Saint Pio, which drew more than a half million persons in archdioceses and dioceses across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Luciano, his wife Valentina, and their son Sebastian reside in Westchester, New York.