Transatlantic musical unionism: the role of the Italian Operetta Artists Union in the South American theater market (1919-1929)

• Grant number: 25/22844-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: February 17, 2026
• End date: August 16, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Virgínia de Almeida Bessa
• Grantee: Miguel Breyton Silva
• Supervisor: Mirella Schino
• Host Institution: Instituto de Artes (IA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/20989-1 - Transatlantic musical unionism: the role of the Italian Union of Operetta Artists in the South American theatrical market (1919-1929), BP.MS

Abstract

This project is linked to the research Transatlantic musical connections: São Paulo on the route of foreign musical theater companies (1914-1934). Its objective is to retrace the history of the Sindacato Nazionale fra gli Artisti di Operette (SNAO), which included various operetta companies and artists who toured São Paulo in the 1920s. Based on research in primary and bibliographic sources, we hope to understand the place occupied by the South American theater market in general, and the São Paulo market in particular, in the development and internationalization of the Italian operetta industry. The relationships and tensions between workers and their representatives, business organizations, and the Italian state will be analyzed, considering the rise of fascism in the 1920s, the central role played by unions in Mussolini's fascist regime (1922-1943), and fascist projections regarding art. Based on an analysis of the trajectory of the SNAO as a class association representing the material and political interests of its members, the aim is to reflect on music and theater as forms of work, that is, not only as aesthetic and cultural manifestations, but also as social, economic, and political ones.