Article that the newspaper Berliner Morgenpost, a well-known Berlin publication, dedicated to me.

Translation:
"The street is their stage. Passersby and Metro travelers are their audience. Berlin's street musicians are far from amateurs looking to collect their daily tips. Some have attended conservatories and played in major concert halls. This is what blues musician Federico Ficarra from Venice did, who plays here in front of the Metro station at Potsdam Square.

Berlin is just a stopover for him. His plan is to go to the USA.

In the Berlin illustrated newspaper, five local stars tell about their life in Berlin and their concerts in front of passing audiences.

If Federico Ficarra had been born in the 16th century, perhaps he would not have left for Berlin. Back then, Venice was still the city of music par excellence. Vivaldi composed his violin concertos and the Venetian School around Claudio Monteverdi, with its compositions, fostered the transition from Baroque to Renaissance.

But that is now far away, the times of musical progress have passed. "Venetians no longer have the spirit for music," says the musician born in the lagoon city, and his gaze, through his glasses, is a little sad.

"My professor at the University was not able to explain what a pentatonic scale is."

For his own musical renaissance, Ficarra had to come to Berlin.

"Everyone at home told me that there would be many opportunities in Berlin," he recalls. You immediately hear his baritone voice, before he goes down the stairs to line 2 of the Metro at Potsdam Square.

Ficarra stands there in jeans and a pullover. A man and his guitar in the stream of passersby. His eyes are closed as he plays "Big Road Road Blues" by Tommy Johnson. He sings it energetically with his distinctive Italian accent. A young lady looks for her wallet, Federico smiles.

Sometimes he gets annoyed because he can only play covers: for his own blues compositions with pizzicato, there's too much noise in the tunnel.

So he returns to the classics, like House Of The Rising Sun, so he can play forcefully on the strings in A minor. 
Pragmatism counts.

With these classics, it's easy to win people over: the 24-year-old earns, on good days, 20 euros an hour.

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