With all of Italy under lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus, many Italians are keeping spirits up by singing. 

Several videos of communities sharing a song with their neighbours across the street were posted to social media on Friday, as locals confined indoors sharing music to remain upbeat. 

In a street in Siena, residents jointly sang a local folk song  - Il canto della verbena – from their windows across an empty street. 

In the capital Rome, an entire neighbourhood broke out into song to belt out 50s classic Volare, in a show of community solidarity and spirit. 

Further south, a neighbourhood in Naples rang out with chants as locals sang, clapped and rang horns, shouting “forza Italia” and “la gente come noi non molla mai” [we people never give up]. The video, posted by a resident, has been shared more than 15,000 times. 

Music is also lifting spirits in the epicentre of Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, Lombardy. 

In video posted to Twitter, Giuliano Sangiorgo of Italian band Negroamaro can be seen singing to the neighbourhood from his balcony as he strums a guitar. All across the street, neighbours emerge onto their balconies to take in the impromptu concert. 

And in Calabria, this violinist injected beauty into the country's desolation with a rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah before his cellist friend joined him in performing Coldplay's Viva la Vida.

 

Italy has more than 17,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with more than 2,500 of them having tested positive on Friday. 

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