Mimmo Aiola

Mimmo Aiola, born in Catania in 1961, is a self-taught musician passionate about Sicilian folk music. He plays guitar, tambourine, and mandolin, and has written over 50 songs in Sicilian. In 1980, he co-founded the ethno-folk group Strummula, releasing two albums dedicated to Southern culture and performing at major festivals alongside artists like Eugenio Bennato, Teresa De Sio, and PFM. In 2012, he won Best Soundtrack at the Gold Elephant World Festival for the musical Cangiari. He also composed songs for the short film Cecilia’s Affair.
For over 15 years, he has worked with Laura Giordani on Rosa la Cantatrice del Sud and the project SUD’dui, focused on Mediterranean stories and sounds. From 2019 to 2022, he performed at Catania Summer Fest and other venues with Giordani, Zuccaro, Maltese, and I Casentuli.
In 2023 he debuted the Christmas show A Bona Nova, followed in 2024 by Su Carusi, both with Savì Manna, with whom he also created the music for podcasts E Pasqua sia and Il salto infinito.
That same year, he released his first solo album Cantati, with eight original tracks in Sicilian/Catanese, entirely self-produced under his own label SiciliaSounds. In 2025, he presented Curuna di Spini, a recital on the Passion of Christ.