As the Christmas holidays come to an end, the city of Novara look forward to another important occasion: the celebration dedicated to its Patron Saint, Gaudenzio. Many events are promoted to honor this occasion, religious, cultural, and artistic activities, but especially connected to the strong tradition that unites the city every year in this initiative.
One of the important events for this celebration is the designation of the “Novaresi of the Year”. “It is always very exciting to discuss and decide, year after year, who should be awarded the Sigillum Communitatis Novariae, together with the members of the Committee,” said Mayor Alessandro Canelli. “This recognition must have deep motivations and be aimed at the growth and development of our community from an economic, social, cultural, and sporting perspective. Once again, this year, it has not been easy to choose three people from among the many in Novara who carry out extraordinary activities in their respective fields. This year, the focus has been on three Novaresi who have made significant contributions to our community in terms of entrepreneurship, social impact, and culture.”
“Margherita Zanetta, Riccardo Bisatti, and Marco Sciamanna are the three Novaresi of the Year 2024 who will receive the Sigillum Communitatis Novariae on Friday, January 17, 2025, at 5:30 PM in the Sala Arengo of the Broletto.”
The mayor added specifics about the chosen individuals: “This year, more than ever, we want to remind all Novaresi of the significance of this award, which will go to three individuals representing various sectors of our society, but above all, people whose activities strongly resonate with the concept of community.
Starting with Margherita Zanetta, founder and for many years also president of IdeaInsieme, an association that has been caring for terminally ill patients in our area for 20 years, assisting them in their homes, at the Galliate hospice, and in the Novara outpatient clinics. This daily work is characterized by humanity, dedication, and attention not just to patients but to individuals who want to live a full life until the very last moment. A noble mission in favor of our community.”
“The Sigillum,” Canelli continues, “will also be awarded this year to a very young but extraordinary Novarese, Riccardo Bisatti, who has nurtured his passion for music since childhood and who is now one of the youngest conductors in the world. Riccardo has worked with internationally renowned masters and has established himself in the musical landscape, first graduating from our Conservatory and then rising to perform on stages around the globe. A significant asset for the art and culture of our city.”
“Finally,” the mayor concludes, “Marco Sciamanna, who began his career at MEMC Electronic Materials Spa, nowadays GlobalWafers, as an engineer at a young age and who today is its President. GlobalWafers group, third silicon wafers supplier on worldwide basis, leads the entire European semiconductor market and its presence in Novara, and Merano where the other Italian factory is located, is key for such role. His technical and managerial skills have enabled significant development of the Italian company, which has solid roots in Novara. Sciamanna is steering MEMC Spa towards another valuable phase of growth, characterized by important production investments and a vision that is very attentive and sensitive to environmental protection policies and the health and well-being of employees.
So, we thank these three Novaresi for what they have done and will do for our city, three Novaresi who have contributed to the growth and protection of our community, each through their actions and valuable work.”
MARCO SCIAMANNA
Marco Sciamanna, born in 1966 in Genoa, moved to Novara at a very young age where he began his career in 1992 when, after obtaining his master’s degree in physics and having a brief experience at CERN in Geneva, he joined GlobalWafers (MEMC Spa) as a process engineer. Initially responsible for engineering in his department, he later assumed the technical coordination of engineers in similar departments across all group facilities. In 1999, he moved to manufacturing, first as responsible of Novara plant production and then adding the Merano one, until he was appointed Director of the Novara Plant in 2006. In 2014, he became General Manager of the Novara site, a role in which he was reconfirmed in 2016 by the new GlobalWafers ownership.
Marco Sciamanna, a father of two children, Filippo and Elisa, has always had a passion for mountaineering and mountain sports and competes at a very high level. In 2023, he was appointed by the board of the multinational GlobalWafers (GW), headquartered in Taiwan, as the President of the Italian company that, from its headquarters in Novara and the plant in Merano, supports the entire European semiconductor market with its silicon wafer production, developing and providing the fundamental component of all microchips currently required by various electronic sectors, for the production of smartphones, computers, electric vehicles, 5G transmissions, medical and aerospace equipment, as well as all other devices used in everyday life.
“I just feel like the coach of a great team; without the people working with me, I would have never achieved the results we have accomplished,” says Marco Sciamanna, president of MEMC Spa, the company that produces semiconductors at its historic facility on Via Gherzi and will continue to do so in a new production 300mm Fab currently under construction in the same area.
The manager of a multinational company has been awarded a prize that celebrates the community of a city: “For me, it means bringing Novara and its distinctive reality into an international dimension,” Sciamanna comments.
Sciamanna feels the significance of the recognition: “I did not expect this award, which flatters and greatly honors me because it recognizes the commitment of everyone in our company.” The historic MEMC headquarters employs eight hundred people and is the largest production facility for 200-millimeter silicon wafers in the European Union. The new plant will add 120-130 employees, of which about fifty technicians are already working on the new line that’s under construction: “The inauguration will be in October, and the production ramp at the end of the year,” Sciamanna announces. “New hires are planned between autumn 2025 and spring 2026.”
MARGHERITA ZANETTA
Margherita Zanetta, born in Novara in 1950, married to Carlo Accornero, has two children, Massimo and Francesca, and two beloved grandchildren, Luigi and Margherita. She trained at the Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan and taught artistic education in public schools for several years. She volunteers for research at the Diocesan Historical Archives of Novara and the Fanchini Museum in Oleggio on the history of textiles and ancient embroidery, publishing various texts on the subject. In 2004, she participated in the founding of the Association IdeaInsieme, of which she was Vice President until 2010 and then President, a position she still holds today. The Association assists patients in advanced stages of illness who, despite having no prospects for recovery, absolutely need to be cared for until the last moment of their lives to avoid unnecessary suffering. The sixty volunteers of IdeaInsieme collaborate as part of the care teams with both the Palliative Care Service of ASL Novara and the Palliative Care Service of the “Ospedale Maggiore della Carità” University Hospital at the outpatient clinic in Piazza d’Armi in Novara and the hospice in Galliate, thanks also to the constant and generous support of the Novara foundations. On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, IdeaInsieme wanted to organize, through “Evento Diffuso 2024,” a series of conferences and meetings to raise awareness of the topic of palliative care, particularly in anticipation of the long-awaited doubling of hospice beds in Galliate, which will allow the admission of patients with non-oncological conditions as well.
RICCARDO BISATTI
Riccardo Bisatti (Novara, 2000), pianist and conductor, graduated in piano from the “Cantelli” Conservatory in Novara and in orchestral conducting from the “Verdi” Conservatory in Milan. He also studied with Maestro Matteo Beltrami at the theater in his hometown. He has been the Principal Guest Conductor of the Rossini Symphony Orchestra in Pesaro since 2024. He has participated in numerous national and international competitions, winning several first prizes. He made his conducting debut at the age of 18. In 2021, he conducted “Acquaprofonda” by Giovanni Sollima, which won the Abbiati Award 2022 “Filippo Siebaneck.” In the fall of 2022, he made a sensational debut conducting the production of “Don Giovanni,” directed by Mario Martone for OperaLombardia, a triumph that led critics to describe him as one of the best conducting discoveries in recent years. Subsequently, he was invited to serve as “resident conductor” at the Teatro Regio in Turin, conducting “Powder her face” by Thomas Adès, “Bastiano and Bastiana” by Mozart, and a Verdi concert for the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the new Regio. He was the youngest conductor ever to take the podium at the Turin theater. He has conducted the Tuscany Regional Orchestra, the Teatro Verdi Orchestra in Salerno (Ravello Festival “Concert at Dawn”), the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, the Prague Philharmonia, the Bellini Theater Orchestra in Catania, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, the I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra, and the Benevento Philharmonic Orchestra (alongside Elio from “Elio e le storie tese”). His performances have been broadcast by various broadcasters, including Rai Radio 3, Rai 5, and Radio Classique France. Additionally, the “Mestiere Teatro” program by Paolo Gavazzeni on Sky Classica HD dedicated an episode to him. In 2021, he founded the Goldberg Piano Trio with Anna Molinari (violin) and Lucia Molinari (cello). In 2023, he was included by Fortune Italia magazine among the “40 under 40” most influential figures in Italian culture.