"My father has called me Stef from as far back as I can remember. I proudly adopted the family's full original Italian name, DiPietrantonio, putting back the "Di" at the beginning and "io" at the end. The name had been altered when my great-grandfather and his brothers came to the United States.

I modelled in Italy and, while there, sought out and discovered the beauty of the village from which my relatives came: Gallo Matese. The village and the church where my great-grandparents, Maria Perrino and Joseph DiPietrantonio, exchanged their wedding vows before coming to America to start a new life, can be viewed at www.GalloMatese.com. Gallo Matese sits high in the hills in the Caserta Region, about two hours southeast of Rome and northeast of Naples. I spent time there, meeting my family's oldest living relatives and absorbing a great deal about our amazing heritage.

Music is a heritage that was passed on to me by my parent...