Contrappunti | 7 July, Museo del Violino

On 7 July at 8:30 pm, Jean-Christophe Spinosi will return to the podium of the Stauffer String Ensemble, the string ensemble made up of students from the Stauffer Academy, for the concert Contrappunti at the Giovanni Arvedi Auditorium of the Museo del Violino in Cremona. The French conductor previously led the ensemble in October 2025 during the closing concert of the 30th edition of the I Suoni delle Dolomiti Festival, where the Stauffer String Ensemble joined forces with the European Union Youth Orchestra. Renowned for his magnetic stage presence, visionary artistic approach and the theatrical energy of his performances, Spinosi returns to Cremona to lead a programme centred on one of the defining concepts of Western music.

The evening programme explores counterpoint – from the Baroque era to the twentieth century – far beyond its technical definition. More than the interplay of independent melodic lines, counterpoint emerges as a principle of dialogue, balance, and continuous transformation. In the concertos for two violins and for two cellos by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1043) and Antonio Vivaldi (RV 522 and RV 531), musical voices pursue and respond to one another, weaving an ever-changing network of relationships in which each line retains its own identity while contributing to the overall balance of the whole. In Fratres (1977), one of the most celebrated works by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, the same principle is distilled into a more essential and contemplative dimension, where a small number of musical cells return and evolve gradually, creating a soundscape suspended between meditation and inner tension.

Admission is free with advance reservation. Click here to reserve your seat.