This sustainable, multicultural, accessible festival is designed to celebrate various international music cultures, drawing on superb international artists and the best young talents of the Accademia Stauffer, all in a unique location: the Palazzo Stauffer garden, adjacent to the Stauffer Center for Strings.
Six concerts will be presented by the Fondazione Stauffer, offering the general public an opportunity to experience outstanding music, where string instruments take center stage, for free. Up to 100 guests per evening will get to enjoy an inclusive approach in an intimate, evocative setting.
8 – 16 JULY 2022
9.00 PM
PALAZZO STAUFFER GARDEN
STAUFFER CENTER FOR STRINGS, CREMONA
The Stauffer Summer Music Festival, the new summer music event organized by the Fondazione Stauffer, will take place in the Palazzo Stauffer garden, adjacent to the Stauffer Center for Strings, the first international music center for higher education, research, composition, production, management and innovation dedicated entirely to stringed instruments.
From 8 – 16 July 2022, six exceptional concerts will be presented. Designed for a wide, varied audience, from locals to international visitors, for young audiences and classical music lovers alike, this series of performances will celebrate various musical cultures from around the world. The festival, which combines extraordinary artistic quality with unique elements, is sponsored by the European Commission’s Representation in Italy, the Italian National Commission for UNESCO, the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Lombardy Region, the Province of Cremona, the Municipality of Cremona, the Swiss Consulate General in Milan and the Institut Français. Among these unique elements are the location, 100 seats surrounded by the greenery of a splendid private garden, and free admission, something rare for a festival of its kind, offered by the Fondazione Stauffer, one of Italy’s principal institutions for the promotion of music culture.
“We are proposing a different kind of music festival, one whose aim is to offer citizens a stimulating cultural experience in a unique setting. We are presenting a bold music program that goes beyond all cultural and linguistic boundaries, bringing together great international musicians, young talents from all over the world and an audience that’s as heterogeneous and broad ranging as possible“.
PAOLO PETROCELLI, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE ACCADEMIA STAUFFER
The Fondazione Stauffer dedicates the festival to the memory of Andrea Mosconi, a major figure in Cremona’s cultural firmament and, together with Maestro Salvatore Accardo, a leading contributor to the foundation of the Accademia Stauffer, which has been training the best young stringed instrumentalists for more than 35 years.
With this summer festival, the foundation wanted to open the headquarters of the academy to fellow citizens and guests, to go beyond its role as a site for high musical training for string musicians and become something more, a place of beauty to be enjoyed by the whole city. All this is possible thanks to the generosity and far-sightedness of founder Walter Stauffer. But we mustn’t forget the man who conceived and helped create the academy, Andrea Mosconi, an intelligent, elegant and reserved man who we remember with pleasure and affection. This is why we want to dedicate this first summer edition to him.
ALESSANDRO TANTARDINI, PRESIDENT OF THE FONDAZIONE STAUFFER
On stage will be some of classical music’s greatest international stars together with the best students and alumni of the Accademia Stauffer, an institution that’s considered a point of reference in the world for the higher education of stringed musicians. Aleksey Igudesman, a multifaceted violinist, will perform on stage alongside Roby Lakatos, a legend of “Gypsy” violin music. Violinist Giuseppe Gibboni (winner of the Paganini 2021 Competition) and cellist Miriam Prandi, two former students of the Accademia Stauffer and today internationally renowned musicians, will also perform. There will also be soloists from the Ensemble Intercontemporain (the most important contemporary music group in the world) and artists of the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück, one of the most important international events for the promotion of classical Eastern music.
Collaboration with the Morgenland Festival
The collaboration with the Morgenland Festival fits perfectly with Accademia Stauffer’s commitment to bringing the best of the world music community to Cremona to support younger generations, to promote an ever more open and multicultural artistic vision. Indeed, during the Stauffer Festival, Morgenland artists (from countries such as Syria, Iran, Israel, Lebanon and more) will be involved in the creation of the Morgenland Campus. The first time Stauffer will host such an initiative in its center, the campus represents a special training program open to young stringed instrumentalists from around the world, giving participants the opportunity to explore musical languages connecting East and West. The teachers and students of the campus will perform in three of the six scheduled concerts.
The program of this first edition of the Stauffer Festival promises to be a surprising journey through various international musical languages: from the great classical repertoire to original contemporary works, from western folk music to fascinating pieces from the Near East.
Collaboration with FAI
The collaboration between the Fondazione Stauffer and FAI Cremona continues. As a cultural partner of the festival, FAI will organize guided tours of Palazzo Stauffer (one of the most visited sites in Italy during the 2022 FAI “Spring Days”) for the festival audience, starting at 9:00 pm (before the start of the concerts).
Collaboration with Leica
Another cultural partner will be the Leica Akademie Italia, the training academy of the great German camera manufacturer. During the festival, Leica will organize an exclusive photography workshop led by the famous Italian photographer and music critic Guido Harari. The initiative will result in valuable visual documentation of the entire event.
The program
Friday, 8 July, 9.00 pm
Fuori dalle Corde
Ensemble intercontemporain
The inaugural concert of the Stauffer Summer Music Festival will see on stage Diego Tosi (violin) and John Stulz (viola), soloists from the Ensemble intercontemporain who are specialized in the 21st-century repertoire. They will be supported by young Stauffer students as well. The evening, entitled “Fuori dalle Corde”, will be the culmination of the ensemble’s residency at Stauffer and a unique opportunity to discover the experimental languages of contemporary classical music.
Tuesday, 12 July, 9.00 pm
Virtuosi
Accademia Stauffer alumni
The second concert entitled “Virtuosi” will follow on Tuesday, July 12th. Two of the Accademia Stauffer’s most successful alumni will perform: violinist Giuseppe Gibboni, a student of Maestro Salvatore Accardo and winner of the Paganini 2021 Competition, and cellist Miriam Prandi, a student of maestros Rocco Filippini and Antonio Meneses, and a soloist that’s performed with some of the most important orchestras in the world..
Wednesday, 13 July, 9.00 pm
East meets West
A musical dialogue between East and West
The first concert will be held on Wednesday, July 13th in collaboration with the Morgenland Festival. Internationally renowned soloists and young musicians will guide the audience in a unique musical experience spanning East and West, from composed music to improvisation, taking listeners beyond cultural barriers.
Thursday, 14 July, 9.00 pm
Kayhan Kalhor & Friends
The legend of Persian music
The concert on Thursday, July 14th will feature a true, modern music legend: Kayhan Kalhor. Nominated for three Grammy Awards (and winner of one in 2017), Kayhan Kalhor is a Kurdish-Iranian virtuoso of the kamānche (spiked fiddle). Through his numerous international musical collaborations (including with cellist Yo-Yo Ma) he has contributed to making Persian music popular throughout the world, ennobling this fascinating traditional instrument. For the first time in Cremona, Kalhor will bring his distinctive creative force to the stage, making for a performance that no music lover will want to miss.
Friday 15 July, 9.00 pm
Strings Around the World
Aleksey Igudesman & Roby Lakatos in concert with
Gábor Ladányi (guitar), Vilmos Csikos (double bass)
and students of the Accademia Stauffer
The fifth concert of the festival sees Aleksey Igudesman, international star of the violin, in the limelight. Igudesman brings surprising technique and energy to his performances, mixing classical and popular music in such a way as to break down barriers between musical genres and styles. He’ll be accompanied by “Gypsy” violinist Roby Lakatos, an eclectic artist who spans genres from classical to jazz, and the students of their exciting “Strings Around the World” course.
Saturday, 16 July, 9.00 pm
Music beyond borders
Final concert
The festival will finish with a special concert that brings together all the artists of the Morgenland Campus and their students. The group will present a particularly exciting musical program, conceived during an intense week of workshops and masterclasses. A festival in every sense of the word, the Stauffer Summer Music Festival is a chance to celebrate the conclusion of an exciting academic season together with friends, supporters and music lovers.
HOW TO BOOK
Admission to the Stauffer Summer Music Festival is free upon reservation at the Eventbrite website: https://www.eventbrite.it/cc/stauffer-summer-music-festival-369459
To book the guided tour of Palazzo Stauffer, with FAI, before the concerts: https://bit.ly/3MrKFmW
