Verucchio Festival: Taking Root Through Radical Freedom
12.07.2021, by Giacomo Luperini
Now in its thirty-seventh year, the Verucchio music festival continues to surprise us, exploring the wide realm of music in depth and with total artistic freedom
After thirty-six years of activity, the simple yet effective idea at the root of the Verucchio festival is now abundantly clear: high-quality live performances designed to experiment and explore in depth the wide palette of musical genres worldwide. A true avant-garde festival focusing on the music of the future, a cultural institution rooted in the splendid medieval landscape of Verucchio, which the Italian Touring Club included in its list of the “most beautiful villages of Italy”.
As Verucchio mayor Stefania Sabba explained:
Our Music Festival has become a deeply-rooted tradition for our town and our local community. Its scope is not only local, but national and even international, and strong enough to survive even through a global pandemic such as the one we have unfortunately been experiencing for the past year and a half. The festival’s curtain first rose in 1985, 36 years ago, and its 37th edition confirms the maturity of a Festival that has managed to shun every label and definition, save for that of its absolute “musical freedom”. Over the course of the years, the festival has experienced a thousand genres and found nourishment in different contaminations, growing and taking root without radically committing to any of them in particular: it embraces them all, flirts with them all, but marries none, finding its biggest strength in its freedom.
Participation to this year’s six concerts, confirming once again the innovative and eclectic spirit of the festival, will be by mandatory booking only, in order to ensure a safe and secure enjoyment of each performance. All concerts will start at 9.30 PM in Piazza Battaglini, in front of the Chiesa Collegiata, and ticket bookings are already open on the festival’s official website as well as on the Ticketone, Mailticket and Vivaticket platforms. Let’s have a closer look at the music on offer, hand-picked by Ponderosa Music & Art:
We begin on Friday, July 23rd, with Paolo Fresu and Daniele Di Bonaventura. The duo, who solidified their partnership with their first exceptional collaboration Mistico Mediterraneo, will engage Paolo’s trumpet and flugelhorn and Daniele’s bandoneon in an intense poetical dialogue with Corsican vocal ensemble A Fileta.
On Saturday, July 24th, the stage will belong to Sergio Cammariere. Now at his eleventh studio album, this singer-songwriter capable of ranging from jazz to pop and classical music will perform sophisticated songs and instrumental tracks from his latest effort “Piano Nudo”.
Sunday, July 25th, will offer one last evening of great international jazz in the company of the Kenny Barron All Star Quartet. The well-known Philadelphia pianist, together with vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Johnathan Blake, will regale us with an evening of jazz ranging from reinterpretations of great standard classics to new compositions from his latest album Without Deception.
On Wednesday, July 28th, eclectic singer-songwriter Lucio Corsi will take to the stage, together with his super band (including Marco Ronconi on drums, Filippo Scandroglio on the guitar, Iacopo Nieri on the piano, Giulio Grillo on the keyboards, Tommaso Cardelli on the bass). An evening devoted to the hard-to-label sounds of his latest record Cosa Faremo Da Grandi, expertly merging rock, blues, pop and glam influences linked by a dreamy, surprising common thread.
On Thursday, July 29th, Andrea Appino, Karim Qqru, Massimiliano “Ufo” Schiavelli and Francesco Pellegrini, AKA The Zen Circus, will perform an acoustic version of their fierce hits as part of their live tour L’ultima Casa Accogliente.
Finally, on July 31st, the festival’s closing show will be entrusted to the young, award-winning singer-songwriter Fulminacci, slated to perform tracks from his latest album Tante Care Cose as well as from his successful debut La Vita Veramente.
Thirty-six years from its creation, the Verucchio Festival continues to surprise us, and we cannot wait to witness its further evolution.
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