Michela Gerosa

Voices, Sounds, Generations 2026–2027 The new educational programs proposed for the upcoming school year by the Donizetti Theater Foundation for the younger generation   More than 20,000 young audience members were recorded last school year at the Donizetti Theater and the Teatro Sociale for the educational programs of the Donizetti Theater Foundation And for the new school year, an even more diverse lineup featuring opera, theater, jazz, and history, with new opportunities for the public young and families, for a total of over fifty events The Donizetti Theater Foundation presents its new program of “Voices, Sounds, Generations”, which includes educational programs designed for schools, teachers, families, and young people, created for the 2026–2027 school year around the festivals Donizetti Opera e Bergamo Jazz, to La Stagione dei Teatri and to Lezioni di Storia. During thethe 2025–2026 school year, the initiative attracted over 20,000 visitors, proving to be a project that strengthens dialogue with the educational community and expands opportunities to engage with theater, music, and the performing arts through experiences tailored to different age groups and levels of depth. It is precisely along these lines that the vision of theater as an educational tool serving teachers—the very audience for which Inside the Theater: Theater as a Tool for Peace—an educational initiative for teachers of today and tomorrow—which for the first time will take a cross-disciplinary approach to both spoken drama and opera. Furthermore, this edition unfolds Over two days, October 16 and 17, at the Donizetti Theater, in collaboration with the Local School District Office and the University of Bergamo. This is a concrete opportunity for cultural and educational enrichment through meetings, workshops, and immersive experiences, which will provide tools, content, and methodologies to bring into the classroom to guide students not only in discovering theater but also in reflecting on contemporary issues that society faces in everyday life. Music, opera, drama, and hands-on workshops intertwine in a program that centers theater as a space for connection, listening, and participation—one capable of fostering dialogue, respect, and peace. The Program “Voices, Sounds, Generations” returns for the 2026–2027 school year with a structure organized by target audience—preschools, elementary schools, high schools, young people, teachers, and families—and four main areas of activity: Donizetti Education, Il Cantiere del Teatro, History Lessons, and Let’s Meet Jazz, along with the following offerings Young, aimed at those under 30 and young adults under 40, and Family programs, designed to let you experience the theater with your parents, relatives, and friends. Created thanks to the initiative The Youth Club by Fondazione Cariplo, which aims to encourage the younger generation to engage with the performing arts. The program was specifically designed to help educators, young people, and families navigate the wide range of educational and training opportunities offered by the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti. The activities begin as early as October, as part of the Donizetti Opera 2026, and are organized into the following projects: Donizetti Education—interactive performances, workshops, guided tours, talks, and previews designed for every age group and

Following Fatoumata Diawara, who literally swept the audience off their feet with her explosive stage presence, the summer edition of Bergamo Jazz presents another charismatic female vocalist: Dee Dee Bridgewater. On Saturday, July 18 (9:30 p.m.; tickets from 30 to 40 euros), the great American singer will take the stage set up by the City of Bergamo at the Lazzaretto to present, exclusively for Northern Italy, her project “We Exist!.” She will be joined by three talented instrumentalists: pianist Alexis Lombre, bassist Rosa Brunello, and drummer Shirazette Tinnin. Dee Dee Bridgewater’s concert is organized in collaboration with A2A for Fondazione Banco dell’Energia: all proceeds from the evening will be donated to the philanthropic organization supported by A2A and its foundations—AEM, ASM, and LGH—which assists people in situations of economic and social vulnerability. Bergamo Jazz Estate 2026 is produced by the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti and the Associazione Amici del Festival Pianistico Internazionale di Bergamo, with the support of BCC Oglio e Serio. Dee Dee Bridgewater, whose previous concerts under the Bergamo Jazz banner at the Donizetti Theater date back to 1996 and 2005, has held the title of “queen of jazz singing” for decades: with“We Exist!”, she issues a rallying cry through songs that are not merely melodies with socially conscious lyrics, but true musical manifestos, conveying messages accessible to everyone thanks to the magnetic personality of a legend who transcends the world of jazz. The project features songs such as Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” Gene McDaniels’ “Compared to What,” James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good),” Bob Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody,” and other songs that defined the 20th century yet remain as relevant as ever. A winner of three Grammy Awards and a Tony Award for Best Actress, Dee Dee Bridgewater was born in Memphis as Denise Eileen Garrett; she later took the surname of trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, whom she married in the early 1970s. Her first forays into the “big leagues” of jazz also date back to that period, with the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Orchestra, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Sonny Rollins. But Dee Dee’s full artistic maturation took place during the 1980s, after she moved to France. In addition to refining her jazz performances, she dabbled in pop music, thereby forging a strong bond with her audience that has never wavered since. In Italy, in particular, she won over the general public thanks to her duet with Ray Charles at the 1989 Sanremo Festival and her victory—also at Sanremo—in 1990, performing alongside the Pooh. In recent decades, the singer has focused on projects that have, in turn, highlighted and brought out the various nuances of her voice—from the French chansons of *J'ai deux amours* (2005) to the Malian music of *Red Earth* (2007), from her exploration of Billie Holiday’s repertoire, Eleanora Fagan (2010), to the tributes to New Orleans and Memphis in *Dee Dee’s Feathers* (2015) and Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready (2017). *We Exist! * reaffirms the versatility, authenticity, and authority of

On Saturday, July 11, at 5:00 p.m. in the “Gavazzeni” Foyer of the Donizetti Theater, the fifth edition of *Il Centro della Musica*—a festival organized by the Donizetti Theater Foundation in collaboration with the Department of Social Policies of the City of Bergamo—will come to a close. The concert’s guests will include Gianluigi Trovesi, the most internationally renowned of Bergamo’s jazz musicians; the Gruppo Fiati Musica Aperta (Giovanni Perico on flute, Giuseppe Cattaneo on English horn, Roberto Bergamelli on bass clarinet, Ugo Gelmi on bassoon, and Roger Rota on bassoon and alto saxophone), and cellist Marco Remondini, a regular collaborator of the Nembro-based musician. The concert is titled Playing with Notes and is based on an idea by Pieralberto Cattaneo, director of the Gruppo Fiati Musica Aperta, who conceived it as an encounter between music and words: on one hand, there is a text written by Marco Buscarino; on the other, music composed by Pieralberto Cattaneo himself—pieces that, at first glance, appear complete but are deliberately left unfinished, lacking a final touch. All of this is done in the spirit of curiosity and play, as if someone, picking up the lost sheets of paper, were to attune themselves to the text and try to complete it by adapting their own imagination to what they’ve found, leading to outcomes that are unpredictable each time. In this way, spaces for improvisation are opened up: the compositions under scrutiny draw inspiration from musical situations of the past—Renaissance villanelles, Gesualdo’s madrigals, and Puccini’s arias. The result resembles a game of mirrors—multiplied and diffused. Pieralberto Cattaneo recounts: “Gianluigi Trovesi and I share the same musical roots—the rooms on Via Arena, where the Conservatory was located (which is what we called it even before it officially bore that name)—and we were both aware of the value of the education provided there. Then each of us followed our own inclinations, seeking out the paths that suited us best. The idea of coming together again on the same musical path is a recent one: ‘Let’s see what happens,’ we said to each other, because the challenge—difficult but very stimulating—was to combine rigorous composition with the freedom of improvisation. It’s also worth noting that all the pieces in the new project draw inspiration from composers of the past: a form of reinterpretation that, over the years, both Gianluigi and I have carried out in many different ways.”

Fatoumata Diawara, Thursday, July 2, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Saturday, July 18, two great women, two great voices: Bergamo Jazz returns to the Lazzaretto in the name of female musicianship that carries strong messages that are more relevant and necessary today than ever before. Organized by Fondazione Teatro Donizetti with theBergamo Association of Friends of the International Piano Festival, with support from BCC Oglio e Serio and, for Dee Dee Bridgewater's concert, A2A, the two events are among the summer events promoted at Lazzaretto by the Bergamo City CouncilCulture Department . The series kicks off on Thursday, July 2 (9:30 p.m.; tickets 30 and 40 euros) with one of the most intense, powerful, and visionary voices on today’s African music scene and in the international world music scene: Fatoumata Diawara will present her new, just-released album, *Massa*, accompanied by her band featuring Jurandir Da Silva Santana on guitar, Fernando Javier Tejero Velez on keyboards, Juan Finger on electric bass, and William Ombe Monkama on drums. In *Massa*, Fatoumata Diawara’s most personal work to date and her first since *London Ko* (2023), the Malian singer and guitarist tackles themes such as motherhood, faith, memory, and the ability to transform difficulties into new awareness, weaving personal experiences and reflections on society’s fragilities into a story with universal resonance. Through the songs on the album, Fatoumata Diawara invites listeners from all walks of life to embrace gratitude and recognize destiny as an inevitable part of the human journey. Musically, *Massa* expands Fatoumata Diawara’s sonic universe, weaving Malian tradition with contemporary sounds under the artistic direction of French pop icon -M-, striking a balance between roots and experimentation. “This album carries something personal—a part of me, of my life, of my family, and of my emotions—as I turn forty-three and try to balance my career as an artist with my role as a mother of two,” says Fatoumata Diawara herself. “I address the ills plaguing our society: the deterioration of human relationships, betrayal, disappointment, and jealousy—so often present in polygamous families. With these songs, full of wisdom and advice, I invite people—rich and poor alike—to appreciate life and not to complain all the time, because no one can escape their destiny. And for this, I thank the Almighty, the one who made it all possible. In this album, I also pay tribute to my late father, who always surrounded me with a love that I continue to feel even after his death.”

The fifth edition of Il Centro della Musica, an event promoted by the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti in collaboration with the Assessorato alle Politiche Sociali del Comune di Bergamo, is drawing to a close, not before offering two more appointments, the first of which will take place on Saturday, July 4, in the Ridotto "Gavazzeni" of the Teatro Donizetti (5 p.m.), starring Ensemble Locatelli. On the occasion, the Bergamo-based baroque music ensemble conducted by Thomas Chigioni will host the Dutch flutist Teun Wisse, a virtuoso of the recorder, an instrument that will be the main theme of the same concert, entitled Flautissimo. In a program devoted to recorder concertos, the name of Antonio Vivaldi is an inescapable reference: the author of an impressive number of concertos, far beyond the famous Four Seasons, Vivaldi shaped a language that profoundly marked eighteenth-century Europe. Vivaldi's "La Notte" recorder concerto in G minor RV 439 and recorder concerto in C minor RV 441 will be heard. In addition to the "Red Priest," composers such as Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Friedrich Fasch and Giovanni Battista Sammartini were able to offer original and refined interpretations of the concerto form, in an extraordinary variety of styles and formal solutions. It is perhaps surprising that it is precisely the recorder, often considered an instrument with a limited repertoire, that has been the vehicle for such a rich and international production, capable of reflecting diverse national identities and at the same time an authentically European spirit, even verging on the galante style. Ensemble Locatelli's concert thus aims to highlight, together, the concerto as a musical form and the recorder as a solo instrument, revealing its expressive breadth and vitality. Also central to the project is the theme of cultural exchange between Italy and the Netherlands: many of Vivaldi's works were published in Amsterdam in the early eighteenth century by the famous publisher Estienne Roger, spreading rapidly throughout Europe and profoundly influencing the musical taste of the time. More than three hundred years later, this ideal dialogue is renewed in the encounter between flutist Teun Wisse and Ensemble Locatelli, an artistic partnership born from a shared passion for this repertoire and matured through concerts in several European countries, culminating in a program designed to celebrate Vivaldi and the immediate and communicative pleasure of a music that, then as now, lives on energy, exchange and shared joy.

The fifth edition of Il Centro della Musica, an event promoted by the Donizetti Theater Foundation in collaboration with the Department of Social Policies of the City of Bergamo, continues on Saturday, June 27, in the "Gavazzeni" Ridotto of the Donizetti Theater (5 p.m.) with an appointment dedicated to the encounter between jazz and Italian songwriting entitled From Be To Pops. Offering it will be a sextet led by pianist Claudio Angeleri, one of the most representative exponents of Bergamasque jazz and heart and soul of the Centro Didattico Produzione Musica, and including vocalist Paola Milzani, saxophonist Gabriele Comeglio, guitarist Michele Gentilini, bassist Marco Esposito and drummer Matteo Milesi. An auteur concert could be called From Be To Pops: in fact, on the program are famous songs written by some of Italy's great songwriters, from Gino Paoli ("Una lunga storia d'amore") to Fabio Concato ("Se non fosse per la musica"), from Bruno Martino ("Estate") to Pino Donaggio ("Io che non vivo"), and made famous over the years by national and international performers such as Mina, Ornella Vanoni, Joao Gilberto Gil, and Elvis Presley. Extraordinary melodies that have become evergreens that have crossed styles and oceans, thanks to versions by Michel Petrucciani, Toots Thielemans, Mike Stern, Chet Baker. The trait d ' union is improvisation, through which jazz has been able to metabolize music and cultures from all over the world. With this spirit Claudio Angeleri has created an original project, involving his longest-running group, formed in 2001 for a record that was favorably received by industry critics. The arrangements keep faith with the recognizability of the melodic lines, while introducing original elements characteristic of Claudio Angeleri's pen, now more pop and funk, now more bebop and bluesy. From Be To Pops is a crossover project that years ago, during the "Notti di Luce" festival, had involved, thanks to Gabriele Comeglio's big band, the same authors themselves: Fabio Concato, Gino Paoli, Ron, Lucio Dalla and Roby Facchinetti.

It is entitled, with a touch of charm, Un siècle en rose the fifth concert of the new edition of Il Centro della Musica, an event promoted by the Donizetti Theater Foundation in collaboration with the Department of Social Policies of the City of Bergamo. The concert, scheduled for Saturday, June 20, in the Ridotto "Gavazzeni" of the Donizetti Theater (5 p.m.) and organized in partnership with the Bergamo Quartet Society, will in fact be in the groove of female musicality and will feature violinist Agnese Ferraro and pianist Monica Cattarossi, the creators of a musical dialogue marked by rigor and interpretative sensitivity. Un siècle en rose promises a journey through French music between the 19th and 20th centuries, built around the voices of some of Europe's most significant female composers, who have long remained on the margins of the repertoire and are now increasingly recognized in their originality and expressive force. The program juxtaposes pages written between 1850 and 1951, restoring the variety of languages and sensibilities that spanned a century of profound change. From the formal and luminous solidity of Louise Farrenc's Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 39, to the brilliance of Cécile Chaminade's Capriccio Op. 18, to the evocative and iridescent writing of Lili Boulanger, with its soundscapes suspended between impression and movement. The course finds a synthesis in the Second Sonata for Violin and Piano by Germaine Tailleferre, the sole composer of the Groupe des Six, in which elegance, clarity and a modern spirit come together in essential and lively writing. A concert that is both rediscovery and restitution: not an "alternative" repertoire, but an indispensable part of European musical history, capable of speaking with freshness and intensity to the present.   Agnese Ferraro graduated with Piero Toso from the "C. Pollini" Conservatory in Padua, specializing at the "Mozarteum" in Salzburg with Yair Kless and later at the Hochschule fur Musik "H. Eisler" in Berlin. Winner of several national and international competitions, she began her valuable relationship with the international music world at the age of sixteen, winning auditions to be part of the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchesterakademie, the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester and the European Union Youth Orchestra, playing under the direction of Lorin Maazel, Semyon Bychkov, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, Daniele Gatti, Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa and Vladimir Ashkenazy. She was first violinist at the Academy of the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra working under Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Yuri Temirkanov, among others, and, at the invitation of Claudio Abbado, she participated in the Academy of the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester as concertmaster. For several years he served as First violin soloist of the Strawinsky Chamber Orchestra. In 2005, she won the competition to join the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra on a permanent basis, for which in 2014's Don Quixote she was First violin backing violin and in 2015's Cinderella solo violin onstage. She routinely performs at major festivals in Italy and abroad as solo violinist or together with chamber ensembles. Monica Cattarossi

On Saturday, June 13, in the "Gavazzeni" Ridotto of the Donizetti Theater (5 p.m.), the fifth edition of Il Centro della Musica, an event promoted by the Donizetti Theater Foundation in collaboration with the Bergamo City Council's Social Policies Department, reaches its halfway point. The star of the concert will be the Mascoulisse Quartet, a trombone-only quartet emanating from the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra that fields Stefano Belotti (bass trombone), Alberto Pedretti (tenor trombone and arrangements), Fabio De Cataldo (alto and tenor trombone), and Antonio Mascherpa (alto and tenor trombone). To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Mascoulisse Quartet presents on this occasion a project entirely dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi, entitled "Verdi 1901," approached with a historical and deeply musical gaze. Indeed, the quartet plays original instruments from Verdi's time, restoring to the audience the Italian sound of the 19th century: warm, enveloping, textural. A sound that does not push, but tells. That does not overpower, but supports. A sound that comes from the natural breath of the instruments and their ability to sing. It is a journey inside a fascinating timbral palette of balance, depth and song. A plunge into a world of sound where every note has weight, color and soul; where music is never pure surface, but living matter that vibrates and is transmitted naturally. The "Verdi 1901" project starts with a simple and powerful question: what remained of Verdi's sound after his passing? The answer lies in the music itself, which has never remained silent. It just kept breathing, transforming, crossing time, but keeping its narrative and emotional power intact. The program runs through some of the most celebrated pages of Verdi's theater, reinterpreted through the chamber language and historical sensibility of the quartet, Rigoletto, Nabucco, La Traviata.

It lies at the intersection of classical and jazz in the third appointment with the fifth edition of Il Centro della Musica, an event promoted by the Donizetti Theater Foundation in collaboration with the Bergamo City Council's Social Policies Department. Saturday, June 6 (5 p.m.) is in fact scheduled in the "Gavazzeni" Ridotto of the Donizetti Theater a concert entitled Le mezze stagioni, in which excerpts from Antonio Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons will be juxtaposed with jazz standards, in a unique, fascinating mix of sounds and colors. It will feature theOFI Jazz Acoustic String, one of the many emanations of the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, a longtime partner of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti. Creator of the project is violinist Cesare Carretta, as well as arranger and solo violinist, joined on the occasion by Silvia Maffeis (violin), Matteo Del Soldà (viola), Nicolò Nigrelli (cello), Nicola Ziliani (double bass) and Federico Negri (drums). The narrative thread of the concert follows the cycle of the seasons, understood not only as a natural phenomenon but as a metaphor for loves and the human condition. A journey that reflects the parable of life: every end already contains a new beginning. In Spring , Afro rhythms accompany the birdsong evoked by Vivaldi, while the melancholy of I'll Remember April intertwines with the lightness and swinging joy of Smile, It's Spring. InSummer the sudden fury of Vivaldi's storm is joined by the tale of an African American singing about his plight in Caesar's Blues, finally finding refuge in Summertime. In Autumn , the harvest festival described by Vivaldi meets the colors and rhythms of a cosmopolitan city in Autumn in New York, to the sweet melancholy of a fading love in Autumn Leaves. Finally,Winter opens with the Adagio from Vivaldi'sWinter , then runs through a selection of Christmas carols reinterpreted in an engaging swing rhythm, between intimacy and celebration. Cesare Carretta has always ranged across musical genres, from classical to jazz to pop. He is First Shoulder Violin and Soloist in the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, as well as First of the Second Violins in the Fondazione Arena di Verona. In the field jazz is soloist and founder of the Jazz Acoustic String and First Shoulder Violin of the Italian Jazz Orchestra. He has collaborated with leading figures on the Italian jazz scene including Enrico Rava, Enrico Pieranunzi, Paolo Fresu and Fabrizio Bosso. In pop he has recorded records for the likes of Mina, Celentano, Dalla, Renato Zero, Zucchero and Vasco Rossi.

The Donizetti Theater Foundation, with the City of Bergamo, announces the Prose Season and Altri Percorsi 2026|2027, the backbone of the Theater Season, whose full playbill also includes Operetta, Opera&Concerts and other events: a rich and articulated program that will run at the Donizetti Theater and Teatro Sociale over six months, from December 2026 to May 2027. There are seven titles in the Prose Season, for eight performances per show, and as many in Other Paths. Sergio Gandi, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Culture, brings greetings from the Municipal Administration of Bergamo: "The Season of Prose and Other Paths has always been one of the cornerstones of our city's cultural offerings. This is thanks to artistic choices of absolute quality, reflecting the complexity of national theater production and beyond. Bergamo is itself a city that explores different areas of expression - from music to cinema, from visual arts to dance to spoken word theater precisely - marrying an awareness of tradition with current events. The proposals of the upcoming Season also go in this direction and are confirmed as a vehicle for a dialogue between past, present and future." George Berta, President of the Donizetti Theater Foundation, stresses the importance of the Prose Season and Other Paths also with a view to the involvement of young people, and takes the opportunity to thank those who work for the success of all the activities of the same Foundation: "In reiterating the centrality among our proposals of the Prose Season and Other Paths, it is also relevant to emphasize our role in bringing young people closer to the theater and culture more generally. In this perspective, the work of the Artistic Direction, which aims to involve the world of youth with special initiatives, as well as to offer high quality performances to the public, fits fully into this perspective. Also for this aspect, thanks are due to all those, both public and private partners, who support us in order to make our activities more and more incisive." Massimo Boffelli, General Director of the Donizetti Theatre Foundation, takes his cue from the success of the 2025|2026 Season: "In presenting the upcoming Prose and Other Paths Season, we cannot but start from the data of the season that has just ended: 51,706 total admissions for Prose - 5,763 subscriptions - and over 7,000 for Other Paths. These are significant, important numbers that confirm the success of audiences and once again attest to our driving force involving spectators of various age groups. We do not want to err on the side of presumption, but these are figures that few other theaters nationwide can count today, even in cities with a numerically larger population than Bergamo. The Season of Prose and Other Paths therefore plays a prominent role in our programming, as well as in the hearts of the people of Bergamo, showing its identity in a composite framework that includes two festivals of international scope, Donizetti Opera and Bergamo Jazz, the review Lezioni di Storia,