Michela Gerosa

In September, it's traditionally back to school, and for young aspiring actresses and actors, it's time to join Progetto Young, the established training workshop promoted by the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, strongly supported by Maria Grazia Panigada, Artistic Director of the Prose and Other Paths Season, and curated by director Fabio Comana. The workshop is aimed, as usual, at young people aged between 18 and 26, with at least 2 years of basic theatrical training and a propensity for group work. To participate, candidates must fill out the appropriate form, attaching their resume from September 8 until September 22 at 12:00 PM: https://forms.gle/GC5TeFW7urHvLQuSA. The following week, specifically on October 8 and 9 from 5 PM to 8 PM, those who have passed the selection based on their resume will be invited to participate in a second selection consisting of a collective practical test, in seminar form. The workshop, which will be conducted by Fabio Comana himself and will take place at the "Benvenuto Cuminetti" rehearsal room of the Teatro Donizetti, will allow, through a series of exercises, improvisations, and text interpretations, a more direct and in-depth understanding of the technical and human characteristics of the participants. From this second selection, the group of actors and actresses for the Young 2025-2026 project will be formed, which will include some of the outgoing students from the previous year and the newly selected students. Participation in the workshop, which will take place from October 2025 to June 2026, requires a registration fee of 300 Euros, which can be paid in a single installment before the start or in two installments (first installment in October 2025 and second installment in January 2026). Attendance is mandatory. The goal of Progetto Young is to contribute to guiding young people towards an advanced acting career, but also and above all to encourage a vision as open as possible to the future of theatrical art, to provide a series of elements for each person to invent and experiment with their own idea of theater: an essential condition for the renewal of languages and the evolution of a theater capable of speaking to this ever-changing society. The training of actors and actresses has from the beginning aimed to give back to the city the fruit of their creativity, actively and recognizably participating in some significant events of the city's cultural life. An indispensable element for the training of young students will be the shared viewing of scheduled shows and participation in meetings with guest artists of the Prose and Other Paths season of the Teatro Donizetti and with other theater professionals. "For the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, Progetto Young represents a concrete way to bring young people closer to theatrical life, beyond the viewing of the shows offered during our Seasons," comments Massimo Boffelli, General Director of the Foundation, "The Teatro Donizetti, and with it the Sociale of Città Alta, is the home of the people of Bergamo and even more so it must be for the new generations, also through

Alessandro Barbero will return on Monday, December 15 to Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo (6:30 PM) to present his new book about Saint Francis. This special event is organized by the Teatro Donizetti Foundation in collaboration with Editori Laterza and is supported by Intesa Sanpaolo, BCC Oglio e Serio, and Sitip Spa. Advance tickets available from Wednesday, July 23 at the Teatro Donizetti Box Office and online through Vivaticket. Tickets cost 15 euros. "We are delighted to announce the return of Alessandro Barbero to our theater, one of the most significant figures in Italian culture in recent years, a scholar and educator who can communicate great historical events and figures like no other" - comments Massimo Boffelli, General Director of the Teatro Donizetti Foundation - "Barbero was a hugely successful protagonist of the first edition of History Lectures in 2024, and having him back with us for a special event, thanks to our well-established partnership with Editori Laterza, has special significance in reaffirming the importance and value of our cultural offerings." During the “meeting, Alessandro Barbero will explore the many versions of Saint Francis's life that have come down to us. Who was Francis of” Assisi? Was he the person described in the biographies written by friars who “knew him personally, or the one portrayed in Bonaventure of Bagnoregio's biography written forty years after his death, or the one described in other texts that were discovered after they had been made to disappear? Barbero will show us the” intricate hall of mirrors that has multiplied, fragmented, and ultimately constructed the story of the saint we all think we know. Tickets Single seat €15.00 Sales begin: July 23, 2025, 4:00 PM At TEATRO DONIZETTI Piazza Cavour, 15 - Bergamo Tel. 035.4160 601/602/603 Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM (excluding holidays) On event days: one and a “half hours before the start” ONLINE teatrodonizetti.vivaticket.it For more information, visit www.teatrodonizetti.it

Applications can be submitted until September 2: Required age between 25 and 45 years old and proven theatrical experience The complete text of the call is available at the following link: https://trasparenza.teatrodonizetti.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/FTD-DO25-CATERINA-CORNARO-Bando-selezione-figuranti.pdf New opportunity to work with the Donizetti Theatre Foundation: a casting call is open to select four male extras aged between 25 and 45 for the new production of the opera Caterina Cornaro by Gaetano Donizetti, to be performed at the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo as part of the Donizetti Opera 2025. The production, scheduled for November 14, 22, and 30, will be directed by Francesco Micheli, with musical direction by Riccardo Frizza and the participation of the Donizetti Opera Orchestra and the Teatro alla Scala Academy Choir. For this production, we are looking for male performers of any nationality, with average build (height between 175 and 185 cm, size from 46 to 54) and at least some proven theatrical experience, as well as full availability during rehearsal days, from October 13 to November 11, and performance dates. Applications must be received no later than Tuesday, September 2, 2025 via email at selezione@fondazioneteatrodonizetti.org, complete with all attachments required by the call, which can be found in the Transparent Administration area of the Foundation's website at https://trasparenza.teatrodonizetti.it/documentazione/bandi-aperti/ By Monday, September 8, audition invitations will be sent out for selections scheduled for Thursday, September 11 2025 in the presence of the opera's director and their collaborators, at one of the Donizetti Theatre Foundation venues in Bergamo.

It's “time for Herbie Hancock: for the” last of the three concerts at Lazzaretto, the “summer edition of Bergamo Jazz will bid farewell, on Friday, July 18 (9:30 PM), to the” highly anticipated return to the city, after over 50 years, of one of the brightest stars in the global music firmament. The renowned American pianist and keyboardist will perform leading a band including trumpeter Terence Blanchard, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist James Genus, and drummer Jaylen Petinaud, all musicians of proven talent. The “event, organized by the Donizetti Theater Foundation and the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Filippo Siebaneck's passing, is supported by BCC Milano and is part of the series of events at Lazzaretto promoted by the” Department of Culture of the City of Bergamo. Eighty-five years old and not feeling it, 14 Grammy Awards, a vast discography that has always transcended styles and genres, prestigious collaborations, soundtracks for important films: all this and more makes Herbie Hancock one of the most representative artists of over 60 years of modern music history, a true living legend, a free spirit who, with his music, or rather his many musics, has indelibly marked the sonic imagination from the 1960s onwards. His concert on March 17, 1972, at the Donizetti Theater is rightfully included in the annals of Bergamo's jazz festival: at the time, thirty-two years old, Herbie Hancock won over the audience with the electrifying electroacoustic blend of his Mwandishi sextet, performing during the festival's opening night alongside trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester, saxophonist and clarinetist Bennie Maupin, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Billy Hart. Just this past March, for Bergamo Jazz 2025, Eddie Henderson and Billy Hart returned to the Donizetti stage as members of The Cookers. Born in Chicago in 1940, Herbie Hancock was the typical child prodigy: at just 11 years old, he played a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He approached jazz by listening to two very different pianists, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. His first engagement that brought him into the spotlight was in 1960 with Donald Byrd. In 1963, he recorded his first album for Blue Note, Takin' Off, which includes what would become one of his biggest hits, "Watermelon Man". Other albums for Blue Note followed (Maiden Voyage and Speak Like a Child among others), but most importantly, he joined Miles Davis's quintet, completed by Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and a very young Tony Williams on drums. With Davis, Herbie Hancock would also share the electric visions of the late 1960s, participating in epochal albums like In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Drawing from Davis's lesson, Hancock would also explore electric and then electronic sounds on his own with the Mwandishi sextet and then with the Headhunters, embracing the cause of funk jazz with the latter and considerably increasing his popularity. His return to acoustic jazz wouldn't prevent him from venturing into hip hop in 1983 with the album Future Shock,

The summer edition of Bergamo Jazz at the Lazzaretto, organized to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Filippo Siebaneck's passing by the Teatro Donizetti Foundation and the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, in collaboration with the Municipality of Bergamo and with the support of BCC Milano, continues with another appointment of absolute importance. After the performance by Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano and Jan Lundgren's Mare Nostrum trio, which was crowned with great public success, Thursday, July 10 (9:30 PM; tickets from 25 to 40 Euros) features the concert by Kurt Elling, the most acclaimed of today's jazz singers, who, together with the Yellowjackets, one of the most iconic bands in the jazz-fusion area, will retrace the legendary musical exploits of Weather Report on this special occasion. It will be a concert-event with the explicit title “Celebrate Weather Report”, featuring Kurt Elling's brilliant baritone timbre and his prodigious ability to improvise on any melody, and the formidable technical expertise of saxophonist Bob Mintzer, keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bassist Dane Alderson and drummer William Kennedy. Together they will approach Weather Report's music – especially from the period when Jaco Pastorius was in the group – with due respect, but taking those liberties worthy of every true jazz musician, infusing new nuances into pieces now considered classics. Kurt Elling is today's embodiment of the most authentic male jazz singing. Winner of two Grammy Awards, for which he has been nominated 16 times, the Chicago vocalist possesses such a variety of colors that he fears no rivals in his field, leading him to be defined as a "Sinatra with superpowers." Perfectly at ease with fast tempos and particular stylistic techniques such as vocalese, Kurt Elling also knows how to be a refined interpreter, displaying elegance and a palpable poetic sense. The Yellowjackets are one of the most renowned brands of what is commonly called fusion-music. Formed in the late seventies by guitarist Robben Ford, who would soon go solo, the Yellowjackets still base their foundation on one of the founding members, keyboardist Russell Ferrante, who has been joined along the way by saxophonist Bob Mintzer, drummer William Kennedy and, more recently, Australian bassist Dane Alderson. With over 25 albums behind them, the "yellow jackets" are a perfectly oiled musical machine in all its gears, still capable of challenging themselves and charting new sonic trajectories. Founded in 1971 by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Joe Zawinul and Czech-born double bassist Miroslav Vitous, riding the wave of Miles Davis's revolutionary electric turn in the preceding years, Weather Report remains a cornerstone in jazz's expressive evolution at the crossroads with other musical genres, including the most sophisticated pop. The entry of phenomenal bassist Jaco Pastorius into the group's ranks would bring Weather Report to levels of popularity typical of a rock band.   For the last of the three concerts at the Lazzaretto, Bergamo Jazz will welcome back to the city on Friday, July 18, after over 50 years, Herbie Hancock, one of the brightest stars in the

BERGAMO JAZZ SUMMER 2025 @LAZZARETTO Concert on Friday, June 27, 2025, at 9:30 PM with Mare Nostrum Paolo Fresu/Richard Galliano/Jan Lundgren   Three extraordinary concerts of international scope that are added to the usual Bergamo Jazz programming in March, three special events organized as part of the summer initiative promoted at the Lazzaretto by the Department of Culture of the City of Bergamo: Fondazione Teatro Donizetti and Bergamo Jazz, together with the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, with the support of BCC Milano, will bring highly prestigious artists to the Lazzaretto who reflect the long tradition of two of the most important music festivals not only in the city. It begins on Friday, June 27 with an authentic supertrio that bears the “name of Mare Nostrum and which aligns the trumpet of Paolo Fresu, one of the most beloved Italian jazz musicians, even” abroad, the masterful accordion of the Frenchman Richard Galliano and the piano of the Swede Jan Lundgren, a refined specialist of the 88 keys. Mare Nostrum was born in 2005 from the “encounter between three strong personalities of European jazz: at the” beginning it was an experiment whose success pushed Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano and Jan Lundgren to continue on the path of “original fusion between different influences, from folk music to classical, from French” songwriting to jazz. All with the Mediterranean Sea in the background, which has always been a crossroads of cultures, of ancient and modern stories, a symbol of dialogue between peoples, but also of terrible tragedies that one would like to put behind but which are unfortunately still relevant today. The Mare Nostrum designed by Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano and Jan Lundgren is a sea of sounds, a utopia of beauty in which each of the three musicians is reflected, putting their respective wealth of experiences at the service of a common musical and poetic vision. Since 2007, the group has produced four albums, all for the “German label ACT Music, the” last of which includes a touching reinterpretation of “La vie en rose” and “Hope”, an anthem to hope that the trio dedicates to a world that needs today more than ever the values of dialogue and inclusion that Mare Nostrum has always advocated. Paolo Fresu has been an institution of Italian jazz for the last three decades. As a leader and sideman, he has participated in over 350 recordings, released by various labels, from Splasc(h) to Blue Note, from ECM to Act. Richard Galliano is a unique innovator of the accordion and a singular voice of his instrument. Encouraged by Astor Piazzolla, he created the New Musette, a personal version of traditional French music, which has become one of his trademarks. He has recorded more than 50 solo albums in jazz, classical music, and various musical styles from around the world. His impressive list of collaborations includes artists such as Chet Baker, Eddy Louiss, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Serge Reggiani, Claude Nougaro, Barbara, Juliette Greco, Nigel Kennedy, Enrico Rava

On Saturday, July 5th (5 PM), in the “Gavazzeni” Foyer of the Teatro Donizetti, the “final event of The Center of Music is scheduled, a series organized by the Teatro Donizetti Foundation in collaboration with the” Department of Social Policies of the Municipality of Bergamo. The “Ensemble Locatelli, a group specialized in baroque music, will close the series of six concerts, with a tribute to the music of Alessandro Scarlatti, marking the 300th anniversary of his death this” year. Love in the Moonlight, the title given to the concert, is an invitation to be enveloped by beauty, to reflect on the power of “love and on the” eternal dialogue between humanity and the divine. The performance will feature talented interpreters, accompanied by original instruments that will restore all the sonic purity of Italian baroque. The “intimacy of the voices and the warmth of the strings will frame a narrative where” musical art meets the magic of myth. At the center of the program will be the serenade "Diana and Endymion," one of the hidden gems of the baroque repertoire. This masterpiece, inspired by the classical myth of the love between the moon goddess and the young shepherd, unfolds through suspended emotions and haunting melodies that evoke the mystery and poetry of the night. Alessandro Scarlatti, an unsurpassed master of expressiveness and theatricality, guides us through the torment and ecstasy of a divine love, delivering a work imbued with grace and depth.

Jazz is the protagonist of the penultimate appointment with The Center of Music, a series organized by the Donizetti Theater Foundation in collaboration with the "Department of Social Policies of the Municipality of Bergamo. On Saturday, June 28 (5 pm), the concert of the quartet led by saxophonist Gabriele Comeglio is scheduled in the ‘Gavazzeni’ Foyer of the Donizetti Theater, joined on this occasion by pianist Claudio Angeleri, bassist Marco Esposito, and drummer Federico Monti." Just over 100 years after his birth and 70 years after his passing, Gabriele Comeglio has created a tribute to Charlie Parker, titled Bird Lives, which musically narrates the wandering and chaotic life of Charlie Parker: the inventor of bebop, along with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. An atypical figure on the jazz scene, Bird managed to revolutionize it with the new language of bebop, which would make him immortal. Shortly after his premature death in 1955, the phrase "Bird lives" would appear on several walls in New York's Greenwich Village. The program proposed by Gabriele Comeglio's quartet for The Center of Music features famous compositions that made the Kansas City saxophonist famous, from Scrapple from the apple to Dizzy Gillespie's A Night in Tunisia, from Lover Man and My Little Suede Shoes to Now's the time. Saxophonist, arranger, and orchestra conductor, Gabriele Comeglio was the first alto sax of the RAI Orchestra in Milan for thirteen years, as well as the director of the Jazz Class Orchestra of Pomeriggi Musicali. With his big band, the Jazz Company, he has participated in numerous concert seasons and collaborated with artists of the caliber of Bob Mintzer, Jerry Bergonzi, Randy Brecker, and Franco Ambrosetti, among others. He has composed music for successful television programs, written scores for theater, musicals, and ballet, and has also conducted the Sanremo Festival orchestra and the Swiss Radio orchestra, collaborating on albums by Zucchero and Francesco De Gregori. He created the television theme for "Che tempo che fa" and wrote arrangements for Mina, Antonacci, Ron, and Battiato. Recently, the Dodicilune label has released the CD The Journey, a testament to a long artistic journey, made up of numerous and memorable encounters with great figures of Italian, European, and overseas jazz. The “final appointment with The Center of Music will take place on Saturday, July 5, and, thanks to the” Ensemble Locatelli, will offer a dive into the music of Alessandro Scarlatti.

Music with a smile on your lips: this is somewhat the premise of the fourth event of The Center of Music, a series organized by the Teatro Donizetti Foundation in collaboration with the Department of Social Policies of the Municipality of Bergamo. The concert-show, scheduled for Saturday, June 21st (5:00 PM) in the "Gavazzeni" Foyer of the Teatro Donizetti, is titled Così fan tutte (or maybe not?) and will feature the popular actor Enrico Beruschi together with the Gruppo Fiati Musica Aperta. It's a "semi-serious journey through the loves of melodrama" that starts with two questions: is fidelity in love achievable? Does an authentic and satisfying monogamy exist, or is it just a concept of affective relativity? Così fan tutte (1790), the female (or anti-feminist, depending on the point of view) piece of the Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy, lives on similar questions. With Medea (Luigi Cherubini, 1797), everything seems to have changed: betrayed love becomes revenge, to produce the most intolerable pain. L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti, 1832) presents itself as a "fairy tale", in which good ultimately triumphs after being put to the test, but it is precisely through the test that the true nature of people emerges and feelings mature. Enrico Beruschi was born in Milan on September 5, 1941. Before dedicating himself to the entertainment world, he worked for 15 years as an accountant and commercial deputy director at Galbusera. Although he did not complete his studies, his career took a decisive turn in the 70s when he decided to pursue a career in entertainment. Success came in 1977 with the television program for children Qua la zampa. From there, Enrico Beruschi became a regular presence in successful television programs such as Non stop, La sberla and Luna Park. In the 80s, he reached the peak of his career with Drive In, where, thanks to hilarious gags, he won over the audience, becoming one of the symbolic comedians of the show. In addition to television, Beruschi has dedicated himself to theater, music, and cinema, demonstrating a rare versatility. The Gruppo Fiati Musica Aperta was founded in 1976 by Pieralberto Cattaneo. Since then, it has established itself at the 1981 Stresa International Competition and participated in important concert seasons in Italy and abroad. It has recorded an album of unpublished sacred and chamber music by Donizetti and Mayr, also realizing numerous modern premieres of 19th-century Italian music. It also operates in the field of contemporary music, presenting world premieres of Italian composers, many of which are dedicated to the Group itself, which currently includes Giovanni Perico, flute, Angelo Giussani and Giuseppe Cattaneo on “oboe, Savino Acquaviva and Roberto Bergamelli on clarinet, Ezio Rovetta and Massimo Capelli on horn, Ugo Gelmi and Roger Rota on bassoon, Domenica Bellantone on” harp, Giampiero Fanchini on double bass. Direction by Pieralberto Cattaneo. The next event of The Center of Music will be dedicated to jazz: on Saturday, June 28th, the quartet of saxophonist Gabriele Comeglio will pay tribute to the genius of Charlie Parker.