BERGAMO JAZZ SUMMER 2026 @LAZZARETTO

Donizetti Theatre Foundation/Bergamo Jazz e Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival
present two extraordinary concerts at Lazzaretto
in collaboration with the City of Bergamo with the support of A2A and BCC Oglio e Serio

Thursday, July 2, 2026
Fatoumata Diawara

Saturday, July 18, 2026
Dee Dee Bridgewater

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 .

Fatoumata Diawara is among the most intense, powerful and visionary voices in today’s African and international world music scene. A native of Mali, she is a multifaceted artist, singer, musician, composer, actress and dancer: an overwhelming performer, she recounts Africa in its wounds and rebirths and transforms each concert into an engaging collective experience. In Bergamo Fatoumata Diawara will present her new album Massa, due out in June, assisted by her band with Jurandir Da Silva Santana on guitar, Fernando Javier Tejero on keyboards, Velez Juan Finger on electric bass and William Ombe Monkama on drums.

Dee Dee Bridgewater, whose previous concerts under the banners of Bergamo Jazz date back to 1996 and 2005, has held the title of jazz singing queen for decades. Her project “We Exist!”, which fields three talented instrumentalists of different nationalities – Carmen Staaf on piano, Rosa Brunello on electric bass and double bass, and Julie Saury on drums – launches a battle cry through songs that are not mere melodies with committed lyrics, but true manifestos in music, repositories of messages understandable to all thanks to the magnetic personality of a legend not only of jazz.

Proceeds from ticket sales of the U.S. vocalist’s concert will be donated to Fondazione Banco dell’Energia, the philanthropic organization sponsored by A2A and its Foundations AEM, ASM and LGH, which supports people in economically and socially vulnerable situations.

Tickets on sale, at Biglietteria del Teatro Donizetti and online at Vivaticket, from Friday, April 17, On the previous days, April 14 to 16, subscribers to Bergamo Jazz and the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo will be able to avail themselves of the right of first refusal. Prices: 30 to 40 euros. Concerts start at 9:30 pm.

For Sergio Gandi, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Culture of the City of Bergamo, “it is an honor to once again have the opportunity to host artists of international value within Lazzaretto Estate. This is made possible by virtue of the collaboration with Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, which of the Bergamo Jazz festival is the soul and driving force, and with the Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival, to whom go the heartfelt thanks of the City Council. Bergamo thus confirms itself, once again, as a proactive city, treasuring the most active and prestigious realities of its territory.”

“The Donizetti Theatre Foundation is proud to once again present Bergamo Jazz events at Lazzaretto, which go beyond the canonical March period in which the Festival takes place,” comments George Berta, President of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, “The decision to propose two great artists, each representing female creativity in a different way, reflects the desire to connect with what surrounds music: both Fatoumata Diawara and Dee Dee Bridgewater are in fact sensitive artists, ready to communicate uncompromising messages with their music. I thank the City of Bergamo and those who support us for their willingness to make themselves part of these two experiences of listening and sharing.”

“The 47th edition of Bergamo Jazz has recently concluded, and the great success achieved again this year allows us to look forward to the summer: the two concerts planned at Lazzaretto are a further sign of the international breadth that distinguishes our Festival, and the breadth of the location allows us to involve an even wider audience, always keeping the artistic quality of the proposals unchanged,” notes Massimo Boffelli, General Director of the Donizetti Theater Foundation, “This year we will have at our side, in addition to the Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival, two important partners such as A2A and BCC Oglio e Serio, whose adherence to our programs is testimony to a fruitful collaboration.”

“The Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival, has been operating for forty years as the Bergamo member of the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo. For the past few years, the Association has been open to new musical and cultural projects, and with this in mind when the Donizetti Foundation asked us if, again this year, we would like to participate in the production of the Bergamo Jazz summer concerts at the Lazzaretto, we immediately accepted, because the invitation came from an institution that we esteem and with which we are in total agreement of intent and which, like the Piano Festival, represents a city excellence,” states Daniela Gennaro Guadalupi, President of the Bergamo Association of Friends of the International Piano Festival.

“Being alongside Bergamo Jazz means supporting a cultural heritage that is alive and evolving,” emphasizes the General Manager of BCC Oglio e Serio, Cristina Brambilla, “We believe in the value of music as an engine of inclusion, dialogue and growth for the area. Our commitment does not end with supporting the initiative, but represents a concrete choice of caring for the community. Bergamo Jazz represents excellence, innovation and international openness, values that we fully share. Supporting this festival means investing in talent and new generations of artists. We are proud to help make such a high-level cultural experience accessible to all.”

“Initiatives like this one, realized thanks to the solid partnership with Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, show how much culture can become a concrete tool of solidarity and participation,” explains Anna Villari, head of Corporate Philanthropy at A2A, “Choosing to link an appointment of great artistic quality like Dee Dee Bridgewater’s concert for Bergamo Jazz to a social objective means involving the public in an experience that combines emotion and responsibility. The Banco dell’Energia, promoted by A2A together with its Foundations, was created with this very purpose: to activate territorial networks capable of generating a real and lasting impact, thanks to the collaboration with institutions, associations and local partners. This year the Banco celebrates 10 years, an important milestone that testifies to the solidity of a project created to combat energy poverty and that has become over time a point of reference for thousands of families throughout the country.”