DONIZETTI SUMMER CAMP 2026

We are storm

The Donizetti Summer Camp is back, an opportunity to experience all the spaces of the Donizetti Theater, from the rehearsal room to the dressing rooms to the stage, as true protagonists, getting to know and develop their talents in a tight-knit group of children/young people,
who will have the courage to stage a reduction of an opera in just one week.

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Summer is just around the corner and the Donizetti Theater Foundation is back to offer, after the success of past editions, as many as six different weeks of Donizetti Summer Camp, which this year is titled WE ARE TEMPLE: children and teens aged 8 to 13 will be able to experience the spaces of the Donizetti Theater in an unusual way, Monday through Friday, from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with the possibility of early at 8 a.m. and late at 5:30 p.m.).
NEW 2026: This year’s experience will also be open to boys/teens aged 14 to 17, with a week entirely dedicated to them!

Registration will open on April 6, 2025 at 12 noon..

Additional registration details qui
Form to be filled out for registration here

Donizetti Summer Camp is a unique experience that will take children and young people on a discovery of the operas of Gaetano Donizetti and other composers and their fascinating reinterpretations, immersed in the wonder of the Donizetti Theater, from the stage to the rehearsal room to the set design workshop. In a creative and stimulating atmosphere, they will have the opportunity to work on four operas, each featuring an original interpretation that opens new perspectives on opera through theater and song. Each week ends with the creation of a choral performance in which the whole group is the protagonist and each stage element will have been created in dedicated sessions.
An educational and playful experience aimed at children/youths between the ages of 8 and 13, and as of this year also for children/youths aged 14 to 17!
Donizetti’s theater, music and life become an educational and cultural tool to help children/young people get in touch with expressive arts and new experiences, which they would probably not have access to if the Foundation did not provide the musical and architectural heritage, starting with the Donizetti Theater itself.
Playtime is also planned to allow children/children to also engage in teamwork and learn about new places in the city.
The pedagogical and artistic part is conducted by female trainers specialized in different disciplines:
★ Silvia Briozzo – drama trainer experienced in school workshops – reduction of the libretto of the operas and direction of the final recital
★ Alessandra Giolo – music trainer specializing in childhood and teacher of the DO teaching team – musical reduction of the operas and preparation of the sung parts
★ Alberto Allegretti – DO props trainer and teacher of the teaching team – sets and costumes
★ Serena Marossi – dancer and choreographer – dance, understood as movement and bodily expression (14-17 years old only)
The group is managed by certified educators from Alchemy Cooperative.
The final recital will take place on the stage of the Donizetti Theater on Friday at 5 p.m. and will be open to the families of participating children.

FOR WHOM AND WHEN
8-13 years (from 3rd primary to 2nd secondary in the 2025-2026 school year)
June 15-19, 2026 – Theatrical conveniences and inconveniences: a company of shabby performers, will they make it through rehearsals and onto the stage?
June 22-26, 2026 – Lucia di Lammermoor: when you have to fight for your future
July 6-10, 2026 – The furious at the island of s. Domingo : Cardenio and his troubled love, but with a happy ending
July 13-17, 2026 – The Cinderella: the fairy tale of fairy tales, what do we have to explain?
August 31-September 4, 2026 – Theatrical conveniences and inconveniences: a company of shambling performers, will they make it through rehearsals and onto the stage?

NEW.
Ages 14-17 (3rd grade through 3rd grade in the 2025-2026 school year)
June 29-July 3, 2026 – Lucia di Lammermoor: What are we willing to do to love and be loved?
When our desire clashes with the family and social system that wants to prevent us from fulfilling it, when we are fragile and choosing is a complex step, a burden we feel all on our shoulders. How often do love and violence get mixed up in a romantic narrative? Lucia is the victim of this narrative but also a brave young woman who says No to the intimations imposed on her. In this rereading for adolescents we will center these questions and a personal reflection on what loneliness is and the right to love whom one wants.

TITLES.
The theatrical conveniences and inconveniences, by Gaetano Donizetti
But what happens before a performance debuts? During rehearsals, when all the people involved in the staging are agitated, anxious, worried about being able to give their best? According to this opera buffa by Gaetano Donizetti, a series of comical patatrac happens. We will have fun getting into the hyperbolic emotions that artists and performers go through to prepare to face the audience. Highlighting frailties and delusions of protagonism, in a mad play of parts. Ready to laugh out loud?

Lucia di Lammermoor, by Gaetano Donizetti
A masterpiece that we will explore as a powerful metaphor for the struggle against bullying and violence over one’s identity. Lucia becomes a heroine who represents all of us when we find ourselves defending our choices in a world that often tramples on them. A meeting of poignant music and a pop aesthetic to tell a timeless story.

Il furioso all’isola di Santo Domingo, by Gaetano Donizetti
A semi-serious reinterpretation of Donizetti’s opera, centered on the fear of diversity. The opera becomes a whirlwind of misunderstandings and misinterpretations that will turn the staging into a tragicomic game, full of surprises and reflections on our relationship with each other.

La Cenerentola, by Gioachino Rossini
Rossini’s opera is transformed into a fairy tale where goodness and intelligence triumph. In this version, Angelina (our Cinderella) is a young woman who, with humility and wisdom, defeats all forms of wickedness. A more mature and profound reading of a classic story that invites us to reflect on true inner strength.
Each week we will work together in an intense and engaging way, exploring not only the works but also our creative and human side. A learning experience where music, song and theater come together to create a unique and ever-evolving interpretation.

Donizetti Summer Camp 2026 is realized with the support of UniAcque

More information:

Elisa Gambero
Phone 035.4160613
E-mail gambero@fondazioneteatrodonizetti.org