The Aosta summer will see the return, after last year’s edition, of “Aosta Classica Workshop”, a section of the well-known music festival dedicated to intensive specialization courses. From July 7th to 13th, the Aosta area (not only the center, but also some more remote neighborhoods) will offer two daily concerts, the result of jazz masterclasses which currently have over 25 participants and will feature artists from the contemporary scene, not just the national one.
The meaning and objectives of the project were illustrated today, Wednesday 19 June, in a press conference by the culture councilor of the Municipality of Aosta Samuel Tedesco and from Marco Giovinazzo, workshop coordinator. “Aosta Classica returns to Aosta,” said Tedesco, “and it does so with its original model, as it had already done in part last year. He does this by joining a network of higher education schools and this is part of the Municipality’s strategy.”
Among the innovations this year, Giovinazzo underlined, “we have opened two more classes, with three higher education schools”, but above all “we have created a beautiful network thanks to the contribution of professionals who I consider important not only from a musical point of view, but also from a design point of view. The desire is to work to create something in Aosta” and, although the workshops have recently returned, “we quickly managed to fill two daily performances”.
Start with an important name at 9.30pm on Sunday 7 July, in Piazza Chanoux, with Mario Biondi together with the Aosta Classica Big Band. The name is pop, but he doesn’t take lessons on jazz. The ensemble with him, Giovinazzo explained, will be composed of musicians “very young and all from our territory. We believe that this festival offers opportunities to go on stage at an international level.”
From the next day, Monday 8th, there will be two live appointments, always both at 7pm, in different places. At the Cittadella dei Giovani the “Misterioso Ensemble” of Genoa will perform (which received the Aosta Classica 2024 award as the best ensemble of the last edition, made possible by the Culture Commission of Confcommercio), while at the Regional Archaeological Museum it will be the turn of the Ensemble Conservatory Department of Alessandria.
Tuesday 9th, in Piazza Narbonne the Mama Trio Jazz Department of the Turin Conservatory and at the regional Criptoportico the Ensemble musical training center of Turin. Wednesday 10th, in the Cittadella the Trio METE of Turin and in the Dora district the Ensemble Jazz Department Conservatory of Alessandria. Thursday 11th, it will triple: at 7pm in Piazza Severino Caveri the Caterina Graniti’s Quartet, from the Jazz Department of the Turin Conservatory, and at the Regional Archaeological Museum the Jazz Department Ensemble of the Brescia Conservatory.
At 9pm, in the Cittadella, the other “big” of the event: the British saxophonist and composer Andy Sheppard will perform with the Aosta Classica Big Band. “Searched last year – stated Giovinazzo – he is an extraordinary person, as well as a great musician. We made an agreement with him for two years and the boys asked to work with him again. This year he will propose a suite entirely by him”.
Friday 12 July only one event: the ABC Trio of Aosta (Lorenzo Barbera with vibraphone and synth, Maurizio Amato to the bottom and Matteo Cosentino on drums), at 7pm in the Cittadella. The week will end on Saturday 13th: at 3pm, in the Cittadella, the Aosta Classica Workshop Ensemble, made up of the project participants, will take the stage, while at 6pm, in the same location, the final concert by the teachers of the different classes. All performances are free and open to entry.
Students and teachers will have the Convitto Federico Chabod as their official residence (“with the auditorium available for jam sessions, which we consider vital for an initiative of this kind”, observed Giovinazzo) and another part of the workshops will be held in the premises of the Viglino foundation. Among the institutional partners, the Crt Foundation and Cva Spa. For further information, www.aostaclassica.it.
