PUGLIA – The widespread Piano Lab festival, which celebrates the king of instruments in Puglia, includes for the eighth edition four recitals at sunset from 5 July to 9 August between Lecce and three towns in the Itria Valley (Cisternino, Ceglie Messapica and Ostuni ) and two concerts at dawn in the Torre Guaceto nature reserve, in the Carovigno area, on 28 July with the giant of Latin afro jazz Omar Sosa and on 18 August with the wizard of the “stride piano” Luca Filastro. Sosa and Filastro themselves will also be among the protagonists of a new listening proposal entitled «Al Piano», scheduled in Martina Franca on 11 August, when twelve famous pianists will take turns in different spaces of the historic center within a articulated evening of music in homage to the 50 years of the Valle d’Itria Festival which will be embellished by the exclusive screening for Southern Italy of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s last concert, the testament film «Opus» directed by the musician’s son, Neo Sora, presented at the last Venice Film Festival. The piano marathon «Play with us», a moment of extraordinary sharing between established concert performers, professionals, students and simple enthusiasts, a characterizing moment of Piano Lab, this year moves from Martina Franca to Ceglie Messapica, with two days of concerts scheduled on August 31st and September 1st.
Organized by La Ghironda with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Puglia Region and the host administrations, as well as with the support of Marangi Strumenti Musicali and Steinway & Sons, the festival therefore starts with a special recital by Leo Caligiuri, a transversal pianist who Friday 5 July (8pm) he performs in Lecce, in the Garden of the Foundation named after the great Salento sculptor Nino Rollo, a place open to the public for the occasion together with the master’s sculpture gallery, an initiative made possible thanks to the synergy between Piano Lab and the city delegation of the Italian Environment Fund (tickets 10 euros).
The festival will continue its itinerant journey on Friday 12 July (8pm), in the mother church of San Nicola, in Cisternino, where Leonardo Colafelice, another Apulian talent of the eighty-eight keys, will be on stage (free entry), while on Friday 19 July (8pm ) we will move to the Ducal Castle of Ceglie Messapica to listen to Cristina Di Lecce, the young pupil of Pasquale Iannone who has already won several important competitions (tickets 8 euros).
A well-established career with an international scope boasts Melissa Parmenter, the Milanese pianist also known for having performed and written music for cinema, starting with «A Mighty Heart» by Michael Winterbottom with Angelina Jolie. The musician will be on stage on Saturday 20 July (7pm) in the educational forest of Lamacoppa Piccola, in Ostuni. She also has the album «Messapia» with eight unreleased pieces, six of which are dedicated to as many places in Puglia, including Ostuni itself where she is expected (tickets 10 euros).
The cycle of concerts will close at sunset, Friday 9 August (7 pm), still in Ostuni, but at the foot of the San Leonardo Tower, Rosario Mastroserio, specialist in tangos and milongas (free entry).
The first of the dawn concerts in the Torre Guaceto nature reserve, in Carovigno, on Sunday 28 July (5 am), is with Omar Sosa, one of the Latin American pianists who has been able to unite the continents by fusing Cuban roots, jazz and classical music in one decidedly unique polyglot musical style (tickets 22 euros). The second, scheduled for Sunday 18 August (5am), is with Luca Filastro, considered among the greatest exponents of the stride piano style, although his interests range between the rhythms of the swing era and the be-bop revolution (tickets €22) .
Instead, the historic center of Martina Franca, with some symbolic places, will host the carousel of concerts of the «Al Piano» initiative scheduled for 11 August (from 7pm, paid entry). In addition to the performances of Boris Bloch, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Omar Sosa, Thomas Umbaca, Costanza Principe, Jean Marc Luisada, Orazio Sciortino, Luca Filastro, Maurizio Baglini, Leonardo Pierdomenico, Oleg Marshev and Michele Marvulli, the film «Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus» at the Verdi theater (tickets 8 euros).
It will end in Ceglie Messapica, where on 31 August and 1 September for the two days of «Play with us» (free entry) over 200 pianists are expected, including from abroad, engaged in almost 150 hours of performances, transversal between genres, with mini-concerts located in 10 different locations.
Tickets can all be purchased in advance on the vivaticket circuit.
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