An evocative and “fragrant” concert kicked off the 2024 edition of Change Festivalwhich in the months of June, July and August offers eleven events – five free – in the municipalities of Assisi, Bettona, Cannara and Spello. The event organized by the cultural association Ponte Levatoio started on Friday evening (June 28, ed.) with the sunset concert “After the rain” at the Lavandeto in Castelnuovo di Assisi, where Giuseppe Magagnino performed the songs from his 2023 album of the same name to the public.
In his latest work, accompanied by Luca Alemanno on double bass and Vladimir Kostadinovic on drums, Magagnino continues his expressive research in piano trio and piano solo by experimenting in two tracks with the string orchestra arrangement curated by Alessandro Quarta, of whom he is pianist since 2009. The Cambio Festival audience was thus able to listen to how Magagnino and his trio – Giampaolo Laurentaci on double bass and Dario Riccardo on drums – revived the African-American jazz tradition in an original way, integrated with arrangements typical of Northern European jazz and with a strong melodic component, characteristic of great Italian music.
Having successfully archived the first event, from 3 to 7 July, Cambio Festival 2024 returns to its historic location, the Castello di Cambio a Palazzo di Assisi, the location of five events. It starts on 3 July with a theatrical evening featuring Roberto Mercadini who will perform in Moby Dick, in collaboration with the Piccolo Teatro degli Instabili. Moby Dick, Mercadini himself recalls, «is not a novel. Perhaps not even a book. It is a monster that stands among the other written volumes as the white leviathan stands among the other sea creatures. Moby Dick cannot be narrated, although many have tried (to quote Melville)».
On July 4th Alessandro Bossi “Vìrdigo”, a meeting of funk with jazz and electronics: Energetic grooves of bass and drums support a wind section composed of four elements (tenor sax, baritone sax, trumpet and trombone) that draw elegant and impactful melodies. On July 5th the singer-songwriter Michael Venturini arrives, who after many years of apprenticeship in underground scenes around the world has published “Popolare fuori moda” and then Guai, the single that launches a series of new works.
On July 6th it is the turn of Danilo Rossi, historic first viola of La Scala in Milan with the Gipsy Trio (already active with artists of the caliber of Vinicio Capossela, Stefano Bollani, Moni Ovadia, Samuele Bersani and others), for an evening that aims as a geographical and cultural journey that crosses the Balkans and authors such as Dvoràk, Brahms and Bartok, reinterpreted in a gypsy, virtuosic and folk key.
On July 7th the evenings at the Castello di Palazzo with the Sparring Partners group will end with a concert that retraces the repertoire of Maestro Paolo Conte. The Sparring Partners Project, born in the dark period of the lock-down to turn on the light of artistic collaboration, is entirely dedicated to the music of Paolo Conte, born in the dark period of the lock-down to turn on the light of artistic collaboration.
Afterwards, Cambio Festival offers two dates in the historic center of Assisi, both in the churchyard of the Abbey of San Pietro: on 17 July the Grand Dance Gala in collaboration with Rondine Balletto di Assisi, while on 18 July the saxophonist James will arrive in the city Sienese. Finally, August will be the month of “out-of-town collaborations”, and all of them free: starting on the 9th in Piandarca di Cannara with Enrico Pieranunzi in trio and the music of Gershwin. On August 28th in Spello, at the Torri di Properzio, it is the turn of Lorenzo Bisogno 4tet feat. Cosimo Boni and Massimo Morganti. On August 31st at Villa del Boccaglione in Bettona, the grand finale with the concert by Stefano Zavattoni, Mauro Mela & Orchestra.
All the events of Cambio Festival 2024 are made possible thanks to the contribution of the City of Assisi and also thanks to the funds of the POR – FESR 2014-2020 Axis 3 – Action 3.2.1 Development and cohesion plan FSC (DL n.34/2019) – Call for support of projects in the live entertainment sector – Year 2022, announced by Sviluppumbria.
Official partner is Pegaso 2000 of the CEO Franco Cicogna. Main sponsors are: Francesca Menichelli – financial consultant Fineco Bank and Acton of the CEO Alberto Forini. Important is the support of the Municipalities of Bettona, Cannara and Spello. The event is sponsored by the Province of Perugia. Tickets for all dates can already be purchased or booked (for free admission initiatives) on the website cambiofestival.it and on the Ticket Italia circuit. To stay up to date on the Cambio Festival initiatives you can follow the official social networks of the event, on Facebook – Instagram e X/Twitter.
