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Music. Art. And much more...Founded in 2004, the Alba International Music Festival has brought hundreds music enthusiasts to its acclaimed concerts in Piedmont, a beautiful region of Northern Italy. Alba, the home to this International music festival is famous for its natural beauty, wine, truffles, chocolates, and typical cuisine. It is a magical place where one can encounter international musicians and artists while enjoying the singular bounty of this extraordinary place.
The Alba region (Langhe-Roero and Monferrato) received the UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2014. |
A Brief History |
Since its foundation, the festival has hosted hundreds of renowned artists, orchestras and chamber groups. Among those many artists have been Vladimir Ashkenazy, violinist Ning Feng, I Solisti della Scala, the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, the Romanian State Symphony, the String Quintet of the Berlin Philharmonic, the String Quartet and Brass Quintet of the Italian National Symphony Orchestra-RAI, composer Sylvio Bussotti, pianist Bruno Canino, the Vienna Chamber Symphony, flutist Maxence Larrieu, actor Arnoldo Foa, trumpeter John Wallace, violinist Jose Cueto, pianist Brian Ganz, violoncellist Suzanne Orban, English hornist Pedro Diaz, mezzo-soprano Olivia Vote, percussionist Jonathan Haas, harpists Catrin Finch and Gwyneth Wentink.
The Alba Music Festival is now a highlight of the Northern Italian cultural season and has been hailed as the "Spoleto of Piemonte" by the Italian national newspaper La Republica. The founding partners were St. Mary's College of Maryland and the City of Alba, and the festival has grown to include the additional participation of important institutions including Stanford University, Lehigh University, and the University of Colorado-Boulder. In 2015, the Chesapeake Orchestra and the Maryland Youth Symphony increased their presence at the Alba Music Festival and, along with its cohort of professional musicians from its Orchestra, brought to the Alba Music Festival students selected from The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, State University of New York - Stony Brook, University of Maryland School of Music, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and University of Michigan School of Music-Ann Arbor. On the European front, the Alba Music Festival has an institutional partnership with the Multimedia Department of the University of Franche-Comte. Concerts are presented in the most prestigious structures of the city and region, such as the Teatro Sociale, the ancient church San Domenico, the imposing Temple of St. Paul, and the refined Ferrero Foundation Auditorium. The concert settings range from the magical atmosphere of the Cathedral to the intimate spaces of the Baroque churches San Giuseppe and Coro della Maddalena. Concerts are also presented in the new Auditorium "Beppe Fenoglio," and throughout the region in its many majestic castles, churches and squares. |
A flute choir led by Giuseppe Nova at San Giuseppe
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A string quintet at San Domenico
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