Introduction

The Festival delle Nazioni di Città di Castello is consider the most important of the events dedicated to classical music held in Umbria. Its original formula means that each edition is dedicated to the discovery of the musical heritage of a different nation and the festival held from the end of August to firsts September.

Cultural centre of the Upper Tibery Valley, the Festival delle Nazioni, since its beggining has had a distinctive identity in the European panorama. In 57 years of great artistic and cultural experiences, the Festival has given to all the European nations the chance to offer to an extendend public their most significative musical traditions, dedicating every year to one of them its artistic, cultural and musical project. Moreover, the Festival has always contributed with firm belief in the diffusion of the XX Century culture commiting to contemporary musicians such as Salvatore Sciarrino, the production of premieres, showing that it is possible and fruitful to link traditions with the most innovative expressions of music. The international identity of the Festival has also oriented its artistic choices beyond the european cultural and geographic horizons let’s consider guest nations such as Israel, Armenia, People’s Republic of China, Norvay. Furthermore, the Festival has had the merit to appraise and make the artistic treasures of the Upper Tibery Valley known, contributing to the development of a quality tourism. From Sansepolcro to Anghiari, from Morra to Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, from San Giustino to Umbertide, from Citerna to Città di Castello, all the museums, the churches and the theatres of this area have been the scenary for great concerts and extraordinary interpreters such as: Uto Ughi, Salvatore Accardo, Luciano Pavarotti, Krystian Zimerman, Gidon Kremer, Shlomo Mintz, Krystof Penderecky, Yuri Bashmet, the Quartetto Amadeus, Alexander Lonquich e Mstislav Rostropovich who performed for the Festival one of his last concerts. All great artists who have marked the history of the musical Italian and European culture.

Since its debut, the Festival delle Nazioni, has been sustained by the Ministero dei Beni e Attività Culturali, by the Regione dell’Umbria and by the local authorities of the Upper Tibery Valley and of Città di Castello. The latter has distinguished the Festival as the main event through which promote its identity in Umbria, Italy and Europe.

Crediti fotografici Archivio Festival delle Nazioni:
2005 – 2010 ©Tiziano Minciotti
2011 – 2014 ©Annalisa Savoca e Erica Andreini
2015 – 2021 ©Monica Ramaccioni
2022 ©Tiziano Minciotti, Elisa Nocentini, Stefano Fristachi, Davide Marconi
2023 ©Tiziano Minciotti