The Imola Summer Music Academy and Festival is a summer festival promoted by the Fondazione Accademia Internazionale di Imola ‘Incontri con il Maestro’ that takes place in July. Its uniqueness is to unite the highest level of musical education with production and performance, to bridge the gap ‘from the classroom to the stage’, with the dual aim of promoting young performers and composers and involving a wider audience in enjoying music, in a qualified system of excellence.

The goal of the project is to consolidate an effective formula born in 2012 and to amplify its potential by exploring the paradigm shifts of the current scenario: the promotion of new ways of entertainment, focusing on environmental sustainability issues, other than enhancing the younger generations and sharing the values of peace and solidarity through the universal language of music. All through collaborations with national and international organisations. The Festival venues are located in great historical-artistic value buildings in Imola, as Rocca Sforzesca, Palazzo Monsignani and the courtyard of Convento dell’Osservanza. Students will come from more than 15 countries around the world.

The masterclasses will be held by the teachers of the Foundation academies, led by:
Franco Scala and André Gallo piano, Boris Belkin violin, Enrico Bronzi and Luca Magariello cello, Antonello Farulli viola and string quartet, Andrea Manco flute, Giovanni Puddu guitar, Marco Zuccarini chamber music, Marco Di Bari composition, as well as the orchestra conducting course led by Marco Boni.

A rich programme of concerts will enliven the Festival, featuring the Academy teachers together with rising young musicians, in a collaboration that casts the new generations into the qualified scenario of national and international concerts. The Festival boasts many collaborations: with the Accademia d’Arte lirica of Osimo, with the Orchestra Senzaspine of Bologna and with the Bazzini Consort. The Imola-China international project born in 2012 continues, edited by artistic director Jin Ju, by which young musicians selected from the best Chinese schools and conservatories will come to Imola. The project with China relies on the collaboration with the Chuan Lan Wei Art Centre of Tianjin.

The Festival will open on Saturday 28 June with the third edition of ‘Imola Piano e Forte’, a piano marathon in five locations of the city centre, from 19:00 to 23:00, ending on 30 July with the Premio Città di Imola ceremony and the awarding of scholarships to the most deserving young talents.

The event, now in its fourteenth edition, is organised in collaboration with Comune of Imola and with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Regione Emilia Romagna and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Imola.

+39 0542 30802  festival@imolamusicacademies.org

To enroll in the masterclass, go to Academy 2025