On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Festival delle Nazioni will pay homage to Armenia with a musical program running from August 27 to September 6 in Città di Castello, a town of some 40,000 inhabitants in the province of Perugia in Umbria, Italy.

The 47th edition of the Festival will feature Armenian symphonic and chamber music, folk and classic, sacred and profane, choral and curative, medieval hymns and premiere compositions.

“With the choice of Armenia, we go out of the European boundaries ,” says Festival President Giuliano Giubilei, the President, “but in a country which has had in its tormented history and strong relations with our continent.”

“It was, for instance, the first country to convert to the Christian religion. But we did not choose it for that reason. First of all we did it because of its  rich musical tradition and then, because we would like to focus on this Country and its people, as we are  getting close to the centenary of  the“Genocide of the Armenian”; one of the greatest tragedy of the XX century,” adds Giubilei.   

"This land,” says Festival  Artistic Director Aldo Sisillo, “was for centuries the road linking East and West; and Armenian music is the proof of that; containing stylistic elements which belong to the Western culture as well as the Middle East ones. The homage to Armenia is a chance to discover the different aspects of this fascinating culture,  from the classical music language to the traditional one, with its bards and duduk players.”

On   opening night  the stage will host   the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra  led by   conductor Eduard Topchjan. The program will include the famous Concerto for violin and orchestra by Khachatryan, which Anush Nikoghosyan will perform as a soloist, and two masterpieces of  the Russian music: A night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky and Schéhérazade by Rimsky-Korsakov.

The duduk, the kamancha and the other traditional instruments will be featured in Armenian Spirit (August 28), a musical journey around classical and popular music with Jordi Savall, his ensemble Hespèrion XXI and  the Armenian musicians Aram Movsisyan, Georgi Minassyan and Haig Sarikouyoumdjian.

For a complete listing of the Festival’s performances please visit www.festivalnazioni.com

Tickets will be on sale from August 4 at the Box Office in Città di Castello (Corso Cavour, Podesta's Palace), or online from July, 1st at www.festivalnazioni.com.

Ticket prices are from 10 to 25 €; carnets cost from 8,00 to 51,00 €. Carnet holders will get the Festivalcard, which allows  discounts for museums, restaurants and hotels. The full subscription to the Festival costs 150 €. For more ticket information: tel. +39 075 8522823, [email protected].