‘Musica Insieme in Ateneo’: the benefits of art and culture in the theatre and the Sant’Orsola Polyclinic

The 27th edition of ‘Musica Insieme in Ateneo’ will begin on Wednesday, 29 January. The festival was founded in 1997 from a pioneering agreement between ‘Musica Insieme’ and the University of Bologna. Renowed maestros and young talents will share the benefits of music through six evening concerts at DAMSLab and as many morning events at Sant’Orsola.

The Skazka Kwartet, formed in 2020, will open the festival on Wednesday, 29 January at 7.30 p.m. Having earned international awards in just a few years, they will be playing in Italy for the first time. It will be followed on Wednesday, 12 February at 7.30 p.m., by the performance ‘L’Ateneo per l’Ateneo’, when the Chamber Orchestra of the Collegium Musicum Almae Matris will guide the audience on a journey based on the important anniversaries of 2025, combining Ravel and Satie to Stanislao Mattei and Arthur Honegger. The project ‘Schumann si fa in tre’, strengthening the partnership with the hub ‘La Soffitta’ of the Department of the Arts of the University of Bologna, will enliven the third date of the festival. At 7.30 p.m. on three different evenings, the young musicians of Trio Hermes, together with accomplished maestros and brilliant representatives of the latest generation of cultural communicators, will recount the life and masterpieces of Robert Schumann, according to three keywords that best represent the personality of the great Romantic composer: Energy (5 March), Fire (19 March) and Passion (2 April). Grazia Raimondi, Michele Marelli and Ciro Longobardi of the Ensemble Prometeo will close the festival at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 16 April, reviving the charm of 20th-century Russia.

The six evening concerts at DAMSLab will be accompanied by as many morning events at the Sant’Orsola Polyclinic in 2025 as well. At 11 a.m. the same interpreters of ‘Musica Insieme in Ateneo’ will dedicate special musical moments in several wards of the Polyclinic to patients, doctors, the medical staff, and first and foremost the oncology day-hospital, where, thanks to the generosity of the Cillario family, a historic Steinway & Sons piano is kept.

“MIA - Musica Insieme in Ateneo has been a pillar among the numerous opportunities for cultural enrichment that can be found at the University of Bologna for almost thirty years. The first-rate programming of this project contributes to the promotion of musical knowledge and therefore enriches the university experience by offering students, teachers, employees, as well as ‘external’ audiences, the opportunity to engage with the beauty of live music,” said Maria Letizia Guerra, Rector's delegate for Public Engagement of the University of Bologna. “The tangible impact of ‘Musica Insieme in Ateneo’ is to contribute to creating an environment that promotes the well-being of all those who live the University of Bologna and restates every year the role of art as an instrument of equity, inclusion and cross-cutting outreach across all areas of knowledge”.

Access is completely free for students, teaching staff and professional staff of the University of Bologna (upon submission of one’s own badge). The cost of a single ticket to the MIA concerts is 10 euros. The tickets are available online, at Bologna Welcome, at Vivaticket sales points and the day of the concert from 6.30 p.m. in the DAMSLab / Auditorium’s foyer.

The concerts will begin at 7.30 p.m. to ideally conclude the students’ day, giving everyone the chance of tasting an apéritif with locally sourced products of ‘Mercato ritrovato’, which starting March will enliven Piazzetta Pasolini, offering a special discount to the audience of ‘Musica Insieme’.