The series kicks off on Thursday, July 2 (9:30 p.m.; tickets 30 and 40 euros) with one of the most intense, powerful, and visionary voices on today’s African music scene and in the international world music scene: Fatoumata Diawara will present her new, just-released album, *Massa*, accompanied by her band featuring Jurandir Da Silva Santana on guitar, Fernando Javier Tejero Velez on keyboards, Juan Finger on electric bass, and William Ombe Monkama on drums.

In *Massa*, Fatoumata Diawara’s most personal work to date and her first since *London Ko* (2023), the Malian singer and guitarist explores themes such as motherhood, faith, memory, and the ability to transform difficulties into new awareness, weaving personal experiences and reflections on society’s fragility into a story with universal resonance. Through the songs on the album, Fatoumata Diawara invites listeners from all walks of life to embrace gratitude and recognize destiny as an inevitable part of the human journey. Musically, *Massa* expands Fatoumata Diawara’s sonic universe, weaving Malian tradition with contemporary sounds under the artistic direction of French pop icon -M-, striking a balance between roots and experimentation.

“This album carries something personal—a part of me, of my life, of my family, and of my emotions—as I turn forty-three and try to balance my career as an artist with my role as a mother of two,” says Fatoumata Diawara. “I address the ills plaguing our society: the deterioration of human relationships, betrayal, disappointment, and jealousy—so often present in polygamous families. With these songs, full of wisdom and advice, I invite people—rich and poor alike—to appreciate life and not to complain all the time, because no one can escape their destiny. And for this, I thank the Almighty, the one who made it all possible. In this album, I also pay tribute to my late father, who always surrounded me with a love that I continue to feel even after his death.”

L'articolo Fatoumata Diawara will perform at the Lazzaretto on Thursday, July 2, 2026, as part of the Bergamo Jazz Estate—an exclusive event for Northern Italy proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.

Special event for International Jazz Day
Thursday, April 30, 2026, 6:30 p.m.
Eleonora Strino Trio
in Mascheroni Square

After the days in March, crowned with great success by the public and the press, and in anticipation of the two summer concerts at Lazzaretto, with Fatoumata Diawara on July 2 and Dee Dee Bridgewater on July 18, Bergamo Jazz joins theInternational Jazz Day sponsored byUNESCO again this year. In fact, on Thursday, April 30, at 6:30 p.m., in Piazza Mascheroni, one of the symbolic places of Città Alta, a special free event is scheduled featuring the tried-and-true trio of one of the brightest new talents in jazz not only from Italy, guitarist Eleonora Strino, a soloist capable of reinventing the six-string with fresh ideas. At her side will be double bassist Giulio Corini and drummer Zeno De Rossi, both experienced musicians capable of assisting the leader to the fullest in her sonic evolutions.

Born in Naples, in whose conservatory she studied, Eleonora Strino began her professional career playing in composer Roberto De Simone’s orchestra. Her meeting with double bassist Greg Cohen, former collaborator of Tom Waits and John Zorn, was instrumental in her rise in the jazz world. This first international partnership was followed by others, with Wayne Escofferey, Ulf Walkenius, Seamous Blake, Joey Baron, Peter Bernstein, Jesse Davis and many others.

In November 2021 Eleonora Strino recorded the album I Got Strings in Berlin with Greg Cohen and Joey Baron themselves. In July 2022 she was called by guitarist Martin Tayler to take part in “The Great Guitarists” tour, a project launched in 1973 and which over the years has featured the greatest guitarists in jazz history, from Barney Kessell to Keny Burrell. Also in 2022 he took part in “Women and Music” with Ornella Vanoni, the recently deceased artist’s last tour. In 2025 her latest work, Matilde, was released with Claudio Vignali on piano, Giulio Corini on double bass and Zeno De Rossi on drums. In recent months he has played at Ronnie Scott’s in London, a historic jazz club in the British capital, and held his first tour in the United States.

Eleonora Strino’s style is rooted in the finest modern school of jazz guitar, from Jim Hall to Barney Kessel, and is nourished by a personal communicative vein that becomes palpable and engaging in concerts.

L'articolo Special event for International Jazz Day: April 30 Eleonora Strino Trio in Mascheroni Square proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.

Donizetti Theatre Foundation/Bergamo Jazz e Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival
present two extraordinary concerts at Lazzaretto
in collaboration with the City of Bergamo with the support of A2A and BCC Oglio e Serio

Thursday, July 2, 2026
Fatoumata Diawara

Saturday, July 18, 2026
Dee Dee Bridgewater

Fatoumata Diawara, Thursday, July 2, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Saturday, July 18, two great women, two great voices: Bergamo Jazz returns to the Lazzaretto in the name of female musicianship that carries strong messages that are more relevant and necessary today than ever before. Organized by Fondazione Teatro Donizetti with theBergamo Association of Friends of the International Piano Festival, with support from BCC Oglio e Serio and, for Dee Dee Bridgewater’s concert, A2A, the two events are among the summer events promoted at Lazzaretto by the Bergamo City CouncilCulture Department .

Fatoumata Diawara is among the most intense, powerful and visionary voices in today’s African and international world music scene. A native of Mali, she is a multifaceted artist, singer, musician, composer, actress and dancer: an overwhelming performer, she recounts Africa in its wounds and rebirths and transforms each concert into an engaging collective experience. In Bergamo Fatoumata Diawara will present her new album Massa, due out in June, assisted by her band with Jurandir Da Silva Santana on guitar, Fernando Javier Tejero on keyboards, Velez Juan Finger on electric bass and William Ombe Monkama on drums.

Dee Dee Bridgewater, whose previous concerts under the banners of Bergamo Jazz date back to 1996 and 2005, has held the title of jazz singing queen for decades. Her project “We Exist!”, which fields three talented instrumentalists of different nationalities – Carmen Staaf on piano, Rosa Brunello on electric bass and double bass, and Julie Saury on drums – launches a battle cry through songs that are not mere melodies with committed lyrics, but true manifestos in music, repositories of messages understandable to all thanks to the magnetic personality of a legend not only of jazz.

Proceeds from ticket sales of the U.S. vocalist’s concert will be donated to Fondazione Banco dell’Energia, the philanthropic organization sponsored by A2A and its Foundations AEM, ASM and LGH, which supports people in economically and socially vulnerable situations.

Tickets on sale, at Biglietteria del Teatro Donizetti and online at Vivaticket, from Friday, April 17, On the previous days, April 14 to 16, subscribers to Bergamo Jazz and the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo will be able to avail themselves of the right of first refusal. Prices: 30 to 40 euros. Concerts start at 9:30 pm.

For Sergio Gandi, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Culture of the City of Bergamo, “it is an honor to once again have the opportunity to host artists of international value within Lazzaretto Estate. All this is made possible by virtue of the collaboration with Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, which of the Bergamo Jazz festival is the soul and driving force, and with the Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival, to whom go the heartfelt thanks of the Municipal Administration. Bergamo thus confirms itself, once again, as a proactive city, treasuring the most active and prestigious realities of its territory.”

“The Donizetti Theater Foundation is proud to once again present Bergamo Jazz events at Lazzaretto, which go beyond the canonical March period in which the Festival takes place,” comments Giorgio Berta, President of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, “The decision to propose two great artists, each representing female creativity in a different way, reflects the desire to connect with what surrounds music: both Fatoumata Diawara and Dee Dee Bridgewater are in fact sensitive artists, ready to communicate uncompromising messages with their music. I thank the City of Bergamo and those who support us for their willingness to make themselves part of these two experiences of listening and sharing.”

“The 47th edition of Bergamo Jazz has recently concluded, and the great success achieved again this year allows us to look forward to the summer: the two concerts planned at Lazzaretto are a further sign of the international breadth that distinguishes our Festival, and the breadth of the location allows us to involve an even wider audience, always keeping the artistic quality of the proposals unchanged,” notes Massimo Boffelli, General Director of the Donizetti Theater Foundation, “This year we will have at our side, in addition to the Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival, two important partners such as A2A and BCC Oglio e Serio, whose adherence to our programs is testimony to a fruitful collaboration.”

“The Bergamo Association of the Friends of the International Piano Festival, has been operating for forty years as the Bergamo member of the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo. For the past few years, the Association has been open to new musical and cultural projects, and with this in mind when the Donizetti Foundation asked us if, again this year, we would like to participate in the production of the Bergamo Jazz summer concerts at the Lazzaretto, we immediately accepted, because the invitation came from an institution that we esteem and with which we are in total agreement of intent and which, like the Piano Festival, represents a city excellence,” states Daniela Gennaro Guadalupi, President of the Bergamo Association of Friends of the International Piano Festival.

“Being alongside Bergamo Jazz means supporting a cultural heritage that is alive and evolving,” emphasizes the General Manager of BCC Oglio e Serio, Cristina Brambilla, “We believe in the value of music as an engine of inclusion, dialogue and growth for the area. Our commitment does not end with supporting the initiative, but represents a concrete choice of caring for the community. Bergamo Jazz represents excellence, innovation and international openness, values that we fully share. Supporting this festival means investing in talent and new generations of artists. We are proud to help make such a high-level cultural experience accessible to all.”

“Initiatives like this one, realized thanks to the solid partnership with Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, show how much culture can become a concrete tool of solidarity and participation,” explains Anna Villari, head of Corporate Philanthropy at A2A, “Choosing to link an appointment of great artistic quality like Dee Dee Bridgewater’s concert for Bergamo Jazz to a social objective means involving the public in an experience that combines emotion and responsibility. The Banco dell’Energia, promoted by A2A together with its Foundations, was created with this very purpose: to activate territorial networks capable of generating a real and lasting impact, thanks to the collaboration with institutions, associations and local partners. This year the Banco celebrates 10 years, an important milestone that testifies to the solidity of a project created to combat energy poverty and that has become over time a point of reference for thousands of families throughout the country.”

L'articolo Bergamo Jazz Estate @Lazzaretto returns again in 2026 with two great concerts: Fatoumata Diawara and Dee Dee Bridgewater proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.

Huge success for the 47th edition of Bergamo Jazz
More than 8,600 total attendance
9 sold out out of 11 ticketed concerts
Audiences from 17 Italian regions and 24 other countries

Over 8,600 total attendance. 3,546 spectators at the three evenings at the Donizetti Theater, 814 of them subscribers (31 more than last year). 9 sold out out of 11 ticketed events. These are the first highlights of Bergamo Jazz 2026, which concluded happily on Sunday evening with the highly applauded exclusive project in tribute to Miles Davis and John Coltrane conceived by U.S. saxophonist Joe Lovano, the Festival’s Artistic Director for the past three years.
A great number of audiences came from all over Italy, representing 17 regions, and as many as 24 foreign nations: Romania, Switzerland, Spain, France, the United States of America, Greece, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Israel, Belgium, Serbia, Hong Kong, Moldova, Poland, Germany, Ukraine, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Austria, Brazil, Australia, and Japan. Also significant was the presence of journalists sent from the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain and Serbia, as well as leading Italian trade and non-trade publications.

Bergamo Jazz’s new dedicated website, since its launch in October 2025, has totaled nearly 50,000 views. Followers on Instagram and Facebook have reached 26,500 for more than 17,000 interactions with content.

In addition to the final evening, which featured other great soloists such as Avishai Cohen Shabaka Hutchings, George Garzone, Leo Genovese, Drew Gress and Joey Baron, all well tuned to the frequencies of Joe Lovano, at least the concerts of Lakecja Benjamin, who involved stalls, stages and galleries repeating the resounding success of three years ago, Steve Coleman, the Bad Plus, Franco D’Andrea and a very refined Simona Molinari at the Teatro Sociale should be mentioned. The concerts hosted at the Accademia Carrara, with Anais Drago’s trio, at Sala Piatti, with singer Norma Winstone and pianist Kit Downes. at the Aula Picta of the Bishop’s Museum, with pianists Wayne Horvitz and Leo Genovese, and at the Palazzolo Institute Auditorium, with Jazz Passengers and guitarist Hedvig Mollestad’s trio, were also highly appreciated, as well as the events of the “Sparks of Jazz” review scheduled in various venues in the city.

“Once again this year we cannot fail to express great satisfaction with the results achieved by Bergamo Jazz,” comments Massimo Boffelli, General Manager of the Donizetti Theater Foundation, “So Bergamo’s is once again confirmed as one of the best-loved Italian jazz festivals ever, even by the increasingly numerous audiences coming from abroad, with consequent positive repercussions on the city’s tourism. A great result achieved thanks to impeccable teamwork, from the artistic direction to the entire staff of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti. So my heartfelt thanks go to all those who worked hard to ensure that the organizational machine worked at its best, as well as to the institutions and sponsors who support us.”

Already set the dates for 2027, March 18-21, again under the artistic leadership of Joe Lovano, Bergamo Jazz is projected in the immediate run-up toInternational Jazz Day on April 30, with a free concert by guitarist Eleonora Strino ‘s trio in Piazza Mascheroni in Città Alta. And then, there will be events in the summer at Lazzaretto as well: the names of the artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

L'articolo BERGAMO JAZZ FESTIVAL: great success for the 2026 edition! proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.

Setting The Pace – dictating the pace, showing a way – is the title that Joe Lovano, for the third year Artistic Director of the Festival, wanted to imprint on Bergamo Jazz 2026, symbolizing a choral tribute to those in jazz who have shown new paths and in particular to Miles Davis and John Coltrane, whose birth centenary falls this year: “In life, the arts, the sciences, sports and business there have been people and collective bodies who have dictated the pace, the rhythm, with passion and love, representing a model for generations,” specifies Joe Lovano himself “As musicians we are constantly engaged in study and development to find our voice. This path is fueled by the sounds and spirit of the masters. Those who gave and give us the confidence and inspiration to reach today’s high standards. The artists who will perform at Bergamo Jazz Festival 2026 are, in turn, showing new ways to celebrate the legacy of Miles and Trane.”

Keeping true to its nature, Bergamo Jazz 2026 will also be a Festival with an international scope, a widespread Festival: in addition to the concerts at the Donizetti Theater and the Teatro Sociale in Città Alta, significant events hosted in small theaters, museums, and venues transformed for the occasion into cozy jazz clubs are in fact planned. Nourished will be the representation of Italian musicians, including numerous new talents brought together in the “Scintille di Jazz” section, and considerable will be the space for jazz conjugated with women, with the presence of established female instrumentalists and singers.

This is the day-by-day schedule.

Thursday, March 19,
The first day of Bergamo Jazz 2026 will take place in Città Alta, moving the first step from a particularly prestigious venue: the Aula Picta of the Bishop’s Palace, recently restored and open to the public. In this unprecedented location for music and jazz, American pianist Wayne Horvitz, an icon of the downtown New York scene of the 1980s and 1990s, will perform at 6 p.m. Instead, at the Circolino (6:30 p.m.), the duo formed by pianist Simone Locarni and guitarist Gianluca Palazzo will be heard for the first of five appointments with the “Scintille di Jazz” festival. In the evening (8:30 p.m.), the Teatro Sociale will host on its stage the trio of pianist Franco D’Andrea, excellence of jazz made in Italy, who will have at his side two exceptional companions of adventure, such as double bassist Gabriele Evangelista, a regular partner also of Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani, and drummer Roberto Gatto, a veteran of endless musical battles to the sound of cymbals and drums. Next up will be the quartet of Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana, whose brilliant technical background is well balanced by an increasingly personal stylistic signature. Joining her will be pianist Pablo Held, double bassist Pablo Menares and drummer Kush Abadey.

Friday, March 20
Friday 20 is the day for the first of three subscription evenings at the Donizetti Theater, beloved by both local audiences and those from all over Italy and beyond. At 8:30 p.m., the stage of the city’s main theater will welcome the duo formed by double bass ace Dave Holland, a leading personality in jazz since the late 1960s, and Lionel Loueke, one of the most innovative guitarists to appear in recent decades. Holland and Loueke will serve as “openers” for the concert by Steve Coleman and his Five Elements, featuring Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Rich Brown on electric bass, and Sean Rickman on drums. The Chicago saxophonist will return to Bergamo exactly 20 years after his previous performance to offer his overwhelming visionary funk, in which the most imaginative improvisation is interpenetrated with rigorous compositional structures. The day’s program will also include a concert at the Palazzolo Institute Auditorium (6 p.m.), another new Bergamo jazz venue, by The Jazz Passengers, a cult lineup of cross-genre music that has always drawn on even the most sophisticated pop and rock. Led by one of its founders, saxophonist Roy Nathanson, The Jazz Passengers will line up for the occasion Sam Bardfeld on violin, Bill Ware on vibraphone, John Menegon on double bass and E.J. Rodriguez on drums. Special guest of the group will be vocalist Teri Roiger. On the lineup for “Sparks of Jazz” are drummer Danièl Gaspàr Reynoso ‘s group Nomads (at Dieci10 Via Quarenghi, 6:30 p.m.) and Bergamo guitarist Marco Pasinetti ‘s group Siphonoforo (NXT Bergamo at Piazzale Alpini, 11 p.m.).

Saturday, March 21,
The third day of Bergamo Jazz 2026 kicks off, as is a well-established tradition, at the Accademia Carrara, at 11 a.m.: among the paintings of the city’s largest museum, violinist Anaïs Drago will perform with her very interesting trio Relevé, completed by clarinetist Federico Calcagno and drummer Max Trabucco. Then at the Palazzolo Institute Auditorium (5 p.m.), the festival spotlight will be on Norwegian guitarist Hedwig Mollestad‘s power trio, which promises an explosive blend of rock sounds and improvisation. Now a regular venue for the special events of “Sparks of Jazz,” Daste will host (6:30 p.m.) Tino Tracanna’s Panorchestra, a lineup that just won the Top Jazz 2025 referendum from the monthly magazine Musica Jazz for “best record of the year.” The evening at the Donizetti (8:30 p.m.) will then be opened by one of the groups of the moment, Bad Plus, in a special edition featuring its two founding members, double bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King, joined by saxophonist Chris Potter and pianist Craig Taborn, that is, two other giants of contemporary jazz in their respective instrumental specificities. Central to the quartet’s music will be compositions written by Keith Jarrett for his glorious American Quartet, the one in which the Allentown pianist dialogued with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. The second set will welcome the return of Lakecia Benjamin, who will again be a guest of Bergamo Jazz after her highly successful participation in the festival in 2023. The New York saxophonist will present a series of new pieces assisted by keyboardist Oscar Perez, double bassist Elias Bailey and drummer Quentin Baxter. Finally, “After Festival” (11 p.m.), at NXT Bergamo in Piazzale Alpini with saxophonist Giacomo Cazzaro‘s quartet.

Sunday, March 22,
The last day of Bergamo Jazz 2026 also promises to have a particularly busy schedule: at 11 a.m., in the Aula Picta of the Bishop’s Palace, there will be a solo piano performance by Argentine Leo Genovese, rising star of 88 keys, while at 3 p.m.00 the Festival will move to the Sala Piatti for a concert by the British voice-piano duo formed by Norma Winstone, a charismatic figure of cross-channel jazz, and Kit Downes, among the most talented European pianists of the last generation. At 5 p.m., at the Teatro Sociale, Bergamo Jazz will open to the refined mix of songwriting and jazz by Simona Molinari and her show “La Donna è Mobile,” a musical and theatrical journey that recounts the female figure through music and its infinite nuances, inspired by Verdi’s iconic aria. On stage, alongside the Neapolitan-born singer, an all-female band featuring saxophonist and flutist Chiara Lucchini, pianist Sade Mangiaracina, bassist Victoria Kirilova and Bergamo drummer Francesca Remigi. The final evening of Bergamo Jazz 2026 at Teatro Donizetti will hinge entirely on the special project conceived by Joe Lovano himself to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. A real dream band specially selected by the famous American saxophonist, whose direction will give life to different instrumental combinations and collective moments, leveraging expressive affinities, long artistic acquaintances, great mutual esteem. On trumpet will be Avishai Cohen, now long one of the leading names in the ECM catalog, a highly refined soloist and poetically Miles’ son. On tenor sax, in addition to Lovano himself, another authority on the instrument, George Garzone, one of Coltrane’s deepest connoisseurs, will be on the field. Another saxophonist, but on the occasion at various flutes, will be in the game: the British Shabaka Hutchings, among the strongest personalities of the new jazz. On piano will sit Leo Genovese, while Danish Jakob Bro will take up the guitar, with his usual refined but incisive style. Finally, on double bass and drums Drew Gress and Joey Baron, one of the best rhythm sections imaginable today.

Water Itinerary
On the mornings of Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 (World Water Day), starting at 9 a.m. from Colle Aperto, Water Itinerary will take place, an initiative conceived together with UniAcque, the company that provides water service in Bergamo and its province, which cuts its 20th year this year. Under the banner of discovering or rediscovering some of the most beautiful corners of the Upper City, visitors will be able to walk along streets and alleys for about 3 kilometers, among cisterns, fountains, the historic washhouse on Via Mario Lupo and other notable sites. Some of the stops will be accompanied this year by musical moments, which will be performed by saxophonist Massimiliano Milesi and violinist and violist Daniele Richiedei, in solo or duo.

An exhibition to remember Gianni Bergamelli
A few months after his passing, Bergamo Jazz 2026 remembers painter and musician Gianni Bergamelli, an important figure in Bergamo’s jazz life and often the author of the festival’s posters. The exhibition features a selection of recent works in which Gianni Bergamelli’s art is unfailingly permeated by the sounds and scents of jazz: the title Leftovers of Balera is the one the Nembro artist himself had envisioned for his next exhibition. Exhibition opening: Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 6 p.m. Open to the public: Wednesday, March 18 to Sunday, March 22, 2026, 6:30-8:30 pm. Free admission.

L'articolo BERGAMO JAZZ 2026: the festival day by day proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.

The lessons-concerts will take place this year, according to different shifts, on Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17, in the prestigious setting of the Teatro Sociale, and will involve both pupils from primary and secondary schools. The initiative was awarded the Bando Formazione 2025 Nuovo IMAIE and is part of the Youth Club project promoted by Fondazione Cariplo, a partner of Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, to foster the approach of the younger generations to the performing arts.

“Improvisation at school” is the programmatic title of the meetings reserved for secondary school students in grades I and II, who will be able to approach improvisation through musical examples offered live drawing from the vast jazz repertoire and shared melodically with the voice – call and response – and rhythmically – body percussion – making learning interactive and shared. At the same time, the evolution of jazz language from its African/American origins (blues, ragtime, Dixieland) to more recent experiences will be traced, based on the different cultures with which jazz has come in contact (Latin jazz, salsa, funk, contemporary classical music, world music). In particular, the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of jazz from which the musics most listened to by young people, such as hip hop and rap, were derived will be analyzed. These are colors and inflections that belong to the cultural ear of boys, often unconsciously and passively. Live performances will be offered by an ensemble including. pianists Claudio Angeleri and Giovanni Panzeri, singer Francesca Facchinetti, violinist Safiye Haciogullari, flutist Beatrice Sisana, clarinetist Lorenzo Zanoli, saxophonist Alessandro Albani, guitarist Pietro Berti, bassist Sofia Filippi and drummer Giuseppe Cutuli. Speeches by journalist Fabio Santini are also scheduled. .

“Tutti quanti voglion fare jazz” is instead the program designed for younger children. On stage, the gospel choir of Bergamo’s IC Santa Lucia, created within a workshop held in the previous months by CDpM experts and directed by Gabriele Capitanio, will perform alongside a group of jazz musicians – Claudio Angeleri on piano, Paola Milzani, vocals, Gabriele Comeglio on alto and soprano sax, Marco Esposito on bass and Matteo Milesi on drums – and well-known children’s TV actor Oreste Castagna, engaged in reading fairy tales revisited by Tiziana Sallese. The repertoire draws from the Disney catalog, such as “Beauty an the beast,” “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” (Cinderella), “Everybody wants to be a cat” (Aristocats), and “Cruella Demon” (The Charge of the 101), and the different performances are interspersed with acted excerpts from the different animated films. The boys and girls are involved through some melodic riffs performed according to the call-and-response technique and some rhythmic claves that fit into the instrumental and choral arrangement offered on stage. At the opening, the marchin band of IC Camozzi of Bergamo will accompany the students in the audience.

L'articolo BERGAMO JAZZ MEETS STUDENTS: lecture-concerts kick off with CDpM proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.

The dialogue between music and the visual arts will also be the focus of the exhibition that Bergamo Jazz is dedicating to Gianni Bergamelli, the painter and musician who passed away last August: the exhibition, titled Avanzi di Balera, will be hosted at the Donizetti Studio, opposite the theater’s box office, and will open on Wednesday, March 18 (6 p.m.; open to the public from 6:30 p.m.). The exhibition will also be open from Thursday, March 19 to Sunday, March 22 from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
Gianni Bergamelli was an important figure in Bergamo’s jazz life, also in the guise of pianist alongside Gianluigi Trovesi, his fraternal friend, and many other musicians. In particular, his pictorial art remains an example of the visionary blending and meeting of painting and music: Gianni Bergamelli often collaborated with Bergamo Jazz, signing the posters for numerous editions of the Festival. The exhibition features a selection of recent works: the title Avanzi di Balera (Leftovers from the Ballroom ) is what the Nembro artist himself had thought of for one of his exhibitions. Painter by profession, pianist by pleasure: this is how one could define Gianni Bergamelli. But actually first there was music, at first “dance” music and then jazz, and then came painting: his first solo exhibition was in 1968, at the Via della Spiga Gallery in Milan. From the age of 35 onward, in Bergamelli’s artistic life the canvas has indeed prevailed over the score, although the piano has never quite been put away in the attic. In both cases Gianni Bergamelli has put in a great, infinite passion, a desire to mix the cards to the point that in his painting jazz is invariably present, to be translated into gesture, into color, into living matter. In bringing his paintings to life, Gianni Bergamelli has made use of car body paints, also giving himself to collage, using old photographs (in black and white). The result is almost an invitation to “touch” the painting to try to live the same experience as the author, to enter into a relationship with him. Often, jazz is also like this: it is music that solicits in the listener a “contact” with the person who makes it, to feel that he or she is participating in the creative act. Perhaps it is also for this reason that many jazz musicians-for example, the Swiss Daniel Humair, a friend of Bergamelli himself, Ornette Coleman, Bill Dixon, Giorgio Gaslini-have also chosen to express themselves through painting. In the guise of pianist, Gianni Bergamelli has performed several times as part of the Bergamo jazz festival. He was also one of the pillars, along with journalist Paolo Arzano and others, of the Associazione Bergamasca del Jazz (ABJ), which brought jazz to the small hall of the San Bartolomeo Cultural Center.

L'articolo WAITING FOR BERGAMO JAZZ: two appointments with the arts in anticipation of the festival! proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.

Preview ^47th edition
March 19-22, 2026
– Concerts at Teatro Donizetti and Teatro Sociale –

“Setting The Pace:

Miles & Trane 100th Celebration!

Setting The Pace
, dictating the pace or setting the pace. Joe Lovano, for the third time Artistic Director of Bergamo Jazz, announces the title and the first part of the program of the 2026 edition of the Festival, which will take place March 19-22 in the wake of an extraordinary celebration: the centennial anniversary of the birth of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, seminal and iconic figures in African American music. Organized by Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, with the support of the City of Bergamo, MiC-Ministry of Culture and private sponsors, the Festival will reach its 47th edition with a packed program of concerts at Teatro Donizetti, Teatro Sociale and other venues around the city, which will once again come alive with the myriad sounds of a music that has long put down firm roots in Bergamo.

“In life, the arts, the sciences, sports and business, there have been people and collective bodies that have dictated the pace, the rhythm, with passion and love, representing a model for generations. Bergamo Jazz has inspired other jazz festivals over the years to achieve a high standard of excellence in programming and organization, dictating the pace to follow,” specifies Joe Lovano in introducing Bergamo Jazz 2026. “As musicians we are constantly studying and developing to find our voice. This path is fueled by the sounds and spirit of the masters. Those who gave and give us the confidence and inspiration to reach today’s high standards. The artists performing at Bergamo Jazz Festival 2026 are all “setting the pace” to celebrate the legacy of Miles and Trane in their centennial year.”

Unfailingly faithful to the Festival’s natural international vision, the 2026 edition of Bergamo Jazz will therefore be, as always, a window wide open on the composite scene of an expressive universe that continues to show signs of vitality in its being an ideal meeting point between different musics and cultures, between tradition and modernity. To be emphasized, once again, is the large representation of women, now more than ever in the spotlight with musicians and composers of absolute value.

While numerous initiatives carried out in collaboration with as many realities in the area are being finalized, including meetings with schools curated by CDpM and the “Scintille di Jazz” section curated by Tino Tracanna and dedicated to young talents, the concert program at Teatro Donizetti and Teatro Sociale is already finalized in detail, so that the season ticket campaign and ticket sales can begin. Indeed, old subscribers will be able to renew from December 3 to 20, 2025 (change seats from January 8 to 10, 2026), with right of first refusal for concerts at the Sociale. New subscriptions will then be available from January 14, 2026, with the possibility of purchasing Sociale tickets as well, while tickets for individual evenings at the Donizetti will go on sale from January 28.

Jazz at Donizetti

On Friday, March 20, the first of three subscription evenings at the Donizetti Theater, starting at 8:30 p.m., beloved by both Bergamascans and those from all over Italy and beyond, will be opened by the duo formed by double bass ace Dave Holland and Lionel Loueke, one of the most innovative guitarists to appear on the jazz scene in recent decades. The duo released the album United in 2024, a record that transcends mere collaboration by embodying the dialogue between the sensibilities of two musicians with different backgrounds, who are able to listen to each other and blend their respective instrumental voices. Holland and Loueke will serve as “openers” for the concert by Steve Coleman and his Five Elements: the Chicago saxophonist will return to the Donizetti stage exactly 20 years after his previous performance to offer his well-rehearsed blend of visionary funk in which the most imaginative improvisation is interpenetrated with rigorous compositional structures.

The next evening, Bergamo Jazz will offer for listening one of the groups of the moment, Bad Plus, in a special edition that will feature its two founding members, double bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King, joined by saxophonist Chris Potter and pianist Craig Taborn, or two other giants of contemporary jazz in their respective instrumental specificities. Central to the quartet’s music will be compositions written by Keith Jarrett for his glorious American Quartet, the one in which the Allentown pianist dialogued with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. A group that has rightly gone down in history for its expressive force and whose worthy heirs the Bad Plus stand to be, taking those liberties that characterize every thoroughbred jazz musician.

This will be followed by a salute to the return of Lakecia Benjamin, who will again be a guest of Bergamo Jazz after her highly successful participation in the festival in 2023. The New York saxophonist will present her new album, on the strength of her five Grammy nominations in a short time.

The third and final evening of Bergamo Jazz 2026 at Teatro Donizetti will be entirely hinged on the special project conceived by Joe Lovano himself to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. A true dream band: one cannot define otherwise the artistic cast specially selected by the famous saxophonist, whose direction will give life to different instrumental combinations and collective moments, leveraging expressive affinities, long artistic acquaintances, great mutual esteem. On trumpet will be Avishai Cohen, now long one of the leading names in the ECM catalog, a highly refined soloist and poetically Miles’ son. On tenor sax, in addition to Lovano himself, another authority on the instrument, George Garzone, one of Coltrane’s deepest connoisseurs, will be on the field. Another saxophonist, but on the occasion at various flutes, will be in the game: the British Shabaka Hutchings, among the strongest personalities of the new jazz, already a guest of Bergamo Jazz on two previous occasions. A new presence, however, will be Argentine pianist Leo Genovese, rising star of the 88 keys. Danish Jakob Bro will take up the guitar, with his usual refined but incisive style. Finally, on double bass and drums Drew Gress and Joey Baron, one of the best rhythm sections imaginable today.

Jazz at the Teatro Sociale

Also in 2026 there will be two appointments at the Teatro Sociale in Città Alta, the first of which, on the evening of Thursday, March 19 (8:30 p.m.,) will first propose the new trio of pianist Franco D’Andrea, excellence of jazz made in Italy, who will have at his side two exceptional companions of adventure such as double bassist Gabriele Evangelista, also a regular partner of Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani, and drummer Roberto Gatto, a veteran of endless musical battles to the sound of cymbals and drums. From blues to early jazz, to its more advanced forms and pure invention, D’Andrea, Evangelista and Gatto recover from the origins of jazz a bluesy feeling that permeates its poetics to give life to a free, joyful and extremely communicative music.

The same evening will feature the quartet of Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana, whose brilliant technical background is well balanced by an increasingly personal stylistic figure, daughter of Sonny Rollins but also of Wayne Shorter, as revealed by her recent album Echoes Of The Inner Prophet.

On Sunday 22 (at 5 p.m.) Bergamo Jazz 2026 will open to the sophisticated mix of pop and jazz by Simona Molinari and her show “La Donna è Mobile,” a musical and theatrical journey that tells the female figure through music and its infinite nuances, inspired by Verdi’s iconic aria. On stage, alongside the singer, an all-female band composed of musicians with vast experience in various musical fields: saxophonist and flutist Chiara Lucchini, pianist Sade Mangiaracina, bassist Elisabetta Pasquale and drummer Francesca Remigi. Together they will all reinterpret an eclectic repertoire ranging from opera to contemporary sounds, through the elegance of Lucio Dalla and the intense atmospheres of Milly, to the energy of Billie Eilish.

As already mentioned, the Bergamo Jazz 2026 program will be complemented by events hosted, even in the morning and late into the evening, in other theaters, museums and venues, bringing jazz music into contact with the fabric of the city, infecting it with its spirit of adventure, with its universal message of peace and dialogue between different peoples. A timely and necessary message especially in complex times such as the ones we are living.

L'articolo BERGAMO JAZZ 2026: 47th edition preview | Concerts at Teatro Donizetti and Teatro Sociale proviene da Bergamo Jazz Festival.