Florence Youth FESTIVAL - World Sacred Music Week

EASTER WORLD SACRED MUSIC WEEK
Florence - Chiesa di Santo Stefano al Ponte Vecchio

Easter 2003 saw the birth of our renowned World Sacred Music Week festival in the Chiesa di Santo Stefano al Ponte in Florence, which has since continued and developed with great success each year during Holy Week. The festival runs for one week before Easter and offers up to 3 concerts a day, for a total of c. 18-20 throughout the week. Quality youth, amateur and professional ensembles from all corners of the globe unite to present over 5 centuries of beautiful sacred music, ranging from solo performances of the Goldberg Variations to mass choral-symphonic productions of the Verdi, Brahms, Mozart, Faure Requiems and Beethoven's 9th symphony. The festival has been enriched by and internationally recognised for its organisation of joint productions and stunning performances of ensembles from India, Morocco, Cuba, Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, and the USA. As well as including major religious works from the classical Western repertoire, the festival has presented performances of Klezmer, Samaa, contemporary music (Arvo Part, Gubaidulina), gospel, cross-over projects, gregorian chant, traditional Sardinian polyphony and the famous Italian musicians Paolo Fresu and Mauro Pagani, who play rock/jazz/folk music heavily influenced by popular Eastern and Mediterranean traditions.