Take part in an Italian leisure-time orchestra festival

Fedioram, the Italian federation of leisure-time orchestras, has invited our orchestra members to participate in their third annual festival, taking place 1-4 November in Fossano.

Who is it for?

You can attend as an individual (65 Euros to take part in the 2 days of workshops followed by a performance, register on their website).

Or come with your whole orchestra (if a group/an entire orchestra takes part in the workshops, there will be a discount: email Tommaso Napoli, Chair of the Federation).

There will be activity at two levels – advanced and beginner. Advanced players will be working on Tchaikovsky, Symphony no.6 in B minor. Pathetic, op. 74, and beginner players on Vivaldi, Gloria RV 589 for soloists, chorus and orchestra.

What is the plan?

1 November – inaugural concert in the evening

2 & 3 November – 9.30am to 6pm (with extended lunchbreak) workshops at both levels running concurrently

The advanced level workshop will be conducted by Julius Kalmar; the other workshop will be led by Alberto Intrieri.

1/2/3 November evenings: concerts by visiting orchestras. Again, if you are attending with a whole orchestra, you can perform once or more; please programme at least 40 minutes of repertoire for a whole concert or if you want to bring fewer pieces, then you could be paired up with another orchestra for a joint event.

It is also possible, if you’re interested, to organise performance opportunities in other locations nearby for any of those evenings or evenings immediately preceding/following the festival.

4 November: late morning/lunchtime – performance of the pieces from the workshops. This will allow those who need to be back at work on 5 November to make it back home; but if you are able to stay, there will be a final celebration lunch for all participants in the afternoon.

Location and venues

The festival takes place in Fossano, Province of Cuneo in the Piedmont. Nearest airports are Turin, Genoa and Milan. Turin is the closest and from there Fossano can be reached by train.

Workshops will take place in the music school in Fossano.

Concerts will take place in venues around the town.

If you’re performing in a concert with your orchestra, there will be time for a pre-concert rehearsal and there will be a rehearsal space.

Language!

English is expected to be the language most used. Though we guess you’ll know already what ‘prestissimo’ means, even if your fingers won’t do it…

Large instruments…

There is a well-appointed music school in Fossano and they would be happy to hire out large instruments (e.g. double bass, percussion) where necessary, for which there is a charge.

Accommodation

If you’re on a tight budget, there are a limited amount of very affordable beds in a local hostel. Otherwise there are quite a large selection of hotels, B&Bs and rooms in Fossano, so it should be fairly easy and affordable to find somewhere to stay. 

Being a tourist…

The city of Fossano is very supportive of the festival and will help organise sightseeing trips if required and especially wine and food tastings if you're interested. The region is famous for truffles!