Over the past few years, the Smarano International Academy has steadily expanded its mission, evolving from a specialised summer school into an international centre for advanced training, research, and cultural production devoted to early music. This development has been driven by an ever-growing network of scientific and artistic partnerships, the participation of faculty and students from around the world, increasingly close collaboration with local communities, and the creation of interdisciplinary projects that bring together music, cultural heritage, and the visual arts. The 2026 edition marks another important milestone in this journey. Alongside the well-established Smarano Early Keyboards Academy and the Smarano Academy Music Festival, this year’s programme introduces new collaborations, including the arrival in Smarano of the Le Arpe in Villa Festival, as well as nationally supported interdisciplinary initiatives and an increasingly diverse programme combining advanced musical training, concert production, educational activities, and heritage enhancement. From July through August, the village of Smarano and several of the most remarkable historic venues in the Val di Non will become the setting for a season bringing together musicians, scholars, students, and audiences through concerts, artistic residencies, workshops, lectures, and public events, reaffirming the Academy’s role as an international centre of excellence for the study of early music while remaining deeply rooted in its local cultural landscape. The Smarano Academy Music Festival, taking place from 22 July to 26 August in the Val di Non, will present more than a month of concerts and special projects across some of Trentino’s most beautiful historic venues. The festival is organised around four thematic strands, each exploring a different perspective on the performance and appreciation of early music. Admission to all events is by voluntary donation unless otherwise indicated.

The Academy Concerts

The Academy Concerts series showcases recitals by the Academy’s international faculty. The festival opens on 23 July with organist Joel Speerstra performing at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. On 24 July, the Academy Concert Hall will host Harald Vogel together with members of the faculty in a programme devoted to the clavichord, organ, and harpsichord. On 25 July, harpsichordist Enrico Baiano will present a solo recital, followed on 26 July by Hans Davidsson and Ulrika Davidsson in a programme featuring organ and fortepiano at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. The series continues on 28 July with harpsichordist Salvatore Carchiolo, while on 29 July the festival moves to the Basilica of the Holy Martyrs in Sanzeno, where Bernard Foccroulle performs together with soprano Alice Foccroulle and cornettist Lambert Colson. On 30 July, American organist Kola Owolabi takes the stage in the Academy Concert Hall, before the Smarano Early Keyboards Academy concludes its educational programme on 31 July with the traditional final students’ concert, presented across both the Academy Concert Hall and the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.

Encounters

The Encounters series broadens the Festival’s artistic horizons by fostering dialogue between performers, musical traditions, and interpretative approaches, offering audiences opportunities to explore both early music and programmes that engage with the wider classical repertoire. The first concert takes place on 10 August, featuring the Strings of the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, one of the region’s leading orchestras. Their participation reflects the Academy’s commitment to strengthening collaborations with major musical institutions throughout Trentino-Alto Adige. The series concludes on 25 August with Les Amies Partimentistes, an ensemble comprising Giovanna Barbati, Elena Bianchi, Mara Galassi, and Chiara Tiboni. United by their shared interest in historically informed performance and eighteenth-century European repertoire, the ensemble will present a programme highlighting the dialogue between historical instruments and the art of partimento, one of the central themes of the 2026 Academy.

Intersections

The Intersections series explores the dialogue between early music and the visual arts, presenting projects in which music becomes a means of interpreting images and reimagining cultural heritage. Photography, silent cinema, and improvisation come together in performances that transcend traditional artistic boundaries. The first event, on 16 August at Palazzo Endrici in Don, features harpsichordist Lorenzo Feder in a concert inspired by photographs by Romina Zanon, presented as part of the nationally funded project Framework of Artistic Perceptions: Organ Music Meets Photography, supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture through its Special Music Projects programme. Rather than serving as visual accompaniment, the photographs become the creative point of departure for a musical dialogue with their themes, atmospheres, and imagery. The accompanying exhibition will remain open from 16 to 30 August, Thursday through Sunday, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. On 18 August, Austrian organist Franz Danksagmüller will improvise a live soundtrack to the silent film Maciste Alpino (Italy, 1916), in collaboration with the Trento Film Festival and the National Museum of Cinema in Turin. The series concludes on 26 August, when Gabriele Agrimonti accompanies Arnold Fanck’s Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs (The Miracle of the Snowshoe) (Germany, 1922). Presented in collaboration with the Trento Film Festival and the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, the event demonstrates how live improvisation can offer contemporary audiences fresh perspectives on silent cinema masterpieces.

Music at Court

The Music at Court series brings early music into some of the Val di Non’s most remarkable castles, creating experiences that combine architectural heritage, landscape, music, and local gastronomy. The first concert takes place on 11 August at Castel Valer, where violinist Anna Maddalena Ghielmi and harpsichordist Lorenzo Ghielmi perform a programme of Baroque repertoire. Beginning at 7:00 pm, audiences may join a guided tour of the castle organised by APT Val di Non, followed by a tasting of regional products curated by the Strada della Mela e dei Sapori delle Valli di Non e di Sole, transforming the evening into a journey through music, history, and local traditions. The second event is scheduled for 20 August at Castel Thun, featuring the Velum Aureum Consort, an ensemble specialising in Renaissance and Baroque vocal and lute repertoire. As with the previous event, the concert will be preceded by guided tours of the castle and tastings of local food and wine. These events require booking.

Download the complete programme: Smarano Academy Music Festival 2026