Musical afternoons and mornings with students from the Stefano Strata Academy of Music. The MusicaVerde festival, the fifth edition of the project to promote classical musical culture, resumes with the concert on Saturday, January 24 (5:30 pm). The Teatro Verdi offers the Ridotto stage to talented and deserving Academy students, scholarship winners, and masterclasses in guitar, violin, cello, and piano.
Founded in 2021 by the Pisa Theatre Foundation in collaboration with the Stefano Strata Academy of Music and its late director, Maestro Marco Borghini, MusicaVerde aims to promote new generations of musicians and introduce young people their peers to the knowledge and experience of classical music.
The first new feature of this fifth edition sees the entry of modern music into the mini-palimpsest Adolescents in Music, Strata's talents in concert for their middle school peers: the two concerts will be held on Wednesday, February 18th and March 18th at 10:45 am. Also scheduled for March 14th is a special concert by Maestro Flavio Cucchi in memory of Marco Borghini, with music by Brouwer, Borghese, Mainetti, Waill, and Piazzolla.
On Saturday the 24th at 5:30 pm, the opening concert of the festival will see the return of the Tuscan GuitarDuo composed by Gabriele Lanini and Chiara Festa with a program of music by Scarlatti, Lesur and Albéniz. This will be followed, on piano, by a performance by Gianluca Piretti, with music by Schubert, Chopin and Prokof’ev.
Promising talents of their generation, Gabriele Lanini and Chiara Festa regularly perform concerts during concert seasons in Italy and abroad, always gaining public and critical acclaim. Since 2015, the duo has achieved international recognition in various competitions, such as second prize at the “LIGITA International Competition” (Liechtenstein), one of the most prestigious guitar duo competitions in the world.
The Tuscan Guitar Duo is one of the rare guitar formations to present to the public the complete performance of JS's Goldberg Variations. Bach. The association was formed in 2014, during their studies under the guidance of Maestro Giampaolo Bandini, who led them to graduate with honors from the Institute of Higher Musical Education “L. Boccherini” in Lucca. Both as soloists and as a duo, they attended masterclasses with world-renowned musicians. The duo play on two guitars built especially for them by English Master Luthier Philip Woodfield. Both teach guitar at the Stefano Strata Academy of Music in Pisa.
Gianluca Piretti has distinguished himself with intense concert activity as a soloist and chamber musician in prestigious venues in Italy and abroad. In 2025, winner of first prize at the ClavierlandInternational Piano Competition, he performed at the MozartHaus in Vienna. He has attended numerous masterclasses with internationally renowned pianists and teachers, including Alexander Romanovsky, Federico Rovini, Francesca Costa, Maurizio Baglini, Michael Wessel, Claire Aebersold, Ralph Neiweem and Javier Artigas Pina. From the 2024/2025 academic year, he will combine academic studies with advanced studies under the guidance of Maestro Maurizio Baglini
All concerts will be introduced by Milli Russo, musicologist and president of the Strata Academy.
Tickets (8 euros) are already on sale at the box office of the Teatro Verdi (from Tuesday to Saturday at 11am-1pm; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, also at 4pm - 6pm) and can also be purchased by phone (050.941188) and online at www.vivaticket.com.
MUSICA VERDE 2026: the PROGRAM:
24 JANUARY 2026 at 5:30 pm:
Tuscan Guitar Duo – Chiara Festa and Gabriele Lanini
Music by D. Scarlatti, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco and I. Albéniz
Gianluca Piretti, piano
Music by F. Schubert, F. Chopin and S. Prokofiev
14 FEBRUARY 2026 at 5:30 pm:
Trio: Luigi Traino, piano – Alessio Mannelli, violin – Giulia Casini, cello
Music by B. Smetana
Duo: Luigi Traino, piano – Giulia Casini, cello
Music by J. Brahms
18 FEBRUARY 2026 at 10:45 am:
ADOLESCENTS IN MUSIC, modern music concert reserved for middle school students
21 FEBRUARY 2026 at 5:30 pm:
Simone Librale, piano
Music by R. Schumann
Duo: Alexander Sardon Trampus, violin – Simone Librale, piano
Music by L. van Beethoven
28 FEBRUARY 2026 at 5:30 pm:
Siqi Liao, piano
Music by W. A. Mozart
Duo: Michela Puca, violin – Laure Pinsmail, piano
Music by B. Bartók, N. Paganini and C. Debussy
14 MARCH 2026 at 5:30 pm:
Special concert by Maestro Flavio Cucchi in memory of Marco Borghini
Music by L. Brouwer, A. Borghese, S. Mainetti, K. Weill and A. Piazzolla
Piano four hands: Emma Bonaguidi – Matteo Franz Arrighini
Music by F. Schubert and C. M. Weber
18 MARCH 2026 at 10:45 am:
ADOLESCENTS IN MUSIC, classical music concert reserved for middle school students
28 MARCH 2026 at 5:30 pm:
Carlo Corrieri, guitar
Giuditta Ara, cello
Music by F. Tárrega, N. Paganini and I. Albéniz
Violin and piano duo: Alice Lombardini, violin – Alessio Ciprietti, piano
Music by C. Schumann and J. Brahms
