XXIV International Festival 'Italian Brass Week' International Competitions, Masterclasses and Concerts
The Love that moves the Sun and the other Cosmic Light Stars of the Universe in Brass
The numbers of the XXIV Italian Brass Week international festival
A real numerical pyramid marked the extraordinary success of the 24th edition of the Italian Brass Week International Festival, held in Florence from 23 to 28 July, dedicated to Roger Bobo, another founding member of the Festival. “Legend of the Tuba”, as well as Dale Clevenger, first horn of the Chicago Symphony from 1966 to 2013, Honorary President from the birth of the Festival until 2021, and titled “L'Amor che move il Sole e l'altre Stelle. Cosmic lights from the Universe in Brass", a tribute to Dante, to the last verse of the Paradise of the Comedy of the Supreme Poet, to the Love that unites the international stars of the brass world of one of the 15 great festivals of the 2023 Estate Fiorentina.
Here are the numbers, from top to bottom.
1 volcanic Artistic Director, Maestro Luca Benucci, first horn of the Maggio Musicale Orchestra
Fiorentino, teacher of the Fiesole School of Music Foundation onlus; 1 very efficient organizational staff – made up of Paride Canu, Benedetta Borghi, Giada Ionà, Sabrina Malavolti Landi, Federico Caponi, Andrea Beggio, Giacomo Santoni, Giacomo and Niccolò Benucci, Anika Persiani, Franca Zani, Marilisa Santoro, Alvaro
Barbancho, Emilia Galli, Benjamin Premstaller – ; 1 international competition 'Wings to Talent' dedicated to
young people, for their training and development in the world of brass instruments; 1 world première dedicated to contemporary music that winds its way along the course of the Arno River, Ponte Vecchio and the Lungarno
Maria Luisa de' Medici. The composition written by Maestro Francesco Traversi, already multi-awarded at the Global Awards in Los Angeles, was commissioned by the Festival and is the heart of the project chosen and supported by Publiacqua SpA. Soloists and students of the Festival performed Golden Water Mirror, a symphonic poem "urban", for large orchestra of brass and percussion, which wants to celebrate the Arno river precisely where this, in its delicate gait, almost grants itself an enchanted stop, an obsequious "bow" to the City of Florence, precisely at the point where it reflects its magnificence on the waters of the river: the "magic square" enclosed between Ponte Vecchio, the Vasari Corridor and the facing buildings of Via de' Bardi, which
natural extension of the Lungarno Torrigiani; 2 main sponsors: the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze Foundation and Publiacqua SpA; 3 national newspapers that gave resonance to the festival: Corriere della Sera-
Corriere Fiorentino, The Nation and the Republic; 4 television and radio broadcasts of the national radio and TV media which disseminated the Festival calendar with the interview with the Artistic Director for Radio RAI 3 and the special dedicated to the Main Event with the world premiere of Golden Water Mirror by Maestro Francesco Traversi on TGR Toscana RAI 3, Novaradio Città Futura with the interview during the press conference in the Hall
Macconi, Rete Toscana Classica with the special 'Music Chronicles' directed by Luca Berni; 7 evening concerts, offered to citizens and tourists in the most extraordinary locations of the three cities: Le Pavoniere, the Basilica of Santa Croce, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Ponte Vecchio and the Arno, the Arengario of Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria;
8 technical sponsors: Miraphone, Tatu Mutes, Birra Terra di Lavoro, Trattoria-pizzeria Santa Lucia, Le
Pavoniere, Il pinolo restaurant-pizzeria, Giacav, Piazza del Vino restaurant; 8 partners of the Festival: Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Estate Fiorentina 2023, ANBIMA APS (National Association of Bands
Italian Autonomous Musical APS), the Basilica of Santa Croce - Opera di Santa Croce, the Florentine Chamber Orchestra, the Association of Friends of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Florence Canottieri Society,
the cultural association 'I Renaioli'; 9 sponsoring institutions: the Municipality and the Metropolitan City of Florence, the Tuscany Region, the international consulates and embassies of Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Portugal,
Holland, United States of America; 12 media partners: Musical Awakening ANBIMA APS, Rete Toscana Classica, Toscana Tascabile, The Florentine, Suonare news, Amadeus, Visit Florence, Italia & Friends, Firenze Notte,
Nine from Florence, GoGo Florence, Teatrionline; 16 teachers, professors and international soloists engaged in masterclasses, conference-concerts and evening concerts throughout the week: Rex Richardson –
international soloist, Virginia Commonwealth University lecturer, Royal Northern College of Music and Yamaha artist; Omar Tomasoni – first solo trumpet of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, member of the Italian Wonderbrass, professor at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Yamaha artist; Andrea Dell'Ira – first trumpet of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra and professor at the 'Rinaldo Franci' Higher Institute of Musical Studies in Siena; Andrea Giuffredi – usual international, youtuber and professor at the Civic School of Milan; Luca Benucci – principal horn of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, professor at the Fiesole School of Music, international soloist; Jorg Bruckner – principal horn of the Munich Philharmonic, professor at the Franz Liszt University in Weimar; Olivier Darbellay – principal horn of the Bern Symphony Orchestra, professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Lucerne and Lausanne; Zoltan Kiss – international soloist, lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, member of the Mnozil Brass; Lito Fontana – international soloist, Professor of the 'Claudio Monteverdi' Conservatory of Bolzano and of the 'Francesco Morlacchi' Conservatory of Perugia, artist Schagerl; Ryunosuke (Pepe) Abe – trombone and euphoinium soloist and international teacher, director of the Brass Band 'Camellia', artist Adams; Antonio Sicoli – trombone of the Rome Opera Theater Orchestra, professor at the Fiesole School of Music; David Childs – International Soloist, University of North Texas Lecturer, Eminence Brass Member, Cardiff Symphonic Winds Artistic Director, Dallas Brass Band Principal Conductor, Artist Buffet Crampon; Mario Barsotti – tuba soloist of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, professor at the Fiesole School of Music; Gianluca Grosso – tuba soloist of the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome; Sérgio Carolino – tuba soloist of the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, artistic director of GRAVÍSSIMO! - Alcobaça International Low Brass Festival, lecturer at the faculty of
Musical Arts of the University of Madrid; Filippo Lattanzi – international solo percussionist; 18 sponsors and exhibitors: Miraphone, Adams Brass, Adams Percussion, Pauletto, Paxman, Sakaino Kruspe, Buffet and Crampon, Besson, Shires, Shilke, Gewa Music, Padovani Ltd, Bim Editions, Porfa, King, Conn, Bach,
Charged Musical Instruments; 19 countries of the world all gathered in our city: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Iran, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, USA, Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic, England,
Holland, Lithuania, Russia, Japan, China; 101 effective students of the masterclasses.
