Theresia’s plans for 2024: ongoing projects and new collaborations

What lies ahead in 2024? After retracing the most important initiatives that shaped the past year, our gaze naturally turns to the new projects and programmes in the upcoming year. We’ve sought insights from Mario Martinoli, Artistic Director of Theresia and the visionary Founder and Co-chair of Fondazione ICONS, to give us a preview of Theresia’s plans for 2024.

“After the whirlwind of activities last year, when we played so much, we’ve made a conscious decision to take things a bit slower in 2024. Our aim is to return to a pace that is more like our pre-pandemic activities! This decision is couple with the notable development of EUBO joining ICONS, which has increased our organisational efforts significantly. Moreover, the outlook for 2025 is already promising to be an exhilarating and particularly busy year when we have engagements lined up in Germany and Poland as significant highlights on our calendar. 

The first residency of 2024 will be taking place in Lodi, the hometown of our Foundation: the musical programme is focusing on Haydn’s “Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross”, conducted by Alfredo Bernardini. After the first concert in Lodi, we are happy to return to the two friendly cities of Rovereto and Ravenna for further concerts. 

Another nice return, I would even call it a tradition, is our July residency in Geneva. This time we are set to perform Beethoven’s Second Symphony in a chamber music transcription, conducted by Chiara Banchini. This venture is part of a wide-ranging project: extending our performances of the Sixth and Seventh Symphonies. Our goal is to study and perform all transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies, an artistic endeauvour of which our host festival, Les Concerts d’été à St-Germain, is exceptionally supportive.

Theresia has consistently provided a blend of ongoing projects and never-ending innovation: will there be new collaborations in 2024?

Absolutely! The brilliant and accomplished conductor Enrico Onofri will conduct our orchestra for the first time in a project we entitled “Mozart Alpha and Omega”: the musical programme includes various works by Mozart, featuring Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 41 among others. The residency is planned for October in Ravenna, with concerts scheduled both in Ravenna and Nova Gorica, Slovenia.

On a different note, a consistent highlight in recent years has been the annual opera production with the Reate Festival: will this collaboration continue in 2024?

Yes, it will. In October, we will return to Rieti and Rome for a new production of Giuseppe Gazzaniga’s “Don Giovanni” under the direction of Alessandro De Marchi. While everyone knows the title very well, the composer is relatively unknown today. It is intriguing to rediscover this opera, written in early 1787, only a few months before Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” which dates from the same year. Interestingly, it seems that Da Ponte, the librettist for Mozart’s opera, attended the successful premiere of Gazzaniga’s opera in Venice, drawing inspiration for the libretto he would later be invited to write for Mozart’s acclaimed opera.

I believe you’re not only working on music productions but on other projects that will enrich Theresia’s activities too. The latest is Fondazione ICONS joining Mozart Ways – could you tell us more about that?

Mozart Ways is the network of cities associated with Mozart, – those where Mozart resided or visited during his travels. Although Lodi holds its own place as a Mozart city, it has not been part of this network until now. As a Foundation, we are very happy that this is now happening, and anticipate that our inclusion will expand and strengthen our collaborations. Mozart Ways is not the only network we’ve become part of:  Fondazione ICONS is now also an official partner in the New European Bauhaus, a network supported by the European Commission, dedicated to fostering initiatives that are both “enriching, sustainable, and inclusive.” For us, this represents a challenge to amplify our creativity, aligning with the musicians’ desire to experiment, which we have seen and proven to be a key motivator for those who join us. 

Stay tuned to the blog for upcoming insights into these two significant new collaborations, and keep following us: 2024 is evolving into another year of satisfaction and musical excitement of the highest order!