PORDENONE INTERNATIONAL SACRED MUSIC FESTIVAL

The International Festival of Sacred Music was born in Pordenone in 1991 with the aim of establishing a point of reference for an all-out investigation on the themes of the Sacred and spiritual inspiration in music. A characteristic feature is the openness to an interreligious dialogue and to a moment of encounter and comparison between different cultures and traditions; a line that we believe is very necessary in this particular historical moment, which brings with it such epochal changes from a social, cultural, political and religious point of view.

• From the very beginning, the Festival has been proposed as a kind of laboratory, where multiform instrumental ensembles, new musical languages and the most diversified repertoires related to the theme of the Sacred find space. The great tradition of Western cultured music meets extra-European traditions; the great sacred repertoire, rich in absolute masterpieces, meets popular tradition; the old confronts the new.
• More and more often the Festival welcomes new productions. It also commissions to established composers or talented young people new works from scratch, related to the theme of specific annual editions. The opening up to the contemporary becomes a characterizing feature, but also a bet on the future. Therefore, there are often young interpreters alongside young authors, thanks to the collaboration with Italian Conservatories and European Academies.
• Concerts are held mostly in November at the Cathedral San Marco in Pordenone, full of history and works of art (it has a precious Nacchini organ from 1749 and the wonderful frescoes of Giovanni Antonio Pordenone). However, there are other offices in the city or in the region when the repertoire requires it, thanks to a network of collaborations with associations and institutions.

The Festival has also been including collateral initiatives for years, such as art exhibitions, workshops for schools, master classes, conferences and meetings, which give the overall project a multidisciplinary connotation and a wider temporal distribution.