Strumenti&Musica Festival 2026 at Theater Caio Melisso in Spoleto

Last Saturday, November 7, a packed Teatro Caio Melisso-Carla Fendi in Spoleto welcomed the final performance of Route 66, a concert for accordions and string orchestra, as part of the seventeenth edition of the Strumenti&Musica Festival. Having previously performed in Prague and Nuremberg alongside the NeoKlasik Orchestra, soloists Mirco Patarini, Stefan Hippe and Ladislav Horák brought Route 66 to the Umbrian city with the Musici Lirienses orchestra, conducted by Maestro Alessandro Cedrone. For the three accordionists, this marked the final date of a celebratory tour through their respective hometowns, held in honour of their sixtieth birthdays (all three were born in 1966, hence the name of the concert). Spoleto is, in fact, the hometown of Mirco Patarini, current president of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA), as well as founder and artistic director of the Strumenti&Musica Festival. As for the other two protagonists, Horák is the artistic director of the International Accordion Days in Prague, the event that first hosted Route 66, and the first Czech accordionist to receive the CIA Merit Award, in 2024. Hippe, meanwhile, is an example of musical versatility, equally active as a performer and composer. Indeed, he wrote two of the pieces performed on November 7: Capriccioso and Concerto for Freedom, the latter performed in concert by all three Maestros. The Musici Lirienses orchestra never abandoned ship (the stage), and their captain, conductor Alessandro Cedrone, maintained a firm hand on the helm throughout. After all, the sound waves that filled the Teatro Caio Melisso were far from creasing uncharted waters for the ensemble: 2026 marks the third edition of the Strumenti&Musica Festival in which the musicians have taken part. The artists entertained an audience of approximately 300 with a programme of seven pieces: Concierto para quinteto (A. Piazzolla), Akordino, op. 56 (O. Kukal), Capriccioso (S. Hippe), Concerto 1 (R. Di Marino), La Muerte de l’Angel (A. Piazzolla), Concerto for Freedom (S. Hippe) and Balkan Dance from “Jovano Jovanka” (arranged by Alfredo Cornacchia). It was Ennio Morricone’s Tema d’Amore, from the soundtrack of Cinema Paradiso, that brought the evening to a close, bidding farewell to the audience and guiding them away from Route 66 and onto the journey offered by the Strumenti&Musica Festival. Among the events scheduled as part of the festival are the “Città di Spoleto” International Piano Competition, the concert NO CAGE by Simone Zanchini, taking place in the Sala XVII Settembre at the Teatro Gian Carlo Menotti at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21, and a return to the Caio Melisso Theatre with the Quartetto Pozzoli, who will take to the stage with Pozzoli e dintorni… at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 22.