| Following this summer’s auditions, in which 10 ensembles comprising a total of 57 musicians took part, the 31st edition of the Euregio Premio Bonporti comes alive in Rovereto from 22 to 25 October. An important new development: for the first time in the competition’s thirty-year history, we will hear Bonporti’s motets; indeed, this edition of the competition (the fourteenth for ensembles) is characterised by the compulsory inclusion of a vocal part (one singer per group). This will give us the opportunity not only to enjoy Bonporti’s motets but also to hear a wide variety of 17th- and 18th-century vocal-instrumental music performed by the ensembles. The delightful Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio will thus resound with church music by Bonporti, Alessandro Scarlatti, Corelli, Pergolesi, Telemann, Biber and Bach, as well as by Ignazio de Jerusalem y Stella (born in Lecce but who later moved to Mexico), and the Peruvian José de Orejón y Aparicio. The beautiful hall at Palazzo Alberti Poja, where the chamber music round will take place, will resound with the music of Vivaldi, Handel, Bonporti, Torelli, Scarlatti and Marin Marais, as well as the less familiar works of Ciampi, Cassanéa di Mondonville and the Italian-born, Peruvian-naturalised composers José de Nebra and Roque Ceruti. We shall discover not only young talents but also South American Baroque music, another aspect of the international character that has always distinguished the Premio Bonporti. This year’s competition is chaired by the renowned oboist Alfredo Bernardini, a professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. He will be joined by the great singer Gloria Banditelli, the versatile German violinist Mechthild Karkow, Romano Vettori (musicologist and artistic director of the Accademia di Musica Antica) and the dynamic Japanese harpsichordist Takashi Watanabe. The latter won First Prize at the 2004 Bonporti Competition with his Ensemble Ricreation d’Arcadia (with Gustav Leonhardt as President of the Jury) and is returning to the Jury for the second time. The three ensembles that have passed the rigorous online selection process and which we will see in Rovereto are (in alphabetical order): Aura Furiosa – Auroras Mestizas – Quarterino. There will be a total of eighteen musicians from these groups, hailing from no fewer than 10 countries, both in Europe and across the Atlantic: Turkey, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Peru, Portugal, Belgium, Greece and the United States. We shall hear them perform in two splendid Baroque buildings: we would like to thank Rovereto Town Council for hosting us in the magnificent frescoed hall of Palazzo Alberti Poja for the Chamber Music concert (Friday 23 October at 8.30 pm) and the Parish of San Marco, which is welcoming us to the marvellous church of Santa Maria del Suffragio for the Church Music concert (Saturday 24 October at 8.30 pm), thanks to the generosity of the Parish of San Marco. The competition is also an opportunity to discover these local treasures. On Sunday 25 October at 11.00, we will return to Palazzo Alberti Poja for the prize-giving ceremony. This will be enhanced by a musical performance by the winners and will conclude with a toast: a lovely opportunity for the audience to meet the musicians and the jury. Free admission. As space at Palazzo Alberti Poja is limited, we recommend booking your place for the concert on Friday 23 October by sending a WhatsApp message or calling 333 4813958. For the other events, just turn up! We look forward to seeing you there! |
 Aura Furiosa Auroras Mestizas Quarterino |
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