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Chamber Ensemble

Ballet

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associazione musicale

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conservatorium

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Instytucja kultury

Kuressaare

Estonia

XVI Saaremaa Opera Days July 25-29, 2023
Moldovan National Opera and Ballet named after Maria Bieşu

The Maria Bieșu Moldovan National Opera and Ballet (in Romanian Teatrul Naţional de Operă şi Balet "Maria Bieșu" din Republica Moldova) is one of the leading opera and ballet theaters in Eastern Europe. The theater has become known as a promoter of high-level music and theater arts and has given impetus to the international careers of many singers and dancers.

In addition to opera and ballet troupes, the theater hosts a symphony orchestra and a choir. The creative team of the theater is expected to have a high artistic level, and therefore the employees are selected from among the best graduates of Moldovan and foreign schools of fine arts. Opera and ballet soloists have won awards at numerous national and international festivals and competitions. Thanks to their education, talent and experience, a large part of the theater staff regularly cooperates with foreign theaters, playing title roles on prestigious European stages.

The repertoire of the opera theater includes both 18th-century baroque and 19th-century bel canto style works, as well as stage works in the minimalist style of the late 20th century. The theatre's production scripts vary from traditional productions with lavish sets and costumes to minimalist and modern conceptual productions. Keeping a beautiful balance between classical and modern music, the theater currently has 25 musical productions in its repertoire, which are presented to the audience in the vision of various Moldovan and foreign directors.

The ballet repertoire includes a dozen productions that stand out especially for respecting the strict style of classical ballet - both technically and creatively, classical ballet makes extremely high demands on dance artists. The ballet troupe prides itself on maintaining the traditions and highest standards of classical ballet, offering grace, fluidity of movement, balance and symmetry of choreography, and elaborate costumes and sets to discerning audiences.

Saaremaa Opera Festival

Approved

Italy

Sabbioneta Chamber Opera Festival

Croatia

Sacred Evening in Pakrac

Olomouc

Czech Republic

Olomouc is a city with a thousand year tradition of spiritual and musical life. The Czech prince Vratislav founded a bishopric in Olomouc as early as in 1063. The Olomouc diocese was elevated to archdiocese in 1777. Highly developed and lively musical activity of the past concentrated around the metropolitan chapter and brought prominent musicians not only to Olomouc but to the whole region. Outstanding composers and instrumentalists dedicated their lives to development and enrichment of its culture. The prominent renaissance polyphonist Jacobus Gallus was the choir master at St. Wenceslas cathedral, the Austrian composer and violinist Heinrich Ignaz Biber, and the Czech baroq composer Pavel Josef Vejvanovský lived and worked at the nearby Archbishop’s castle in Kroměříž. In 1767, W. A. Mozart, aged 11, visited Olomouc and allegedly composed his so called Olomouc symphony there. Other eminent composers left their imprint: Antonín Dvořák worked with the Žerotín choir and dedicated his largest oratorio St. Ludmila to them and Gustav Mahler conducted the orchestra of the German theatre in Olomouc. Ludwig van Beethoven dedicated his glorious Missa solemnis to the Archduke Rudolph of Hapsburg on the occasion of his inauguration as the archbishop of Olomouc and Leoš Janáček dedicated his Glagolitic Mass to the archbishop Prečan. Olomouc, the city in the heart of Moravia, with its rich spiritual and musical tradition, a myriad of marvels of both sacral and secular architecture, is predestined to host a sacred music festival.

 The Autumn Festival of Sacred Music was founded in 1994 and over the twenty-six years of its existence has become a major cultural event in Olomouc. Under the auspices of the archbishop of Olomouc and Moravian metropolitan Msgre Jan Graubner the Festival is organised by MUSICA VIVA in co-operation with the City of Olomouc, the Regional Authority of the Olomouc Region and the Czech Ministry of Culture. The prominent Czech conductor Stanislav Macura was the Festival’s co-founder and over a period of fifteen years served as its artistic director and conductor significantly influencing the Festival’s unique character. The dramaturgy draws upon the immensely rich heritage of brilliant composers of all nations without ignoring contemporary modern sacred music and observes ecumenical principles. The Festival has been recognised for the outstanding artistic quality of guest soloists and internationally renowned quality of vocal and instrumental ensembles. Radio recordings were made from the Festival concerts by Czech Radio, Radio Niederoesterreich (ORF), Slovak Radio and Polish Radio; concerts were broadcasted across Europe via international radio network of EBU. Twenty-five concerts were recorded and broadcasted in co-operation with Czech Television and TV Noe.

The founder of the Festival is the artistic agency ARS VIVA. From 2009 the Festival is organised by the civic society MUSICA VIVA in co-operation with the founding Agency.

Sacred Music Festival Olomouc

Rome

Sacrum International Festival

Matsumoto

Japan

Saito Kinen Festival

New Sarum

United Kingdom

Salisbury International Music Festival

Salzburg

Austria

The Salzburg Easter Festival was founded in 1967 by Herbert von Karajan. It lasts for ten days from the Saturday before Palm Sunday to Easter Monday itself, offering a high-quality programme of opera, orchestral and choral concerts, chamber music and additional events. With a new direction given by Nikolaus Bachler in 2023, the programme was expanded to include the genres of dance and electronic music.



After Herbert von Karajan’s death in 1989 and an “interregnum” of two years, Sir Georg Solti assumed the artistic direction of the Festival in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, Claudio Abbado was appointed Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival, five years after having been appointed as Herbert von Karajan’s successor as Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Abbado founded the chamber music series Kontrapunkte at the Festival, where members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and renowned soloists could be heard as chamber musicians. Sir Simon Rattle was appointed Claudio Abbado’s successor at the orchestra and the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2003, and he was the Festival’s Artistic Director until and including 2012.



From 2013 until 2022, the Salzburg Easter Festival has been on a new artistic footing: Christian Thielemann has been the Festival’s Artistic Director and the Staatskapelle Dresden was the new orchestra in residence. With Christian Thielemann as Artistic Director, the Easter Festival has enjoyed a brilliant renaissance at the highest artistic level while at the same time continuing the tradition whereby an exceptional, leading artistic personality is at the heart of the Festival, along with the orchestra that he conducts. There is a very special sense of having come full circle, not least because Christian Thielemann began his career as Herbert von Karajan’s musical assistant.

With his first programme as the Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival, Nikolaus Bachler is announcing a new path for this festival that is so steeped in tradition. Until 2026, a different top-class orchestra each year will come with its chief conductor to give guest performances in Salzburg, bringing its own unique sound culture to the Easter Festival. The first guest ensemble will be the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Andris Nelsons. The focus of the 2023 Easter Festival will be the Leipzig-born composer Richard Wagner, and it will include a new staging of Romeo Castellucci’s production of »Tannhäuser« and the world premiere of »Träume« [»Dreams«], by the choreographer Emanuel Gat.

From 2026, the Salzburg Easter Festival will once again have a permanent resident orchestra: the Berliner Philharmoniker. Herbert von Karajan founded the Easter Festival together with this orchestra in 1967 and now the orchestra is returning to the tradition-rich festival on the Salzach.

»Exciting years lie ahead – until 2025 we want to welcome a diYerent top orchestra to the Easter Festival every year,«says Nikolaus Bachler. »However, I am very pleased that we have succeeded in tying the founding orchestra to this very special festival again – because the Berliner Philharmoniker and Salzburg have a shared history of more than 45 years, which will blossom anew with principal conductor Kirill Petrenko from 2026.«

»I would like to congratulate those responsible for the Salzburg Easter Festival, especially Artistic Director Nikolaus Bachler, on signing the Berliner Philharmoniker under Kirill Petrenko from the 2026 season«, says Wilfried Haslauer, Governor of the State of Salzburg. »As one of the most important ensembles in the world with its distinctive profile, the orchestra shaped the Easter Festival for 46 years. The return to Salzburg is a continuation of a remarkable artistic and cultural success story and makes me extremely happy.«

Salzburg Easter Festival

Salzburg Taschenopernfestival

Naples

San Carlo Opera Festival

Madrid

Spain

San Lorenzo Festival

Latvia

Alternative Chamber Music Festival Sansusī
Every year Sansusī Chamber Music Festival brings together contemporary art lovers from all around the world and places them in the woods to experience the best music, theater, circus, and dance.

Residencies
The Sansusī Art Residence Center has been operating in Akniste since 2016. It has hosted almost 50 artists in various projects and continues to be open to projects of various contemporary art genres throughout the year. More information: rezidences@sansusi.lv

Production
Sansusī produces various concerts, performances, and operas. And one opera film.

The association Sansusī was founded in 2013 by a group of enthusiasts to organize an event in the courtyard of the guest house on the second weekend of August 2014 – an alternative chamber music festival Sansusī. Since then, the festival has been held annually. The original idea was to create an open-air chamber music festival combined with the atmosphere of a small rock festival – live in a tent, but listen to classical music. Although the festival program includes many chamber music opuses of different centuries and styles, one of the main focuses is the promotion of contemporary chamber music. Starting in 2016, the festival also includes other contemporary stage art forms – circus, dance, theater plays, and performance art. Great attention is paid to the presentation of works of art, which results in their display in non-traditional places and forms. One of the greatest joys of Sansusī is the joy of experimentation, which often surprises the audience.

Since 2015, the association Sansusī has expanded beyond the usual weekend in August. Now the association is also engaged in stage work and the production of various events and recordings. During these years, more than ten new works have been commissioned, such as chamber operas, theater plays, as well as stage works for children, and interdisciplinary stage and video works. There are also collaborations with various organizations that organize city celebrations, award ceremonies, corporate events, providing them with musical programs and artists.

Since 2016, Sansusī has also hosted a variety of artist residencies, initially featuring works created specifically for the festival, but later followed by various other residency programs. One of the most important Sansusī residency programs is Sansusī Well-being Residencies, established in 2017, where artists interact with the community of Sēlija County, especially with patients and staff of Aknīste Psychoneurological Hospital, residents of the social care center, and children in the area. Since 2017, the former festival home – guest house – has been transformed into the Sansusī Residence Center in Susēja.

Sansusī

Santa Fe

United States

Santa Fe Opera

Sarasota

Sarasota Opera Winter Festival

Sarzana

Sarzana Opera Festival

Savannah

Savannah VOICE Festival

Savonlinna

Finland

First-class opera in a medieval castle

The Savonlinna Opera Festival is Finland’s premiere cultural event. World renowned for its high-quality opera performances and concerts, every summer it brings music lovers from across the globe to the charming lakeside city of Savonlinna. The month-long festival is held in Olavinlinna, a towering medieval castle by Finland’s largest lake. This creates a uniquely dramatic ambiance for its 70 000 visitors. Once inside, festival-goers are dazzled by classics and rarely seen works as well as world premieres and visiting productions from esteemed opera houses like La Scala and the Bolshoi Theatre. 

Dramatic setting meets excellent acoustics

Built in 1475, Olavinlinna Castle is the world’s northernmost medieval castle still standing. Set on an island amidst the breathtaking beauty of Finnish Lakeland, during the festival, it’s illuminated by the white nights of the Finnish summer. Combine the castle’s extraordinary atmosphere with its excellent acoustics and covered auditorium in the courtyard, and it’s easy to see why the festival promises such an unparalleled opera experience.

A summer paradise in the Finnish Lakeland 

Savonlinna is located in southeast Finland in the heart of the Finnish Lakeland, Europe’s largest lake district. Built on a series of islands, the city is known for its tumultuous history near the Finnish border and its rugged nature. As a visitor, you can explore the area’s abundance of lakes, forests and wildlife, such as Lake Saimaa’s rare species of freshwater seal, the Saimaa ringed seal.

Organization Name	City, Country	Organization Type
Saaremaa Opera Festival	Kuressaare, Estonia	FestivalView profile
Sabbioneta Chamber Opera Festival	Italy	FestivalView profile
Sacred Evening in Pakrac	Croatia	FestivalView profile
Sacred Music Festival Olomouc	Olomouc, Czech Republic	FestivalView profile
Sacrum International Festival	Rome, Italy	FestivalView profile
Saito Kinen Festival	Matsumoto, Japan	FestivalView profile
Salisbury International Music Festival	New Sarum, United Kingdom	FestivalView profile
Salzburg Easter Festival	Salzburg, Austria	FestivalView profile
Salzburg Taschenopernfestival	Salzburg, Austria	FestivalView profile
San Carlo Opera Festival	Naples, Italy	FestivalView profile
San Lorenzo Festival	Madrid, Spain	FestivalView profile
Sansusī	Latvia	FestivalView profile
Santa Fe Opera	Santa Fe, United States	FestivalView profile
Sarasota Opera Winter Festival	Sarasota, United States	FestivalView profile
Sarzana Opera Festival	Sarzana, Italy	FestivalView profile
Savannah VOICE Festival	Savannah, United States	FestivalView profile
Savonlinna Opera Festival	Savonlinna, Finland	FestivalView profile
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival	Lübeck, Germany	FestivalView profile
Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen	Ettlingen, Germany	FestivalView profile
Schlossfestspiele Langenlois	Langenlois, Austria	FestivalView profile

Arts Organisations / Festival