Lerici Music Festival 2026: Music, Images, and Words from the Water

From July 22nd to August 2nd, the Golfo dei Poeti returns to be an international hub of art, encounters, and beauty. The Lerici Music Festival, founded and directed by Gianluca Marcianò, celebrates its tenth edition by inaugurating a new artistic cycle dedicated to the four elements of nature. 2026 is entirely dedicated to Water (and in particular the Sea), a defining element of Liguria and a universal symbol of movement, memory, and transformation.

This year's program intertwines operas, symphonic concerts, recitals, and performances in a multidisciplinary narrative in which music dialogues with space, light, and words. The stages will be the most evocative locations in the area: from the historic Villa Marigola to the new Shelley Literary Park, from the Opificio Vaccari to the magical Marinella di San Terenzo, up to a special stop at the Teatro Impavidi in Sarzana.

The Concert Program at Villa Marigola

• July 22 | 9:15 PM - Villa Marigola
  Homer's Odyssey in Jazz: Odyssey
  Artists: Paul Lay Trio
  
  The sea of ​​the Odyssey is transfigured into a jazz itinerary suspended between arrivals, loss, and returns. An elegant and visionary flow of improvisation.
  
  
• July 23 | 11:00 AM - Villa Marigola
  Water as Sound: Piano Landscapes
  Artists: Irina Ten (piano)
  Music by: Debussy, Ravel, Liszt
  
  Water as a sonic material and a continuous metamorphosis, from the refined Impressionist timbre fades to Liszt's visionary landscapes.
  
  
• July 23 | 9:15 PM - Villa Marigola
  Schubert: Water, Time and the Human Soul
  Artists: M. Varghese (soprano), U. Malinina (mezzo-soprano), G. Pieranunzi (violin), F. Fiore (viola), P. Sanarica (cello), S. Bianchi (double bass), N. Ventura (piano)
  Music by: Schubert (Water Songs and the Trout Quintet)
  
  The flow of water as a metaphor for time and the human condition in a masterpiece of chamber music.
  
  
• July 26 | 11:00 AM - Villa Marigola
  Water, Memory and Longing
  Artists: Ustinya Malinina (mezzo-soprano), Gianluca Marcianò (piano)
  Music by: Schubert, Schumann, Glinka, Tchaikovsky and traditional Russian songs
  
  An intimate recital that explores water as an interior landscape, guardian of memory, nostalgia, and hope.
  
  
• July 26 | 9:15 PM - Villa Marigola
  Reflections
  Artists: Alexander Boldachev (harp)
  
  An immersive experience conceived specifically for the Festival: a spontaneous dialogue between harp, poetry, improvisation, and the audience.
  
  
• July 27 | 9:15 PM - Villa Marigola
  Water as Memory and Inner Current
  Artists: Anna Kravtchenko (piano)
  Music by: Mozart, Schumann, Schubert/Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff
  
  Water as a spiritual flow and inner current, interpreted by one of the most profound and authoritative pianists of her generation.
  
  
• July 28 | 5:00 PM - Villa Marigola
  Shostakovich-120: From Imperial Russia to the Soviet Empire
  Curated by: Anna Soudakova-Roccia
  
  Multimedia cultural encounter. An immersive journey through unpublished photos, period films, and guided listening sessions to explore the public and private life of the great composer 120 years after his birth.
  
  
• July 28 | 9:15 PM - Villa Marigola
  Nature as Ethics
  Artists: Trio Palladio (Eva Bindere, Kristina Blaumane, Reinis Zariņš)
  Music by: Pēteris Vasks
  
  The Ensemble of the Year 2024 offers a meditative journey in which nature becomes a place of moral and spiritual reflection.
  
  
• July 29 | 11:00 AM - Villa Marigola
  Water as Vision
  Artists: Mikhail Farcossà (piano)
  Music by: Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mussorgsky
  
  A sonic journey in which the element of water manifests itself as a spiritual force, natural impetus, and mystical vision.
  
  
• July 29 | 9:15 PM - Villa Marigola
  Beyond the Pillars of Hercules
  Artists: Valeria Solarino (narrator), Gloria Campaner (piano)
  Texts by: Baudelaire, Whitman, Stevenson, Dante
  Music by: Debussy, Field, Chopin
  
  An evening in which poetry and music merge to narrate the journey as an archetype of discovery, a return to oneself, and the overcoming of limits.

The Festival closes with Water: Tradition and Creation, the event scheduled for Saturday, August 2nd, a grand final party with free admission beneath the Castle of San Terenzio, an event that combines the romantic tradition of Elgar with the evocative loincloth of the bandoneon and the legendary melodies of Morricone.

Side Events
🎨 Art Exhibition: My Horizons and You by Giovanni Ozzola
Villa Marigola, July 22 - August 2
Curated by: Carlo Orsini, in collaboration with Galleria Continua.

An exhibition of photography, sculpture, and video that reflects on the sea and the horizon, confirming the Festival's dialogue between music, visual arts, and the region.

☕ Breakfast Conversations (9:30 AM - Free Entry)
Close encounters with artists, curators, and essayists in the historic cafés and terraces of Lerici:

• Thursday the 23rd (Bar Costa): My Horizons and You with G. Ozzola, C. Orsini, E. Viola.
• Friday the 24th (Bar Colibrì): Reflets dans l'eau: The Sound of Water in European Music with G. Bietti, C. Sorba.
• Monday the 27th (Giardini Lungomare Vassallo): Tuning the Space with L. Moro, G. Manzotti, C. Orsini.
• Wednesday the 29th (Terrazza Hotel Shelley): Taste of Salt. Genoese Singer-Songwriters in the Italy of the Boom with Nando Fasce, C. Sorba.
• Friday the 31st (Terrazza Hotel Shelley): Water Ikebana: Solid and Liquid in the Work of a Contemporary Artist with I. Bonacossa, L. Trevisani.

For the complete Festival program and to purchase tickets, visit www.lericimusicfestival.org.