Apennine Festival

A Journey into Mountain Songs

The Apennine Festival is one of the longest-running and most beloved choral events in the Marche region. Every year, in the splendid Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Montalto delle Marche, Province of Ascoli Piceno, the encounter between the great traditions of folk singing from the Alps and the Apennines is renewed. Choirs from across the Italian mountain range take turns in a program of alpine, folk, and mountain songs, accompanied by refined harmonies and brief historical-musical notes introducing each piece.

The History of the Festival

The event was born in 1988 from an idea by Maestro Patrizio Paci, founder and director of the Coro La Cordata, the association that still organizes and manages the event today. Since then, the Festival has taken place uninterruptedly, year after year, becoming a benchmark for mountain choral music enthusiasts throughout Central Italy. The voices of the choirs fill the nave of the Cathedral with songs that often recount painful human stories, linked to the hardship of work and war, but also moments of joy: ancient harvest festivals, courtship songs, and serenades.

The Choirs in the Spotlight

Each edition features some of the best Italian choral groups. Traditionally, the evening opens with I Giovani Cantori, the choir formed by students from the Rotella-Montalto Comprehensive Institute, followed by the host choir, Coro La Cordata. They are joined by guest choirs invited from various regions:

• choirs from Trentino and Val di Non, custodians of the great alpine tradition;
• choirs from Veneto and Lombardy, often affiliated with the Italian Alpine Club (CAI);
• choirs from Emilia and the Apennines, guardians of the folk repertoire of the valleys.

An Experience, Not Just a Concert

The Apennine Festival is more than just a concert; it's a human experience built on the fraternity that unites the choirs and the audience. The evening almost always concludes with a choral performance of «Signore delle cime» by Bepi De Marzi, sung together by all the participating groups, a moment that moves spectators every year. The event attracts enthusiasts from all over the Marche region, from Abruzzo, and from the entire Alpine range, testifying to the growing prestige of this gathering in Montalto delle Marche.

Montalto delle Marche

The village of Montalto delle Marche, an ancient episcopal seat of the Sibillini Mountains, provides the ideal setting for the Festival. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, with its intimate acoustics, is the perfect place to welcome the voices of the mountains and to experience a moment of music and collective memory in the heart of the Piceno region.