Barocco Festival Leonardo Leo

A festival born to rediscover Leonardo Leo

The Barocco Festival Leonardo Leo is one of the longest-running and most prestigious early music festivals in Southern Italy. Established in 1997 by the municipal administration of San Vito dei Normanni, in the province of Brindisi, the festival's mission is to recover the memory and promote the art of Leonardo Leo (1694-1744). A native of San Vito and one of the most authoritative exponents of the 18th-century Neapolitan school, Leo was a prolific composer of sacred works, oratorios, cantatas, and melodramas performed throughout Europe.

A touring festival through historic sites

The festival follows a touring format: concerts are not held in a single venue but travel through the most evocative locations in the Puglia region, chosen for their beauty and ability to recreate a Baroque atmosphere. Every year, the program visits the Castello Dentice di Frasso in San Vito dei Normanni, the Cloister of the Dominicans, and the Basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria, as well as the Svevo Castle of Brindisi, the Norman-Swabian Castle of Mesagne, and various historic churches in Lecce, bringing great early music into castles, courtyards, rock-hewn caves, and ancient naves.

Artistic direction and performers

The artistic direction is entrusted to Maestro Cosimo Prontera, a harpsichordist and organist who founded the ensemble La Confraternita de' Musici, a group specialized in performing early music on period instruments using philological practices. Over the years, the festival has hosted international soloists and ensembles, alternating instrumental concerts, comic operas such as Pergolesi's La serva padrona, oratorios, sacred music, and encounters between the Baroque repertoire and other genres, such as jazz.

Awards and institutional support

Having grown over time, the Barocco Festival received the High Patronage of the President of the Republic in 2007 and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Puglia Region. The festival is promoted by the City of San Vito dei Normanni in collaboration with the Municipality of Brindisi and, in various editions, the Municipalities of Mesagne and Lecce, with the patronage of the Province of Brindisi and the Archdiocese of Brindisi-Ostuni.

A summer appointment for the territory

Taking place between late summer and autumn, from August to October, the festival has become a defining event for San Vito dei Normanni and the entire Puglia region: an opportunity to rediscover often-forgotten musical heritage in a continuous dialogue between the memory of Leonardo Leo, the historic sites of the Salento area near Brindisi, and an audience of enthusiasts and curious visitors.