Capo di Leuca Festival - International Chamber Music Review

The Capo di Leuca Festival in Gagliano del Capo

The Capo di Leuca Festival - International Chamber Music Review is one of the most distinctive summer musical events in lower Salento: a traveling festival that, in the heart of summer, transforms sixteen municipalities on the southern tip of Apulia into a large, widespread stage dedicated to chamber music. Among these towns is Gagliano del Capo, in the Province of Lecce, a village overlooking the extreme edge of the Salento peninsula, just a few kilometers from Santa Maria di Leuca.

Chamber music in the "Vincenzo Ciardo" Library Cloister

In Gagliano del Capo, the festival finds its ideal setting in the cloister of the "Vincenzo Ciardo" Municipal Library, an intimate and atmospheric space that hosts concerts on summer evenings. The format is the festival's signature: open-air evening performances, free admission, and programs ranging from classical music to opera, and from the Romantic repertoire to 20th-century masterpieces, performed by internationally acclaimed soloists and ensembles.

A widespread international festival

Founded in 2021 and directed by the young pianist Alessandro Licchetta, the festival is promoted by the Eleusi APS association and brings together dozens of artists from all over the world every year for a long series of traveling concerts. Alongside the evening performances, the festival dedicates ample space to the training of young instrumentalists through masterclasses held by world-class performers, fostering a dialogue between generations of musicians that involves both residents and tourists.

A festival for the territory

By bringing great chamber music to the smaller towns of the Capo di Leuca area, the event enhances the historical, architectural, and landscape heritage of Salento: concerts are held in churches, chapels, castles, cloisters, and squares, offering the public the opportunity to discover often overlooked gems. The festival is supported by the Regional Council of Apulia and the Province of Lecce, and benefits from the collaboration of local cultural institutions, such as the "Tito Schipa" Conservatory of Lecce.

When it takes place

The Capo di Leuca Festival takes place during the summer, typically between July and September. Dates for the 2026 edition have not yet been announced; in recent years, the Gagliano del Capo stop has taken place in early August.