City of the Sassi Opera Festival

Opera in the City of the Sassi

For eighteen editions, the Città dei Sassi Opera Festival has demonstrated how opera can break free from traditional circuits and reach new audiences in unusual spaces. The setting is Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has inspired directors from Pasolini to Mel Gibson: a backdrop of ancient stone that dialogues with song and music.

'Opera in Spring' Opens the 18th Edition

The 2026 edition opens on April 11 at the San Giacomo Auditorium with 'Opera in Spring', an evening that intertwines opera and ballet. A large cast of young performers will be on stage: sopranos Alessandra Boccia, Romilda Di Serio, Claudia Ferrara, Vincenza Ferri, Maria Lorusso, Angela Scarano, Denise Tummariello, and Anna Terlimbacco, tenors Fedele and Leone, and baritones Dimatteo and Parziale.

A Festival for Young Talents

Artistically directed by Marilena Laurenza and organized by Lucania Arte Teatro Aps, one of the festival's missions is to promote young vocal talents from music schools in the Mezzogiorno. This choice makes the Matera event a springboard for new voices and an opportunity for a wider audience to discover opera.

A Year-Long Season

Inaugurated in the spring, the Città dei Sassi Opera Festival season continues throughout the year with further events in Matera's evocative spaces, in a calendar that accompanies the city as it celebrates its year as Mediterranean Capital of Culture.