Dawn Concert

The Dawn Concert in Ortona

The Dawn Concert is one of the most poetic events of the summer in Ortona, a city on the Trabocchi Coast in the province of Chieti, Abruzzo. Every year, on the night of August 10th—the night of San Lorenzo, when the sky fills with shooting stars—the public gathers at the first light of day in Piazza del Teatro Francesco Paolo Tosti to listen to symphonic music as the darkness slowly yields to the light over the Adriatic.

At 5:30 AM, when the square wakes up to music

The appointment is set for 5:30 AM: an unusual time that is an integral part of the event's charm. The star of the show is the Tosti Symphony Orchestra, a group of young musicians conducted by Maestro Paolo Angelucci, offering programs that harmonize with the suspended atmosphere of dawn. The square, the heart of Ortona's historic center overlooking the sea, becomes an open-air theater where notes and the first rays of sun intertwine.

A tradition born in 2016

The concert was born in 2016 from an idea by Lorenza Sorino of the Unaltroteatro association. What started almost as a gamble—imagining the Piazza del Teatro Tosti filling up at dawn to listen to music—has transformed over the years into a fixed and beloved appointment for the community. The initiative is held under the patronage of the Municipality of Ortona and is part of the Estate Ortonese program, which enlivens the city with dozens of events between July and September.

A program that changes every year

Each edition features a different theme and repertoire, ranging from classical music to great film scores. The recurrence of the night of San Lorenzo, with its shooting stars and wishes cast to the sky, naturally aligns with the choice of pieces, designed to accompany the transition from night to day.

Ortona and the Trabocchi Coast

Attending the Dawn Concert is also an opportunity to discover Ortona, a town overlooking the Adriatic, with its Aragonese Castle, the historic center, and the nearby Trabocchi Coast. The experience of waiting for the dawn in the square, wrapped in music, remains one of the most intense memories of the Abruzzo summer for those who attend.