Easter Festival

A music festival in the heart of Tuscany

The Easter Festival is a classical music event that brings Montepulciano, a stunning Renaissance village in the Province of Siena, Tuscany, to life every spring. Created to showcase the town's artistic and architectural heritage, the festival uses the area's churches, abbeys, and historic palaces as its natural stage, where the acoustics and beauty of the spaces engage in a dialogue with live music.

The festival's guiding theme is baroque music, complemented by the great classical and sacred repertoire. The first week is traditionally dedicated to the 17th and 18th centuries, featuring concerts during the Easter weekend, while the following weeks feature a rotation of chamber groups, specialized ensembles, and projects that blend music and culture.

Festival venues

Events take place in some of the most evocative locations in and around Montepulciano:

• Palazzo Contucci, in Piazza Grande, the festival's historic home, where you can hear the rare Conrad Graf fortepiano built in Vienna in 1826;
• the Chiesa del Gesù, a baroque jewel in the center of Montepulciano;
• the Pienza Cathedral, in the nearby ideal city commissioned by Pope Pius II, a UNESCO World Heritage site;
• the Abbey of SS. Salvatore in Abbadia San Salvatore and other local churches and abbeys.

Between ancient music and new languages

Alongside the concerts, the festival offers a journey that goes beyond pure musical performance: concert-lectures, meetings on music and neuroscience, dialogues on painting and art, and moments of cultural insight. International ensembles, such as the Zurich-based Baroccoli, and emerging young performers take turns on the stage, delivering a vibrant and never predictable program.

An experience of art, music, and landscape

Attending a concert at the Easter Festival also means discovering Montepulciano and the Val d'Orcia during the sweetest time of the year, amidst the Tuscan hills, the Vino Nobile vineyards, and the villages that shaped the history of the Renaissance. The event is organized with the support of the Municipality of Montepulciano and in collaboration with local cultural organizations, and has established itself over the years as one of the key musical events of the Tuscan spring.