European Music Festival in Eboli

The European Music Festival at the Basilica of San Pietro alli Marmi

Every year, around the summer solstice, Eboli joins the European Music Festival, the grand celebration born in France in 1982 and since spread across Europe, promoted in Italy by the Ministry of Culture and supported by national choral federations. In the town of Eboli, in the province of Salerno, the event takes on a unique form: not an outdoor stage, but the solemn nave of the Basilica of San Pietro alli Marmi, one of the most important Romanesque monuments in southern Campania.

A venue that acts as a sound box

The basilica, linked to the ancient Benedictine abbey and now part of the Franciscan convent complex, dominates the upper part of Eboli's historic center, at the foot of Montedoro hill. Its spolia columns, apses, and expansive, reverberant acoustics make it an ideal space for a cappella choral singing: voices expand beneath the trusses, and the audience, seated among the naves, listens in near-monastic silence. It is a choice that speaks volumes about the event: here, music is not mere street entertainment, but a shared listening experience.

Choirs from across the province of Salerno

The festival is structured as a meeting between local choral groups: each choir presents its own short program, and the evening typically concludes with a joint performance. Amateur and semi-professional groups from Cilento, Vallo di Diano, the Piana del Sele, and the provincial capital participate in a network that the Eboli-based association consistently cultivates. Among the groups that have taken the stage in the most recent edition:

• I Cantori di San Lorenzo of Eboli, the host mixed choir, directed by Maestro Alfonso Fiorelli;
• Corale Città di Agropoli — Club Art Music-Lab, directed by Paola Tozzi;
• D'Altrocanto of Salerno, directed by Maestro Patrizia Bruno;
• Coro AMA — Associazione Musicisti Agraria, linked to the Department of Agriculture of the University of Naples Federico II in Portici, directed by Maestro Riccardo Motti;
• Coro Polifonico Polimnia of Padula, directed by Maestro Annamaria Torresi.

The I Cantori di San Lorenzo Association

The driving force behind the initiative is the I Cantori di San Lorenzo Cultural Association, founded in Eboli in 2005 and directed by Maestro Alfonso Fiorelli, with Filomena Sessa as president. The mixed-voice choir cultivates a repertoire ranging from sacred polyphony to Neapolitan folk songs and hosts other city initiatives throughout the year, such as the «Liberi inCanti» choral festival and concerts in the San Lorenzo Concert Hall. The European Music Festival is the highlight that kicks off their summer calendar.

A free event open to all

Admission is free and no reservation is required: this is one of the founding principles of the European Music Festival, conceived from the start as a participatory celebration rather than a ticketed concert. The event is sponsored by the Municipality of Eboli and supported by the local Pro Loco and the Eboli flag-wavers group «Portadogana», a sign of community roots that extend well beyond the choral world.

Why it is worth the trip

For those visiting Campania in June, the Eboli event offers something that major festivals cannot: a medieval monument open at night, a local audience, and acoustic music heard from just a few meters away. Eboli, the gateway to the Piana del Sele and a short distance from Paestum and Cilento, is also a convenient base for a weekend combining archaeology, the sea, and rustic cuisine: you can pair the concert with a daytime stroll through the historic center, a visit to the National Archaeological Museum of Eboli and the Media Valle del Sele, and the abbey itself.