InCanto Barocco Festival — International Baroque Music Festival

A baroque festival in a baroque city

The InCanto Barocco Festival is an International Baroque Music Festival held every September in Scicli, in the province of Ragusa, in the heart of south-eastern Sicily. The event was created to celebrate the music of the baroque period by letting it resonate in the spaces that best suit it: the churches, sanctuaries, and noble palaces of the Sicilian late-baroque, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage site within the "Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto".

Conceived and directed by Maestro Marcello Giordano Pellegrino, a composer and musician from Scicli, the festival proposes a constant dialogue between the musical repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries and the city's architecture, where every concert becomes an experience that engages both hearing and sight. As every year, the evenings are presented by Elena Pellegrino.

The program and venues

The festival is structured as a series of events spread throughout the month of September, each hosted in one of the iconic venues of Scicli's baroque heritage. Venues that have hosted concerts in past editions include the Church of San Bartolomeo Apostolo, the Sanctuary of Maria SS della Pietà (Santa Maria La Nova), the elegant Palazzo Spadaro, and the Church of San Michele Arcangelo.

The programming ranges from instrumental and chamber music to opera and sacred works, with tributes to the great masters of European baroque such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Händel, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Antonio Vivaldi. Over the years, the festival has hosted sopranos, countertenors, harpsichordists, cellists, and early music ensembles from Italy and abroad.

Patronage and recognition

The prestige of the festival is evidenced by the patronage it has received: for the 2026 edition, the festival has been granted patronage by the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See and the Diocese of Noto, in addition to the support of the Regional Department of Cultural Heritage of the Sicilian Region. The organization is managed by the Skenè Cultural Association.

Scicli, the festival's stage

Scicli, also known for being one of the filming locations for the Inspector Montalbano series, offers an extraordinary backdrop: the sculpted facades, bell towers, and golden interiors of the churches amplify the charm of the listening experience. Visiting the festival means discovering both a musical heritage and an architectural legacy that is unique in the world, in one of the most fascinating towns in the municipality and the entire province of Ragusa.