Jazz in Laurino Campus

Five days of music in the Cilento National Park

Every year, during the first ten days of August, the small town of Laurino, in the province of Salerno, becomes a key destination for jazz in Campania. Perched at an altitude of 531 meters in the heart of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, the village opens its cloisters, courtyards, squares, and theaters to musicians and enthusiasts from all over Italy and abroad. The 2026 edition, the 24th, is scheduled from August 6 to 10, with participant registration and a welcome ceremony already taking place on the evening of August 5 in the cloister of the Monastery of Sant'Antonio.

More than just concerts: a true campus

What sets Jazz in Laurino apart from other summer festivals is its campus nature. The heart of the event is the workshop: days of individual lessons, masterclasses, and ensemble music labs where students prepare a repertoire to be performed for the public. The classrooms are not ordinary rooms, but the historic settings of the village — the Ducal Palace, the Annunziata Chapel, the Monastery of Sant'Antonio, and the Municipal Theater — allowing study to blend seamlessly with the daily life of the village. Those not participating in the workshops can still enjoy the experience: nightly jam sessions are open to all, and concerts by teachers and students are free.

The event is promoted by the Municipality of Laurino with the artistic direction of the Liberi Suoni Association, led by Angelo Maffia, and has received support over the years from the Campania Region through Scabec, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Cilento National Park Authority.

The 2026 faculty

The 2026 campus faculty brings together leading names from the Italian and European scenes:

• Antonio Zambrini — piano
• Andy Sheppard — saxophone and winds
• Furio Di Castri — double bass
• Eleonora Bianchini — vocals
• Marco Tindiglia — guitar
• Michele Rabbia — drums and percussion

It is a formula that repeats year after year with few variations: the same masters return to Laurino, many students return multiple times, and a small, devoted community has formed around the campus over the years.

The evenings: aperijazz, open mic, and concerts

The evening program is designed to accompany the audience from late afternoon into the night. It begins with aperijazz in local venues — at La Villa and Bar Santa Lucia — where jam sessions are paired with tastings of local wines. It continues with the open mic Discovering our roots, dedicated to the Cilento folk repertoire reinterpreted in a jazz key, and with Andata e Ritorno, the traveling show that brings music into the courtyards of the historic center's noble palaces. The headline concert for 2026 is GeGè Telesforo with his Jazz Radio project at the Laurino Amphitheater.

Laurino, a village to discover

Laurino has just over a thousand inhabitants and preserves an intact medieval layout: stone alleys, carved portals, the Caracciolo Ducal Palace, the Franciscan convent of Sant'Antonio, and traces of the ancient castle. It is precisely this intimate scale that makes the festival unique: spectators walk from one venue to another, musicians practice with windows open, and the music spills out into the streets. Surrounding the village, the Cilento offers the Calore gorges, the Park's trails, and, less than an hour's drive away, the sea of the Cilento coast.

Over twenty years of history

The first edition dates back to 2003: in 2015 the festival celebrated its 13th edition, in 2019 its 17th, in 2020 its 18th, leading up to the 23rd in 2025 and the 24th in 2026. Over the years, artists such as Raphael Gualazzi, Yamandu Costa, Rita Marcotulli, Rachel Z, Omar Hakim, and maestro Nicola Piovani have graced Laurino. Alongside the musical dimension, the festival has often supported charitable causes, with fundraisers for research into neuroblastoma and pediatric brain tumors.