Minima Floralia — Educational Concert

A concert that blooms like an ancient garden

Minima Floralia is an educational concert created by Cecilia Lasagno and Paola Bertello, two vocalists and instrumentalists deeply connected to the traditional music of the Alpine valleys. The performance arrives in Chianocco, in the province of Turin, on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the evocative parish church of San Pietro Apostolo, as part of the Chantar l'Uvèrn cultural festival.

The title is no coincidence: the concert is presented as a true sonic garden, where each piece is a flower unique in language and origin. It is a journey that intertwines music, word, and botany, inviting the listener to rediscover how humanity has always told its own story through the plant world, filled with symbols, remedies, and magic.

The musical journey

The musical dialogue between Cecilia Lasagno and Paola Bertello spans centuries and geographies. It begins with the hymns to Creation by Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century mystic and composer, and moves through the bawdy songs of troubadours to the poetic contrasts of Cielo d'Alcamo. The path continues through:

• Sephardic songs of the Judeo-Iberian tradition;
• Gaelic Scottish ballads;
• the famous Cantigas de Santa Maria, a 13th-century collection attributed to Alfonso X the Wise;
• period dances and pieces inspired by plant symbolism.

Among paths of ancient songs, where the world of plants is variously a symbol, a remedy, or magic, more contemporary sounds are woven in, drawing from tradition to sing of what never changes in the human experience.

Chantar l'Uvèrn, the Occitan winter festival

Minima Floralia is one of many offerings from Chantar l'Uvèrn, the historic festival that animates the Susa and Chisone valleys from Candlemas to May 1st with concerts, performances, conferences, screenings, and workshops dedicated to the minority languages of the region: Occitan, Franco-Provençal, and French. Founded in 2006 for the Turin Winter Olympics as Occitan Lenga Olimpica, the event has grown to include over seventy appointments spread across dozens of municipalities in the Metropolitan City of Turin.

The festival is promoted by the Management Body of the Protected Areas of the Cottian Alps together with the Chambra d'Oc Association, the Documentation Center for Oral Memory of Giaglione, and numerous local municipalities. For Chianocco, a small town in the lower Susa Valley, hosting Minima Floralia means becoming part of a major cultural project that celebrates Alpine identity and the linguistic biodiversity of Piedmont.