Music Is a Wonderful Thing

The summer festival of Roma Tre Orchestra in Garbatella

«Music Is a Wonderful Thing» is the summer classical and opera music series promoted by Roma Tre Orchestra in the heart of the Garbatella district in Rome, Lazio. Launched in 2025, the event has quickly become one of the most anticipated appointments of the Roman musical summer, successfully blending the high quality of symphonic and operatic repertoire with a popular, accessible dimension designed for both local residents and the entire city.

The 2026 second edition

From June 25 to August 7, 2026, the second edition presents seven programs performed twice, for a total of fourteen concerts, all starting at 8:30 PM. The main venue is the courtyard of Palazzo Mazzoni (the former INPS Vittorio Locchi boarding school), while the two closing evenings on August 6 and 7 will move to the nearby Teatro Palladium. The project stems from an agreement between Roma Tre Orchestra and INPS, with the support of the Fondazione Roma, and highlights an orchestra of over sixty young musicians under 35.

A journey through masterpieces

The program covers some of the most beloved pages of the symphonic and operatic repertoire. It opens on June 25 and 26 with Mozart's Don Giovanni, conducted by Gustav Kuhn, and concludes at the Palladium on August 6 and 7 with Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 9 «Choral», conducted by Luigi Piovano, with the participation of the Coro Verdi di Roma.

• June 25-26 — Mozart, Don Giovanni (conductor Gustav Kuhn)
• July 2-3 — Bruckner, Symphony No. 7 (conductor Gustav Kuhn)
• July 9-10 — Haydn, Symphonies No. 26 and No. 104 and Cello Concerto No. 2 (conductor and cellist Enrico Bronzi)
• July 16-17 — Brahms, Variations on a Theme by Haydn and Symphony No. 3 (conductor Giuseppe Mengoli)
• July 23-24 — Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet and Symphony No. 6 «Pathétique» (conductor Davide Trolton)
• July 30-31 — Prokofiev, Classical Symphony, Violin Concerto, and Peter and the Wolf (conductor Marco Boni)
• August 6-7 — Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 «Choral» (conductor Luigi Piovano)

Soloists and guests for this edition include violinist Boris Belkin and actor Massimo Wertmüller, who will serve as the narrator for Peter and the Wolf.

An orchestra of young talents

The festival is, above all, a showcase for new generations: the ensemble is composed of musicians under 35, invited to perform alongside great conductors and established soloists. This educational vocation, combined with high-level programming, makes the festival a bridge between the experience of the masters and the energy of young performers.

Garbatella, a district turned stage

The choice of Garbatella is no coincidence: one of Rome's most characteristic and beloved neighborhoods becomes an open-air stage for seven weeks. The courtyard of Palazzo Mazzoni, with its intimate atmosphere, offers a suggestive setting that brings great classical music closer to the local public, in a dialogue between architectural heritage and neighborhood life that has become the hallmark of the event in the cultural landscape of the Capital and the Lazio region.