Pontino Music Festival (Fossanova stops)
Chamber music in the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova, in Priverno
About Pontino Festival
A historic festival in the Abbey of Fossanova
The Pontino Music Festival is one of the oldest Italian events dedicated to chamber music: its first edition dates back to 1963, and it is promoted by the Campus Internazionale di Musica Foundation of Latina in collaboration with the Roffredo Caetani Foundation. The festival is itinerant by vocation and is distributed every summer across several municipalities in the province of Latina, in Lazio: the Caetani Castle in Sermoneta, the Abbey of Valvisciolo, the Sante Palumbo City Club in Latina, andโone of the public's most beloved stopsโthe Abbey of Fossanova, in the territory of the Municipality of Priverno.
Why Fossanova
The Abbey of Fossanova is the first great Cistercian complex built in Italy and one of the best-preserved Gothic-Burgundian monuments on the peninsula. Concerts are usually held in the Infirmary of the Conversi, a stone hall with dry, enveloping acoustics that clearly renders the detail of strings and winds. Attending a Schubert quartet or a tribute to Italian opera here means listening to music inside a 12th-13th century building: it is this fusion of monumental heritage and classical repertoire that makes the Priverno evenings different from a normal concert hall experience.
The Program
The Pontino Festival's lineup weaves together great classical repertoire, contemporary premieres, and forays into jazz. Each edition features over twenty total events and hosts established soloists alongside young musicians from the International Masterclasses of Sermoneta, the Campus's historic educational nursery. A chapter of its own are the International Meetings of Contemporary Music, days of study, commissions, and world premieres that have made the festival an observatory on today's musical creation for decades.
- String quartets and world-class chamber ensembles
- Wind ensembles and operatic and cinematic transcriptions
- International Meetings of Contemporary Music with world premieres
- Tributes to great composers linked to the territory, starting with Goffredo Petrassi
- Final concert entrusted to the students of the masterclasses
A festival rooted in the Pontine territory
The Pontino Festival is not a "top-down" event: it was born from the initiative of Riccardo Cerocchi and a group of enthusiasts who wanted to give the Agro Pontino, a land of reclamation and recent foundation, a strong cultural identity. Since then, the event has built a stable relationship with the municipalities of Sermoneta, Priverno, Latina, and Sabaudia, and their monumental landmarks. In recent editions, the festival has added guided tours of the sites hosting the concerts, so that the public can discover the abbey before listening to its acoustics.
What atmosphere to expect
The evenings in Fossanova have an intimate character: limited capacity, attentive audience, often starting at sunset or in the early evening, when the abbey's stone is still warm. It is not a mass-market festival, and for this very reason, it retains an intimacy that large summer events have lost. It is a perfect opportunity for those spending the summer between Latina, Circeo, and the villages of the Lepini Mountains who are looking for something more than a local food festival or a concert in the square: the quality of the proposal is that of a city concert season, but with a setting that no concert hall can offer.
Visitor tips
Before or after the concert, it is worth dedicating time to the abbey village of Fossanova, the abbey church, and the cell where, according to tradition, Saint Thomas Aquinas died in 1274. A few kilometers away, the historic center of Priverno and the Privernum Archaeological Museum complete a day of visiting the heart of southern Lazio.
Pontino Festival โ edition 2026
62nd edition โ July 3-28, 2026
The Pontino Music Festival returns in 2026 with its 62nd edition, promoted by the Campus Internazionale di Musica Foundation of Latina. President Elisa Cerocchi has dedicated this edition to music as a tool for dialogue in a year marked by international conflicts.
The opening, on July 3 at the Caetani Castle in Sermoneta, is a tribute to Goffredo Petrassi with the Ensemble Tubilustrium and the Filarmonica Sabina conducted by Marcello Panni. From July 9 to 13, the International Meetings of Contemporary Music will be held, featuring premieres and a focus on Alessandro Solbiati's 70th birthday. On July 28, the final concert is entrusted to the students of the International Masterclasses.
The stops at the Abbey of Fossanova (Priverno)
There are three appointments in Priverno in the Infirmary of Fossanova: on July 5 at 7:30 PM, the Wind Quintet of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Andrea Oliva flute, Francesco Di Rosa oboe, Calogero Palermo clarinet, Alessio Bernardi horn, Andrea Zucco bassoon) in "Opera and Cinema"; on July 19 at 7:30 PM, the Jazzphony Sextett with the "Tribute to Italian Opera"; on July 24 at 9:00 PM, a program with works by Beethoven, Schubert, and Ravel.
Programme Pontino Festival 2026
The stops at the Abbey of Fossanova, Priverno
- Sunday, July 5, 7:30 PM โ Infirmary of Fossanova. Opera and Cinema: Wind Quintet of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Music from Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Briccialdi's transcription, Suite from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, pages by Ezio Bosso, Ennio Morricone (The Mission), Nino Rota (The Godfather, Amarcord).
- Sunday, July 19, 7:30 PM โ Infirmary of Fossanova. Tribute to Italian Opera: Jazzphony Sextett, jazz reinterpretations of famous operatic melodies.
- Friday, July 24, 9:00 PM โ Infirmary of Fossanova. Chamber program with music by Beethoven, Schubert, and Ravel.
Other festival stops (July 3-28, 2026)
- July 2 โ festival preview.
- July 3 โ Caetani Castle, Sermoneta: inaugural concert, tribute to Goffredo Petrassi.
- July 9-13 โ International Meetings of Contemporary Music: world premieres and celebration of Alessandro Solbiati's 70th birthday.
- July 14, 9:00 PM โ Caetani Castle, Sermoneta: Lyskamm Quartet, Schubert's Quartets No. 9 and No. 13 "Rosamunde".
- July 15, 9:00 PM โ Cloister of the Abbey of Valvisciolo: Lyskamm Quartet, Webern's Six Bagatelles and Schubert's "Death and the Maiden".
- July 16 โ concert in memory of Maria Teresa Cerocchi, for violin and piano: music by Janรกฤek, Beethoven, and Debussy.
- July 28 โ closing concert with students from the Sermoneta International Masterclasses.
Highlights Pontino Festival 2026
- 62nd edition of one of the oldest Italian chamber music festivals, founded in 1963.
- Three concerts in the Infirmary of the Abbey of Fossanova, Priverno: July 5, 19, and 24.
- Wind Quintet of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in "Opera and Cinema" on July 5.
- Tribute to Italian opera in a jazz key with the Jazzphony Sextett on July 19.
- International Meetings of Contemporary Music from July 9 to 13, with world premieres.
- Inaugural concert dedicated to Goffredo Petrassi on July 3 at the Caetani Castle in Sermoneta.
- 2026 novelty: guided tours of the concert venues in collaboration with Meraviglia APS.
Prices Pontino Festival 2026
Practical information — Pontino Festival
Where
Abbey of Fossanova, Fossanova district, Municipality of Priverno (LT), Lazio. Concerts are usually held in the Infirmary of the Conversi.
How to get there
By car: Frosinone exit of the A1 motorway and SS156 of the Lepini Mountains, or SS7 Appia from Latina and Terracina. Parking available near the abbey village.
By train: Priverno-Fossanova station on the Rome-Naples line via Formia, a few minutes from the abbey.
By plane: Rome Fiumicino and Rome Ciampino airports, then train or car.
Tickets and reservations
Paid entry with affordable ticket prices (approximately 5-15 euros depending on the concert). Seats are limited by the capacity of the venues: booking is recommended via email at [email protected] or via WhatsApp at +39 329 7540544, by the afternoon of the concert day.
Information
Campus Internazionale di Musica Foundation, Via Varsavia 31, 04100 Latina โ tel. +39 0773 605551 โ [email protected] โ www.campusmusica.it
Where to stay
Accommodation facilities in Priverno, Sonnino, and Terracina; for those following multiple stages of the festival, Latina and Sermoneta are convenient bases.
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Where does it take place โ Pontino Festival
Abbazia di Fossanova (Infermeria dei Conversi)
Via San Tommaso d'Aquino, Fossanova, 04015 Priverno