Ravello Winter Concerts

Music in Ravello beyond the summer season

Ravello is world-renowned for its summer festival, but for several years now, the Ravello Foundation has ensured the city doesn't fall silent during the colder months. Ravello Winter Concerts is the festival that, between late December and early January, brings great live music back to the Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium with a lineup blending opera, classical music, jazz, swing, and Neapolitan song. It is a project designed for both the local community of Ravello and the Amalfi Coast, as well as for visitors choosing the province of Salerno and the Campania region for the holidays.

The Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium, a designer venue by the sea

The festival has a home that is a destination in itself. Inaugurated in 2010, the Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium is the only public work in Italy by the great Brazilian architect, designed when he was over a hundred years old. The hall, which seats about 400, resembles a white concrete wave curving over itself and jutting out over the steep slope descending toward the sea; large windows open the interior to the coastal panorama. It is the space that, in summer, replaces the famous Belvedere of Villa Rufolo when weather prevents outdoor concerts, and which becomes the heart of the programming in winter.

The New Year's Concert, the unmissable event

The signature moment of the festival is the New Year's Concert on January 1st, a ritual renewed every year in Ravello that brings internationally acclaimed orchestras and voices to the stage. The program alternates overtures, waltzes, and opera arias from the great repertoire—Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Bellini, Offenbach, Lehár, Strauss—in a format designed to be accessible even to those who do not regularly attend concert halls. Over the years, the Niemeyer podium has hosted the Benevento Philharmonic Orchestra and the "Giuseppe Verdi" Philharmonic Orchestra of Salerno, reflecting the Foundation's commitment to showcasing the best musical talent in the Campania region.

A lineup that changes every year

Each edition offers a different journey, but the structure remains recognizable: a few select events, all concentrated during the holiday period, with a deliberate openness to different genres. Recent seasons have featured jazz, Neapolitan songs reinterpreted with improvisational flair, big band swing, symphonic concerts with soloists, and traditional Italian variety shows. It is a precise editorial choice: to offer the local community and tourists quality programming during a time of year when the Coast experiences a slower, more mindful pace of tourism.

• Opera and symphonic — arias, overtures, and orchestral pieces from the great repertoire
• Jazz and swing — big bands, international standards, and original projects
• Neapolitan song — the repertoire of Murolo, Bovio, Carosone, and Modugno performed live
• Light music and variety — shows by great performers of the Italian scene

Music and solidarity

Alongside the artistic dimension, the Ravello Foundation has embraced a commitment to social responsibility: by decision of the board, proceeds from ticket sales for the Christmas concerts have been donated to support Doctors Without Borders. A gesture that has given the festival additional meaning and helped fill the Niemeyer hall during the holidays.

Ravello in winter: what to expect

Attending a concert at the festival also means discovering Ravello in a different light. Without the summer crowds, the City of Music offers the silence of its alleys, the Cathedral square illuminated for the holidays, and the gardens of Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone suspended over the Gulf of Salerno. The village, perched over three hundred meters above the sea, can be reached from Amalfi via a short, scenic drive and is entirely walkable. The festival is part of the wider calendar of Christmas initiatives in the municipality, which in the winter season has also included film screenings hosted in the same Auditorium.

Tickets and information

Tickets for the Winter Concerts can be purchased online via the official Ravello Foundation and ticketing circuit portals, or directly at the Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium box office in the hours leading up to each performance. Seating is limited by the hall's capacity, so booking in advance is recommended, especially for the New Year's Concert, which sells out every year.