Salso Summer Class & Festival

A festival in the land of Verdi

The Salso Summer Class & Festival is one of the most established summer music events in the province of Parma. Every year, between late June and early August, the Municipality of Salsomaggiore Terme becomes the Italian capital of advanced musical training, welcoming students, teachers, and classical music enthusiasts from all over Europe. The event is promoted and organized by the Fondazione I Musici di Parma ETS, with artistic direction by Carlo D'Alessandro Caprice.

International-level masterclasses

The heart of the event are the masterclasses, intensive advanced training courses for young instrumentalists and singers. The program includes about fifteen courses dedicated to a wide range of instruments and disciplines:

• strings: violin, viola, cello
• winds: oboe, flute, piccolo, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone
• guitar and opera singing
• orchestral conducting, chamber vocal music, and junior orchestra

The courses are entrusted to teachers from highly prestigious ensembles, including musicians linked to the Berliner Philharmoniker, Teatro alla Scala, and Tonhalle Zurich. Among the names from recent editions are Yulia Berinskaya and Klaidi Sahatçi on violin, Giovanni Gnocchi on cello, Christoph Hartmann on oboe, Marco Zoni on flute, and Marco Pierobon on trumpet.

Concerts open to the public

Alongside the educational activities, the festival offers a calendar of evening concerts that liven up the summer evenings in Salsomaggiore. Teachers, guest soloists, and the best students take the stage with the Musici di Parma orchestra, performing programs ranging from Baroque to opera and symphonic repertoire. The main venue is the Palazzo dei Congressi, with the evocative Sala delle Cariatidi, but some events also take place in other venues in the city and in nearby municipalities in the province of Parma.

Salsomaggiore Terme and Emilia-Romagna

A renowned spa town in Emilia-Romagna, Salsomaggiore Terme offers an elegant Art Nouveau setting that perfectly complements the refined spirit of the festival. The province of Parma, the homeland of Giuseppe Verdi and Arturo Toscanini, has always been one of Italy's most musical regions: the Salso Summer Class & Festival represents a vibrant summer expression of this, capable of combining tradition, education, and dissemination. Most concerts are free admission, subject to availability, making great music accessible to residents and tourists.