Sinfonie Rurali

Sinfonie Rurali: singer-songwriter music among the Salento olive trees

Every summer, the small village of Corigliano d'Otranto, in the province of Lecce, becomes the stage for one of the most refined festivals in the Salento music scene. Sinfonie Rurali is the summer event hosted by Art&Lab Lu Mbroia, a cultural space founded and run by singer-songwriter Massimo Donno, who opens his olive grove and venue to a series of open-air evening concerts for the occasion.

The festival was born with a clear goal: to promote singer-songwriter music as a tool for spreading musical and literary culture, both Italian and international. The result is a lineup that spans genres, eras, and sonic geographies, from Salento folk music to Mediterranean world music, and from jazz to tributes to the great names of Italian songwriting.

An intimate setting in Grecìa Salentina

Corigliano d'Otranto is part of Grecìa Salentina, the area of Puglia where Griko, an ancient language of Greek origin, is still preserved today. In this territory rich in identity, Art&Lab Lu Mbroia offers a formula far removed from large stages: limited seating, close-up listening, and direct dialogue between artists and the audience. Many concerts take the form of a concert-story, where music intertwines with narration, poetry, and civic engagement, addressing themes such as the environment, sustainability, gender equality, peace, and social relations.

Program and evenings

The lineup alternates evenings dedicated to great Italian songwriters with projects featuring Mediterranean and international flavors:

• Tributes to Francesco Guccini, Franco Battiato, and Lucio Dalla;
• World music and Mediterranean projects, from flamenco to the sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club;
• Evenings of Salento singer-songwriter music and book presentations;
• The Donne Note Festival, an event dedicated to female performers and songwriters, hosted within the festival.

A community project

Sinfonie Rurali is an initiative of the Art&Lab Lu Mbroia APS association, with admission reserved for members: a choice that strengthens the participatory and community nature of the project, where every evening is also an opportunity to meet, with refreshments served between concerts. For audiences who love quality music away from commercial circuits, the festival represents one of the most anticipated events of the summer in Salento and throughout Puglia.