Stresa Festival - Stresa Musical Weeks

The Stresa Festival, a musical legend on Lake Maggiore

Born in 1962 as the Settimane Musicali di Stresa, the Stresa Festival is one of Italy's most prestigious international music festivals. Every summer, it transforms the town of Stresa and the entire Borromean Gulf, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, into a natural stage where great music dialogues with the beauty of the Piedmontese landscape. For over sixty years, some of the greatest names in the classical and jazz scenes have graced the shores of Lake Maggiore.

The 65th edition: "The Fourth Island"

In 2026, the festival celebrates its sixty-fifth edition under the artistic direction of cellist Mario Brunello. The chosen theme is "The Fourth Island", a poetic metaphor that, alongside the lake's three famous islands — Isola Bella, Isola Madre, and Isola dei Pescatori — evokes a fourth imaginary place made of sound and encounters. Brunello has designed the program around various "sound islands": jazz, young, antiqua, and classic, an invitation to discover music and artists who have left a mark of humanity and beauty in every corner of the planet.

A program in two acts

The 24 events are divided into two distinct periods. The first part, from July 16 to August 1, is dedicated to jazz, world music, singer-songwriters, and new generations. The second, from August 19 to September 6, welcomes early, classical, and contemporary music with internationally renowned orchestras, soloists, and chamber ensembles.

Extraordinary venues between water and history

One of the souls of the Stresa Festival is its locations: concerts are held in the modern Stresa Festival Hall but also in rare, evocative settings such as Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Isola dei Pescatori, the Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, the Rocca Borromea of Angera, and Villa Ponti in Arona. Listening to a quartet at sunset on an island in Lake Maggiore is an experience that is worth the trip alone.

The grand finale at La Scala

As per tradition, the festival closes with an exceptional event: on September 9, 2026, the grand finale will take place at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where the Mahler Academy Orchestra will perform one of the masterpieces of the great symphonic repertoire, sealing a summer of music that unites Piedmont with the Lombard capital of opera.