String Quartet Festival – Gropina

A chamber music festival in the heart of Valdarno

The String Quartet Festival is one of the longest-running and most refined chamber music events in Tuscany, hosted in the small village of Gropina, a hamlet of the municipality of Loro Ciuffenna, in the province of Arezzo. Founded in the 1990s, the festival has built a reputation that extends far beyond the borders of the Upper Valdarno, attracting classical music enthusiasts and quartets from all over Europe.

The heart of the event is the Pieve di San Pietro a Gropina, a masterpiece of Tuscan Romanesque architecture, declared a national monument and dating back to between the 8th and 12th centuries. The acoustics and atmosphere of this ancient space make the concerts an experience that weaves together music, art, and spirituality.

The festival format

Every summer, between July and August, the festival offers a series of evening concerts featuring Italian and international string quartets. Each evening begins at 9:30 PM and is preceded at 9:00 PM by a guided tour of the parish church, allowing the audience to discover the sculptures and capitals of the monument before the performance. Admission to the concerts is free, a choice that makes great chamber music accessible to everyone.

The program alternates between great names of the classical repertoire – Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Smetana – and lesser-known works, as well as collaborations with guest instrumentalists, from guitar to clarinet. An important section is dedicated to young talent, with the recurring presence of students and quartets formed at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.

2026 Edition

The 32nd edition of the festival consists of four appointments at the Pieve di Gropina: July 21 with the quartets of the Accademia Chigiana led by maestro Clive Greensmith, July 30 with the Quartetto Alioth joined by clarinetist Orio Odori, August 12 with the Moser Quartet, and August 18 with the Quartetto di Torino.

Gropina and the surrounding area

Visiting the festival is also an opportunity to discover an authentic corner of Tuscany along the famous Via dei Sette Ponti. Loro Ciuffenna, with its medieval mill still in operation and the village perched above the Ciuffenna stream, is counted among the most picturesque villages in the Valdarno. The festival, supported by the Municipality of Loro Ciuffenna and the Pro Loco, is now a highly anticipated event in the summer cultural season of Arezzo and the region.