Südtirol Festival Merano – mystica in Nalles (Pfarrkirche)

Sacred music from the Südtirol Festival Merano arrives in Nalles

The Südtirol Festival Merano.Meran is one of the most prestigious classical music festivals in the Alps, held every summer between late August and mid-September in Merano and its surrounding villages. Alongside the major symphonic events at the Kursaal, the festival presents the "mystica" series, dedicated to sacred and spiritual music performed in the historic churches of the Merano area. It is in this context that the concert hosted in the parish church of St. Ulrich (Pfarrkirche) in Nalles, a small wine-producing town in the Adige Valley in the province of Bolzano, in the heart of Trentino-Alto Adige, takes place.

An intimate and contemplative program

The evening, titled "In Mary's silence", is performed by the Südtiroler Vokalensemble together with the Laurin Quintet, under the direction of Johann van der Sandt. The common thread is the contemplative silence surrounding the figure of Mary, translated into music through works by 20th-century and contemporary authors: from Arvo Pärt to Henryk Górecki, from Hugo Distler to composers such as Sisask, Bresgen, Taverner, Sheppard, and Jenkins. A repertoire that utilizes the intimate and reverberant acoustics of the church to create a suspended, devotional atmosphere.

The setting: the Pfarrkirche of Nalles

The parish church of St. Ulrich in Nalles is a late-Baroque building consecrated in 1815 and established as a parish in 1910. Inside, the frescoed ceiling is striking, featuring illusionistic painting that mimics elaborate stucco work. The small village of Nalles, nestled among the vineyards of the South Tyrolean Wine Road, offers an ideal setting for a sacred music concert, far from the worldliness of traditional concert halls.

The festival and the musical tradition of Merano

Founded in 1986 by Hermann Schnitzer and Andreas Cappello to mark the 150th anniversary of Merano as a spa town, the Südtirol Festival Merano is organized by the Merano Musical Weeks Association. Over the decades, it has become one of the landmark cultural events of the Alps, capable of weaving together major international orchestras, chamber music, and sacred and crossover music projects spread across Art Nouveau villas, castles, and churches in the Municipality of Merano and the surrounding Burgraviato district.

Why attend

• High-level sacred and spiritual music in a historic church.
• Refined program featuring contemporary authors of the choral repertoire.
• An opportunity to discover Nalles and the vineyards of the South Tyrolean Adige Valley.
• Part of one of the most important classical music festivals in the Alps.