Tuscan Early Music Festival at the Certosa di Calci

A festival spread across Pisa, Calci, and Tuscany

The Tuscan Early Music Festival is one of Italy's longest-running and most refined events dedicated to early music. Reaching its 31st edition in 2026, the festival runs from June 6th to July 10th, featuring a calendar of approximately twenty-four concerts distributed across Pisa, Calci, Vicopisano, and Camaiore. The artistic direction is led by Carlo Ipata, founder of the Auser Musici ensemble, the association that organizes and drives the entire event.

The festival's philosophy is that of a "journey through different eras, cultures, and musical traditions": each edition focuses on research in archives and libraries, recovering unpublished scores from the 17th and 18th centuries and presenting them to the public with performers specialized in historical performance practice and original instruments.

The event at the Certosa di Calci

Among the most fascinating stops on the tour is the one hosted at the Certosa Monumentale di Calci, in the municipality of Calci, in the province of Pisa. The Carthusian complex, nestled at the foot of Monte Pisano, offers a uniquely evocative setting for an early music concert: cloisters, silence, and Baroque architecture become the ideal resonance chamber for an intimate and refined program.

The 2026 concert in Calci is titled "La conference" and is dedicated to the viola da gamba, an instrument highly popular between the 15th and 17th centuries. The protagonists are gambists Patxi Montero and Luca Favoni, in a dialogue for two viols exploring the refined French taste of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Tuscany of early music

The festival is a jewel in the crown of the Pisan territory and all of Tuscany in the landscape of classical music. Alongside the concerts, the festival promotes conferences, meetings, and musicological research projects, confirming itself as a point of reference for enthusiasts, scholars, and curious listeners alike. Choosing the Certosa di Calci as a venue means combining the listening experience with the discovery of one of the most important monumental sites in the Pisan area.

Why attend

• Listen to the viola da gamba and the French Baroque repertoire in a unique monastic setting.
• Experience the Certosa Monumentale di Calci in an unusual and intimate atmosphere.
• Discover the philological research of Auser Musici on unpublished scores.
• Include the evening in a wider itinerary of the festival's concerts, from Pisa to Camaiore.