Voci in Ascolto

Voci in Ascolto: the voice as a meeting place

Voci in Ascolto is an artistic residency entirely dedicated to oral tradition singing, held annually in San Vito dei Normanni, in the province of Brindisi, in the heart of Puglia. Conceived by singer and multi-instrumentalist Davide Ambrogio and produced by the World Music Academy, the event is part of the three-year Nuova Generazione Trad project, supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture's Single Fund for the Performing Arts.

The project focuses on singing as a living, shared practice: here, transmission is not merely the passing on of a repertoire, but a physical and communal experience. Through workshops and meetings with artists and researchers from diverse cultural backgrounds, the residency explores the voice as a space of resonance between body and memory, a tool for mutual listening and the collective construction of meaning.

Five days of training and concerts

For about five days, the town transforms into a small open-air laboratory. The headquarters is the Laboratorio Urbano ExFadda, a former winery turned into one of Southern Italy's most vibrant cultural spaces, alongside its Teatro Tex. Around these venues, an intensive yet convivial training dimension unfolds, reserved for a selected group of singers, culminating in a series of public concerts and events open to the entire community.

The residency pays special attention to young people: several scholarships fully cover accommodation, meals, and activities for singers under 30, in the spirit of the generational renewal that is the soul of the Nuova Generazione Trad project.

A bridge between traditions

Each edition brings different repertoires and masters into dialogue: from Sardinian polyphonies to Salento songs, from Arbëreshë voices to international choral experiences. The evening concerts, hosted in the most evocative spots of the historic center — the Teatro Tex, the Chiostro dei Domenicani, and the Cripta di San Biagio — turn San Vito dei Normanni into a true capital of traditional singing for a few days.

Voci in Ascolto is now one of the key events in Puglia for those who love oral tradition music, a festival that combines research, training, and live performance into a single experience of deep listening.