President
Federico Stame
Superintendent and Artistic Director
Maddalena da Lisca
Board of Directors
Gian Guido Balandi, Giorgio Forni, Ilaro Ghiselli, Piero Gnudi, Paolo Mazzetti Gaito, Romano Montroni, Antonino Morello, Guido Ottolenghi, Giovanna Pesci Enriques, Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi, Maria Luisa Vaccari, Romano Volta
Auditing board
Domenico De Leo, Gian Paolo Gandolfi, Matteo Tamburini
Patron Members
Domenico Damascelli, Andrea e Antonella Golinelli, Federico Minoli, Federico e Brunella Stame, Maria Luisa Vaccari e Andrea Susmel
Meritorious Members
Gian Guido e Barbara Balandi, Carla Comellini, Domenico De Leo e Caterina Zanella, Federico e Giovanna Enriques, Ilaro Ghiselli, Lionardo Ginori Lisci, Pier Leandro Guernelli, Barbara Maccaferri, Dialta Malvezzi Campeggi Paresce, Paolo e Piero Mazzetti Gaito, Walther Mazzetti Gaito, Franco Neppi, Paola Pinotti, Benedetta Possati Vittori Venenti, Gian Luca Rusconi Rizzi, Matteo Tamburini, Romano Volta, Elisa Zoppelli Vico
Supporting Members
Alessandro Andreoli, Cesare Augusto Bassoli, Jadranka Bentini, Aldo Bernardoni, Ugo e Annamaria Berti Arnoaldi Veli, Giancarlo e Maria Teresa Berti, Federico Carpi, Vincenzo e Simonetta Castiglione, Flavio Chiussi, Sergio Coccheri, Maddalena Fiorio Gnugnoli, Giorgio e Marina Forni, Cecilia Matteucci Lavarini, Gian Bruno Mazzi e Valeria Fattori, Margherita Morabito, Antonino Morello, Guido Ottolenghi, Paola Pavirani Golinelli, Nikolaos Perakis, Andrea Ricciotti, Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi, Luigi e Barbara Stame, Maria Angela Villani.
Friends
Stefano Borghi, Alberto Bussolari, Stefano Cassarani, Alberto Oliva, Giulio e Edgarda Pesci, Fabio e Maria Gabriella Rangoni
Our History
Bologna Festival is one of the most prestigious and vibrant concert institutions on the Italian music scene.
Since 1982, it has hosted the world’s most renowned orchestras and major figures of the international concert stage, such as Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, Myung Whun Chung, Teodor Currentzis, Isabelle Faust, Daniel Harding, Riccardo Muti, Antonio Pappano, Mstislav Rostropovich, Maria João Pires, Yuri Temirkanov, and many other distinguished artists, helping to establish Bologna as a landmark city for classical music both in Italy and abroad.
Over the years, successive artistic directions – including the over twenty-year tenure of Mario Messinis and the current direction of Maddalena da Lisca, who also serves as Superintendent – have progressively enriched and expanded the programming: from the original “Great Performers” festival, which remains the most emblematic activity in the season’s lineup, to today’s programming, which includes 9 series and over 90 events spread throughout the entire year.
This evolution has led to an open, dynamic, and contemporary approach to the concert world, allowing Bologna Festival to engage with diverse audiences, integrate into the fabric of the city, and face with determination the new challenges that classical music encounters year after year — first and foremost, the generational and cultural shift. All of this while remaining faithful to its original mission: to offer a rich and high-quality cultural experience within the classical music landscape.
Today, Bologna Festival’s offering stands out for its variety of formats, multiplicity of venues, and attention to different audiences, strengthening its commitment to educational, social, and local initiatives.
The 2025 season reflects this multifaceted approach, including a new focus on the rediscovery of Bologna’s Baroque musical heritage. This edition also features outstanding artists such as Riccardo Muti with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Antonio Pappano with the London Symphony Orchestra, and Kirill Petrenko with RAI National Symphony Orchestra, along with many other stars of the concert world.