Bach in the City – Special Edition | in-Lombardia: Sito Ufficiale del Turismo della Regione Lombardia

On Saturday 31 October 2026, more than sixty performers will come together at the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine for a special edition of Bach in the City. Daniele Giorgi will conduct. Free admission while seats last, with no booking required. The church will open at 7:30 pm.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, will be performed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of I Solisti di Pavia. On Saturday 31 October at 8 pm, the ensemble will take centre stage at the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine for a special edition of Bach in the City, the concert series that has been bringing Bach’s music to the churches of Pavia for many years.

To mark the ensemble’s 25th anniversary, Bach in the City will exceptionally feature a single concert, with more than sixty performers including orchestra, choir and vocal soloists. The concert will bring together I Solisti di Pavia, the Orchestra Leonore of Pistoia and the Ruggero Maghini Philharmonic Choir of Turin, conducted by Claudio Chiavazza. Daniele Giorgi, artistic and musical director of I Solisti di Pavia and founder and musical director of the Orchestra Leonore, will conduct.

The vocal soloists will be Anna Veiteberg, soprano; Alessandra Visentin, alto; Jorge Navarro Colorado, tenor; and Mauro Borgioni, bass.

The concert is part of the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of I Solisti di Pavia. The ensemble’s history began in 2001 with a project conceived by Andrea Astolfi, then a member of the board of Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lombardia, and developed through his collaboration with cellist Enrico Dindo. The honorary presidency was entrusted to Mstislav Rostropovich. I Solisti made their debut on 21 December at the Teatro Fraschini in Pavia.

From the very beginning, the Foundation supported the project and accompanied its development, eventually making I Solisti di Pavia one of its instrumental institutions. Among the venues that marked the ensemble’s early years was the Church of San Francesco, where Rostropovich conducted a concert with Dindo as solo cellist on 8 December 2001.

“For the ensemble’s 25th anniversary, we decided to concentrate Bach in the City into a single event. Over the years, Pavia has shown great appreciation for this series, and it seemed fitting to celebrate its journey with one of Bach’s most important works,” says Sonia Selletti, president of I Solisti di Pavia. “The Mass in B Minor requires a large ensemble and a collaborative effort involving several musical institutions, brought together for this occasion under the direction of Maestro Daniele Giorgi. It is precisely this ability to develop projects and partnerships that we want to continue fostering.

“We also wanted the concert on 31 October to be offered to the city and to take place in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, one of Pavia’s principal Gothic monuments. Its history, size and character make it a particularly fitting venue for this project.”

The Mass in B Minor is one of the central works of Bach’s musical output. The composer completed it during the final years of his life, bringing together and reworking pieces written over a period of more than twenty years.

The project is presented by I Solisti di Pavia in co-production with the Fondazione Teatri di Pistoia, with the participation of the Ruggero Maghini Philharmonic Choir.

The Mass will be performed on Friday 30 October in Pistoia, on Saturday 31 October in Pavia, and on Sunday 1 November in Rimini as part of the Sagra Musicale Malatestiana. In Pavia, where I Solisti are celebrating their 25th anniversary, the concert will be offered free of charge to the public.