Car
To reach Biella, take highway A4 and either exit Santhià (from Turin), or exit Carisio (from Milan).
From Biella, please follow the directions to Santuario di Oropa - Via Santuario di Oropa 480, 13900 Biella (BI).
Biella, Santuario di Oropa – Basilica Antica (11th September 2025, 21:00)
A spectacular opening concert gives the “A” to the third edition of the Oropa Music Festival, in the wonderful setting of the Basilica Antica of the Sanctuary of Oropa. Curated by our artistic director Federico Gad Crema, the concert pays tribute not only to the richness of the European musical tradition, but also to the spiritual depth of one of Italy’s most sacred places. Set in the Biellese Alps and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the monumental complex of Oropa welcomes nearly a million pilgrims each year, representing a crossroads of faith, culture and collective memory.
Interpreting a rich and varied musical journey is an exceptional ensemble made up of some of the brightest rising stars on the international scene: Bulgarian violinist Lora Markova, Japanese-British violinist Coco Tomita, Portuguese Miguel Erlich on viola and British-German Felix Rosenboom on cello. Alongside them, Italian soprano Angelica Antonini adds a vocal dimension of rare intensity, capable of uniting word and sound in a single poetic gesture.
Together, these young artists offer not only impeccable technique and interpretive depth, but they are spokespeople for a vision of music-making as an act of communion, listening and living memory. An inaugural concert that promises to leave an echo far beyond the walls of the Basilica, opening the 2025 edition of the Oropa Music Festival under the banner of beauty, reflection and hope.
The evening’s program is built around the theme of memory and transcendence, tracing a path that begins in the twilight atmosphere of Elizabethan England with John Dowland’s lament, Pavana Lachrimae, one of the most poignant and enduring expressions of grief in early 17th-century music. Of extraordinary refinement and poignant delicacy, the work invites reflection on the mystery of loss and the inexhaustible power of musical expression.
We then move from Dowland’s recollection to the dramatic textures of Henry Purcell’s Chaconne, a noble and austere dance that in the twentieth century fascinated Benjamin Britten, who made it the centerpiece of the last movement of his Second Quartet. On this evening, the chaconne is transformed into a meditation on time, artistic legacy and the dialogue that music establishes across the ages.
The program concludes with the overwhelming energy of Antonín Dvořák’s American Quartet, written during the composer’s stay in the United States. Imbued with vitality, rhythm and melodies inspired by African American and Native folklore, the quartet is a celebration of cross-cultural dialogue, discovery and creative freedom. A work that chronicles a new world with eyes full of wonder, but without ever losing its connection to its Bohemian roots.
LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE (admission free) – SOLD-OUT
Online Reservations: EVENTBRITE
or
“CIGNA DISCHI” – via Italia 10, 13900 Biella (BI)
tel: 015 21802 / 335 56 24 151
e-mail: tickets@oropamusicfestival.com
World-renowned soloists, internationally acclaimed conductors, and the shiniest of rising stars.
Follow the instructions to reach Santuario di Oropa – Via Santuario di Oropa 480, 13900 Biella (BI).
To reach Biella, take highway A4 and either exit Santhià (from Turin), or exit Carisio (from Milan).
From Biella, please follow the directions to Santuario di Oropa - Via Santuario di Oropa 480, 13900 Biella (BI).
Take Bus 360 to Santuario di Oropa - Via Santuario di Oropa 480, 13900 Biella (BI).
Visit the official website of ATAP for booking.
The closest train station is Biella San Paolo.
Visit the official website of Trenitalia for booking.
