Seminar 4 pm
Concert 6 pm
Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Free admission

Begun in 1997 in collaboration with the Department of the History of the Arts and the Conservation of the Artistic Heritage at Ca’ Foscari University, the Polifonie “in viva voce”, series has so far hosted singers at the Giorgio Cini Foundation from various European regions. The 16th edition will feature Male Polyphonic Singing from Ceriana (West Liguria). The area from Genoa to the western border of Liguria is particularly rich in significant polyphonic groups. In the Sanremo inland area this is especially true of Ceriana, a small town with a remarkable quantity and quality of sacred and profane songs. The sacred tradition is associated with the strong presence of still vital historical groups represented by the four confraternities who continue para-liturgical and their own repertories, especially those used for Easter; the profane tradition, on the other hand, is interpreted by various choral groups of different origins and “traditional depth”, including the outstanding singers who preserve a specific form of oral-tradition polyphonic singing

based on an unusual organisation of the drone part sung by the group. The afternoon seminar will be attended by Maurizio Agamennone, Febo Guizzi and the singers of the Compagnia Sacco. In the evening the Compagna Sacco di Ceriana will be in concert.