A free vocal concert will take place on July 14 at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale (piazzale Vittorio Gui, 1) at 9 pm. The young artists of the prestigious Academy of the Maggio will perform a selection of some of the best-loved arias of the operatic repertoire in their final performance of the two-year course. The decree for public safety allows for a total of 600 spectators in the theatre hall; non-family [...]
This year, no vibrant parades, historical sport in traditional costume fireworks and music will take place in post-lockdown Florence in honor of the city’s patron saint of St. John the Baptist on his feast day, June 24. The Festa di San Giovanni as the day is called in Italian, is also a legal holiday within city limits, with offices, banks and many shops closed. There is one bright spot, however: the Academy Gallery [...]
One of Florence’s most interesting stories will be told on February 17 at 6 pm (with an Italian text available) at the Sala Martino V of Santa Maria Nuova (piazza Santa Maria Nuova off via Sant’Edigio). Sirpa Salenius will be giving a lecture on the life of Sarah Parker Remond, an African American expatriate in Florence. Remond was the daughter of an immigrant father from Curacao, a Caribbean island then under Dutch [...]
The Cathedral Museum (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo) continue to host the free ‘Note al Museo’ concert series through March 20. The concerts will be held in front of the original and newly restored Baptistery doors and the recreated original façade of the Santa Maria del Fiore. The museum hopes that the varied and dynamic music will highlight the artistic setting, creating a “dialogue between works of art and music, in the name of [...]
There are two lectures in English–one on the effects of Brexit and the other on the UNICEF and the agency’s latest report on childhood–scheduled the last week of January 2020 that are open for the community to attend in downtown Florence. CEA Study Center will be hosting “Brexit: An Opportunity or a Failure?” at 6 pm, Tuesday, January 28 at Piazza della Repubblica, 6. Speaker Andrea Orciani will discuss Brexit and its potential [...]
The Tufts Symphony Orchestra will give a free concert at St. James Church (via Rucellai 9) on Saturday, January 11 starting at 7 pm. A stop on their concert tour in central Italy. The orchestra will be conducted by maestro John Page, and the program will include Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor featuring soloist Sarita Uranovsky, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47. The public is welcome. Shostakovich composed [...]
December 8, the Catholic feast day of the Immacolata, a legal holiday in Italy, brings the gift of two free Florence state-run museums. Located five minutes away from each other, all day visitors will be granted no-cost entrance to the Accademia Gallery (via Ricasoli, accessible from 8:15 am to 6:50 pm) and the San Marco Museum (piazza San Marco, open from (8:15 am to 6:50 pm). The Accademia contains Michelangelo’s iconic David and Slaves in addition [...]
Two American university centers in Florence will offer free architecture, wine, and tourism talks in English to both students and the public in a series taking place from Monday, Nov. 11 until Wednesday, Nov. 13. On Monday, Alessandro Melis, a professor of Architecture Innovation at the University of Portsmouth, and co-founder of Heliopolis 21 Architects will reveal secrets of how to become a successful architect. Melis received a Master’s and a Ph.D. in [...]
Notes at the Museum, Concerts in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo For the fifth consecutive year, Cathedral Museum (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo) will be hosting the free the ‘Note al Museo’ concert series starting on October 31 through March 20. The concerts will be held in front of the original Baptistry doors and the recreated original façade of the Santa Maria del Fiore. The museum hopes that the varied and dynamic music will [...]
At the end of this article is a complete schedule of October dates when no-cost access to Florence’s state run-museums. As decreed by former Minister of Culture Alberto Bonisoli, the 2019 agenda has substituted the former first Sunday free museum day. Tourists who happen to be in town on those days are sure to be pleasantly surprised, which may have been a consideration given the long lines on the former well-established and easy-to-remember [...]