The Sounds of Florence’s ‘Strings City’ 2019

This year Florence’s Strings City, an all-encompassing no-cost music festival, returns from December 14-15, promising to fill the city with music from every genre and every era. Concerts will be held in some of the most iconic places in the city with classical and contemporary music, including jazz, played. With over 50 locations in Florence each performance will have an appropriate and beautiful settings, with some even offering guided tours. Instruments will include violins, harps, cellos, guitars, violas, mandolins, and so much more. A piano was installed on December 6 in Palazzo Vecchio’s Dognana courtyard accessible for the public to play. It will serve as a focal point for Christmas carols on December 14 at 6:15 pm, and remain in the venue throughout the holidays.

This event is held in partnership with the Fiesole Music School, the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and the Orchestra of Tuscany (ORT).  The entire festival will be free but reservations are required for each specific show. Reservations can easily be made online through Thursday, December 12. Cancellations are accepted until December 13.

One of the highlights of Strings City will be several different children’s orchestras which will be playing in the Sala Poccetti of the Istituto degli Innocenti, the former orphanage now museum, on December 14 starting at 10 am. Chartered in 1419 thanks to silk guild as the first lay organization in the world to provide a home for abandoned infants, the Foundling Hospital of the Innocenti has been caring for kids for over six centuries.  A look at Florence’s white pages will also reveal a long list of residents, whose last name is Innocenti or Nocentini, descendants of those who grew up in the Piazza Santissima Annunziata orphanage.  Another concert by a children’s group, Crescendo, will be held there later that day, at 11:40 am.

Aficionados of Baroque music will be drawn to percussion and viol consort (ensemble) concerts on December 14 in the foyer of Teatro della Pergola (10 am) and at the San Apollonia Refectory (via 27 Aprile, 1) at 11:30 am. Another unique event will be Naomi Berrill’s Silent Woods. An ensemble of dancers will complement compositions on the cello and singing of Bach and original/unpublished works by Berrill herself. It is scheduled on December 14 at 11 am and again at 12:30 pm in the dormitories of the Santa Maria Novella, interacting with the Botany and Leonardo da Vinci exhibition being displayed nearby. This will be one of the more dynamic concerts thanks to the lush setting, music, and dance. A viola and cello duo will play Beethoven and Boccherini in the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum (piazza Santa Trinita) at 11:30 am, followed by a guided tour of the current show “Sustainable Thinking.” Visitors can explore 10 rooms that focus on different themes including innovation, transforming materials, nature, social issues and diversity as regards the world of fashion.

Those seeking out a similarly dynamic opportunity should not miss out on the string relays. Songs will transition seamlessly between players and groups as they pass the torch of the composition from one musician to another. The first one will be held at the Piazza del Duomo at noon on December 14. There will be more of these relays throughout the two days. Another exciting recital will be One to Five, a performance that will start as solo and end in a quintet. This crescendo of a concert is on the 14th at 1 pm at the Sala Pegaso of Palazzo Guadagni Strozzi Sacrati, Piazza del Duomo 10. One concert after the other, promises to be unique in its hand off from one song to the other.

For more updated music on the Florence’s Strings City program, attend Duet in the 20th Century. This series for flute and guitar will feature a couple of key pieces from the last century at the Novecento Museum of Modern Art in piazza Santa Maria Novella. For classical and contemporary guitar, head to the student guitar battles at The Student Hotel. With the first round beginning at 3 pm on December 14 and the second round taking later that evening at 5:30 pm, 13 students will take turns performing pieces from every era and style. Set in a very stylish and new location, these guitar battles promise to be beautiful and competitive.  Complete with staggering views of the Duomo, The Student Hotel (viale Lavagnini) holds to true to its tag phrase: “Completely Connected Community.” It is a model with an undeniable draw for world-trekking millennials, college students, and the rising tech-savvy Z and Alpha generations.

A concert honoring historic Florentine rulers and legacy will be How Happy the Day is: Music at the Time of Cosimo I de’Medici. The concert at 4:30 pm on December 14 will feature pieces that would have been extremely popular in 16th century Florence. The show will be held at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Museum, where many incredible pieces of Florentine mosaic in semi-precious stone inlay are on display.

Christmas carols will also have a dedicated concert on December 14 at 5 pm. The British Institute Library (Lungarno Guicciardini 9) will host the Ensemble Vocale, conducted by Joan Yakkey, who will sing very traditional Christmas songs from the 13th to the 18th centuries as well as a piece or two from the Harry Potter films. Jazz fans will be pleased to hear that on December 14 there will be three options in Palazzo Strozzi, where guests will be treated to superb jazz concerts of singing and a double bass from 8:30 to 10:30 pm.

Jazz fans will be pleased to hear that on December 14 there will be three options in Palazzo Strozzi, where guests will be treated to superb jazz concerts of singing and a double bass from 8:30 to 10:30 pm.  For the complete program, visit the Strings City website.  (jax viteznik)