Music, social engagement, aggregation and charity works...these are the basis of our association.
Knowing the Filarmonica Sestrese it means going into a world in which not only the musical engagement but also several activities are the main characters.
Here you go a brief description of the main fields in which the Filarmonica Sestrese works.

MUSIC ACTIVITY

Concerts

Our woodwind and brass orchestra plays several concerts with an eclectic performance based on various genres suited to satisfy a wide and different audience.
From the theatre concert, for the most demanding audience, to the crowd concert to whom also a listener less in contact with the world of may be able to approach.
The versatility of the orchestra offers various musical settings suitable to every event: ceremonies, openings, shows, etc...

Marching Parades

Music could be brought to the people not only by playing concerts: the marching parades, which connect the band to its most historical traditions, are a very important matter of our activity.
The marching parade line-up is hold steady. It is the repertoire that changes and in this particular case it's made up of sparkling marches and modern music.
The Filarmonica Sestrese could be also a valuable musical soundtrack to institutional events, parades and meetings.

Recordings

In 1998 the “Filarmonica Sestrese woodwind and brass orchestra” faced a studio recording experience for the very first time. This experience will be repeated several times in the next years and the Filarmonica released many CDs ( studio and live recordings).
The special care to the choice of a varied and suitable repertoire to any audience is presented again both in the concerts and on the CDs which fully show our orchestra's potential and skill.

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COLLABORATIONS

Theatrical Collaborations

During the last years our orchestra has been asked to work with prose theatre productions several times, and we brought our backing music and took part in putting on the performance.
Our first theatre experience goes back to 1992 when the Filarmonica Sestrese took part in “Ulysses and the white whale”, a drama written and performed by Vittorio Gassman with the music of Nicola Piovani. Our last presence goes back to 2006 when we played as stage band in the theatrical performance “The Scream” directed by Pippo Del Bono.

Backing music to video productions

Another important contribution which increases our orchestra experience and curriculum deals with several collaborations to video productions.
In 2007 we were asked by “Centro in Europa” association to make some backing music for a short film. The assignment included both the choice of the right music to match with the scenes and the studio recording of each tracks.

TV Collaborations

The Filarmonica Sestrese took part in several TV shows as guest for local and national stations. Among the last appearances, we recall the shows Linea Verde in 2001, Mai dire Gol in 2004 and Onda Blu in 2007.

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EVENTS ORGANISATION

Our association organizes several initiatives: "G. Ratto" National Music Contest, the “Young Conductors” Exhibition and the "International Music Festival".

"G. Ratto" National Music Contest

"G. Ratto" National Music Contest came to its third year in 2007, bringing musicians coming from all over Italy to Genoa. The contest, which is open to every instruments category, provides for solo and bands sections. As usual, the most prestigious theatres of Genoa host the contest.

"Young Conductors" Exhibition

"Young Conductors" Exhibition is an event oriented to highlight the new and future bands potential, zeroing in on the innovations brought by the up-and-coming young conductors. The event takes place at Ducal Palace of Genoa courtyard as usual, where bands, coming not only from Liguria but from all over Italy, play following the lead of their Young Conductors.

International Music Festival

Without any doubt the International Music Festival is the most successful event in all these years. The 1st edition of this international meeting goes back to July 2004, when Genoa was designated The European Capital of Culture by the European Union. Since then, every two years during the same days, the Filarmonica Sestrese organizes in Genoa this huge International festival for woodwind and brass orchestras from all over the world with more than 30 bands on each editions.
The heart of the event is at Fiera di Genova (where the International Boat Show and Euroflora take place) and at the Old Harbour (where the Aquarium is situated).
The event is a great artistic and musical chance for the bands and an important opportunity to know several musicians coming from all over the world.
Among the most important initiatives we recall the meeting with the District, Province and Region institutional representatives, the big parade in the heart of the city and the concerts all over the main sights of Liguria.

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TEACHING AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

Historical Museum

Lots of legacies are still at our premises which, as well as several historical and musical records, boast a large variety of properties that have been credited as historical heritage protected by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.
From the scores signed by Giacomo Puccini to a large set of rare musical instruments such as the Rotophones, the Filarmonica Sestrese historical museum surely underlines the importance and the aid which our association has brought for years to the city music culture and not only...

Schools visits to our venue

In these last years a collaboration has born with several primary and secondary schools aimed to approach the kids to our reality and to the music. By calling the Filarmonica Sestrese administrative office and making an appointment, the classes of the interested schools could visit our premises and they will be shown our activity, the most important parts of the Historical Museum and all the instruments taught in the Music School will be presented and described.

Collaborations with preschools and primary schools for music education projects

Always in range of a collaboration with the schools, for several years the Filarmonica Sestrese has been offering making many projects for the music education in preschools and primary schools. These projects often combine the music teaching to the one of English or other subjects. The same teachers who lead the Music Training Course and the Music Course for kids at our music school carry out these projects, starting a music path with kids on their first school years.

Open day

There's no better way to make a kid want to approach music than showing what every instruments can really do and letting him/her to play and to get in touch with it.
For this reason, every year before the Music School courses start, the association organizes an “Open Day”, a whole day on which every teachers are on hand to show their music instrument.
The event takes place at Filarmonica Sestrese premises and it will be open all day long for all the people interested...after all it's a free trial!!!

Music School

The Music School has been for more than 160 years and it's still one of the main activity of our association. Our school has more than 130 enrolled and it offers every woodwind and brass instruments, percussion, guitar and piano courses with the addition of the Music Course for kids from 3 to 5 years old and the Music Training Course for kids from 6 to 7. Nowadays, this reality, which is the basis of our woodwind and brass orchestra, is expanding and every year it has got more and more people enrolled and new classes.

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CHARITY WORKS

The “Filarmonica Sestrese”, which has been involved in the social field all along, supports and works with the main humanitarian organizations, such as UNICEF and UNHCR and with the local associations which do charity and voluntary works.
Through the music and several benefit performances, the association promotes and helps many humanitarian projects. Some of the CDs selling incomes are given to support these initiatives.
The Music School and the Music for ensemble course, considered as gathering expressions, offer an important choice of social activity for the the new generations.

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PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES

"Musica in piazza"

The first cultural service information magazine publication handed out free to all the members by “Filarmonica Sestrese” goes back to 1997: "Musica in piazza". The aim of the magazine is to spread the main events of our activity among not only the members and to keep our audience constantly informed.

Publishing releases

Two are the biographies which tell the life of the Filarmonica Sestrese from the establishment year to date from a cultural and historical point view: History of the Filarmonica Sestrese - 1985 and The Filarmonica Sestrese through three century of history, culture and charity work – 2008.
The first publication, written by a well-known historian from Genoa, describes the life of our association in the form of a chronicle basing on several historical documents which support the facts described in. Written on the occasion of the 140th year of establishment, the book shows in the the preface hearty admiration words from the then-Major of Genoa.
In 2008 our history was told in a book with a more catalogue nature, in which the story comes with several images that show both the cultural heritage (see our Historical Museum) and the association common activity.
Written by our vice-president as well as a member of the editorial “Musica in Piazza” staff, the biography also shows prefaces full of praises from the most important offices of our region including the Major of Genoa, the President of Genoa Province and the President of the Region.


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