Everyone knows what a kitchen is for, and everyone knows what architecture is for—yet people constantly wonder or investigate what music is really for, even though music has always been everywhere.
Commercial music that helps you buy, motivational music that helps you run and exercise, relaxing music that helps you sleep or concentrate, experimental music that helps you open your mind and expand your perception, sacred music that helps you connect with a higher reality, dance music that simplifies romantic process.
Everyone listens to music, and yet very few truly understand how it works.
Music can be heavy, it can lead to painful emotional states—sometimes even boredom.
Music is personal—some write it convinced that their inner world must be interesting to others.
Music is tradition—it’s the voice of a people, of a community. It’s the colored accent of a language. Or at least, it was—until the great communicative revolution we now live in, perhaps until the industrialization of art and the great pastiche of postmodernity.
Music is probably somewhere between cooking and architecture.
It nourishes the heart, mind, and soul—creating, enriching, and coloring spaces.
The third season of the Aria di Antrodoco music festival presents a selection of imaginative and stimulating architectures and flavors: rarely explored notes, unique blends of musical genres, a fusion of experimentation and fun, education and research, dancing and celebration, people and experiences.
The aim of this festival is to offer a sincere, well-crafted menu and to immerse listeners in vibrant realities—an antidote to the wear and tear of modern life.
LINE-UP
PROGRAMME
11 AUGUST
CHIOSTRO DI SANTA CHIARA – 21:30
EKO ORCHESTRA
concert
In 2008, on the occasion of the International Guitar Festival of Castrocielo (FR), 35 young musicians came together to form the Eko Orchestra: girls and boys from the Province of Frosinone, aged between 11 and 26, who—driven by a deep love for music, and for the guitar in particular—chose to create a project of their own.
For some of them, music is a priority; for others, a passion. But together they have embraced a method based on collaboration and a shared sense of responsibility and belonging—values that reflect the spirit of an orchestra where the focus is on collective work, allowing everyone to be seen and heard without anyone overshadowing the rest.
The Eko Orchestra has built an extensive repertoire that blends a wide range of musical genres, all centered around the warm tones of acoustic guitars. These are enriched by the rhythms of the cajón and frame drum, with the double bass providing a deep counterpoint. Each piece features original arrangements written specifically for guitar by Angelo Mirante, who also conducts the orchestra.
Thanks to the project’s strong educational value, in 2011 the Eko Orchestra was recognized by the Italian Ministry of Culture as a Group of National Interest. Between 2016 and 2017, the orchestra embarked on two European tours, performing alongside two other youth guitar orchestras—one French and one Spanish. In 2017, they recorded a CD, with all proceeds donated to support the people of Amatrice affected by the 2016 earthquake.
Over time, the Eko Orchestra has earned credibility and acclaim. In 2022, they won the LAZIOSound contest in the BORDERLESS category, opened for Max Gazzè at the Festa della Musica in Rome, and were featured at the SPONZ FEST – Coultura, under the artistic direction of Vinicio Capossela.
They have increasingly performed at events that hosted prominent journalists such as Michele Santoro, Diego Bianchi, Marino Bartoletti, and Antonio Padellaro. The ensemble has also appeared on widely viewed national TV shows like I soliti ignoti on Rai1 and Il posto giusto on Rai3, where they shared the story and inclusive, interdisciplinary potential of their unique musical journey.
12 AUGUST
CHIOSTRO DI SANTA CHIARA – 21:30
CUCOMA COMBO
concert
“Above all, the bubbling new energy of pan-rhythmic music, the awakened dance of joy, and the experimental space for ambitious arrangements and colorful, improvised brass parts. From Sub-Saharan Africa to South America, we travel the paths of Congolese soukous and Amazonian carimbò, with touches of Colombian cumbia, kalimba vibrations, and tribal voices. We find traces of space-funk and afrobeat, with surprising acid synths and a captivating female voice.” (Andrea Simoniello)
Cucòma is the sizzling coffee pot on the Adriatic coast of Romagna.
The various coffee blends—sourced mainly from Latin America and Africa—symbolize the diverse sonic and artistic experiences brewed by bandleader Marco Zanotti (also director of the Classica Orchestra Afrobeat and a visionary artist), Sardinian singer Martina Fadda, avant-garde flutist Fabio Mina, and the rest of the ensemble.
Rough trombone, acid synths, soukous guitars, Colombian gaita, and a rich mix of tribal vocals are just some of the defining elements of the band, all blended and poured from one big Cucòma.
Their music is thrilling and irresistibly danceable, sung in Italian, Sardinian, English, Spanish, and Portuguese—designed to move you, to wake you up.
Just like a good coffee should.
Line-up:
Marco Zanotti – drums, percussion, vocals, mbira
Martina Fadda – lead vocals, synth, percussion
Daniel Corbelli – guitar, percussion, vocals
Andrea Taravelli – bass, vocals
Fabio Mina – flutes, tenor sax, Colombian gaita, danmoi, kalimba
Marcello Jandu Detti – trombone, euphonium, shells, vocals
13 AUGUST
CHIOSTRO DI SANTA CHIARA – 21:30
3UNION
concert
3Union is a project born from the meeting of three virtuoso musicians—Martino Onorato, Roberto Lo Monaco, and Alessandro Pizzonia—who, after years of collaboration and friendship, decided to push musical exploration forward by merging their diverse experiences and artistic visions into the composition and production of a new album.
Listeners are invited on a sonic journey rooted in autobiography, moving fluidly from jazz-rock to electronica, from funk to prog, and through the evolving landscape of crossover jazz. It’s an immersive dive into the forefront of contemporary musical research, where traditional forms dissolve and new sonic textures emerge.
Line-up:
Martino Onorato – piano, synth
Roberto Lo Monaco – bass
Alessandro Pizzonia – drums
CHIOSTRO DI SANTA CHIARA – 23:00
SERENA THUNDERBOLT
Dj set
Serena Thunderbolt is a DJ and producer from Rome whose name itself evokes an explosive mix of instinct and rationality—two core elements of her performances. Her sets are a blend of sensuality, energy, and unexpected twists, moving fluidly between house and deep techno, with a special fondness for jackin’ and gospel-infused house sounds, all while maintaining a deep-rooted love for urban and hip-hop influences.
She has released a techno single and a deep tech EP under the Gain Record and Sintezo labels.
Since 2023, she has been a resident DJ at Campo Magnetico.
In 2024, she was awarded Best European DJ Producer at the Tour Music Fest.
Active since 2021, Serena collaborates with various organizations and clubs across the Roman electronic music scene.
Partners
