Welcome to the third edition of MITO SettembreMusica, an event that has helped to create a renewed feeling of faith, development and bonds of friendship between the cities of Milano and Torino.

This year, just weeks following the close of the Festival, marks the inauguration of the high speed railroad line which will provide a less-than-1-hour connection between the two cities, or the time it takes to read a newspaper or a chapter in a good book, or to review business projects during the commute. Indeed, music has anticipated the significance of this extraordinary new infrastructure and has opened the doors to new forms of cooperation between the two cities in the culture sector, especially in contemporary art and the youth music scene, and beyond, with initiatives like Italy’s 150th anniversary celebration and World Expo 2015.

MITO SettembreMusica has provided a breath of fresh air and excitement. Quality performances and exquisitely selected programs are its strong point, while new experiences in social gatherings are never excluded. There is, in fact, a common approach among the public, which may even be noted in the audiences’ casual attire. And in their special way of applauding, and in a way of withholding comments until the curtain has lowered and the lights have gone up. All this has roots in the original SettembreMusica held in Torino, yet has been assimilated in Milano with surprising ease. Confirmation arrives directly from performers: "We found the atmosphere in Milano exactly the same as the one in Torino Settembre Musica, which was really one of the hottest international music festivals. That tradition continues in Milano."
This has become a phenomenon worthy of study, and one that demands an explanation.

Today, objectively speaking, we are faced with a host of difficulties in general which cannot but concern this initiative. But we’ll be doing everything possible to render homage to this grand Festival and its spirit, and help bring out its precious anti-cyclical function. MITO SettembreMusica can and must contribute to spreading hope that the current economic crisis may pass quickly and leave in its wake new and different relationships between the economy and local territories, between cities and culture, based on sustainable development, with an ethical orientation toward art.

We heartily thank all participants, whom we are certain will be numerous and highly motivated, and wish you a thrilling MITO SettembreMusica 2009.

Letizia Moratti Mayor of Milano Massimiliano Finazzer Flory Commissioner of Cultural Resources, Milano

Sergio Chiamparino Mayor of Torino Fiorenzo Alfieri Commissioner of Cultural Resources and of the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification, Torino

There’s the feeling that MITO SettembreMusica, now in its third edition, is no longer a "newborn" or, to use a term from the business world, a "start-up".

By now the festival may be considered a fixed annual appointment which, however, has no intention of becoming a standardized cliché, as sometimes venerable institutions are wont to do. MITO SettembreMusica continues to innovate within its function as a creative service. The music served up pushes quality to new heights, sometimes with quite unusual offerings, to the benefit of widely diverse and increasingly younger audiences, beyond traditional boundaries of the antiquated industrial bourgeoisie for whom theatrical institutes, museums and associations concert were once founded. New audiences have latched onto the novelty of MITO SettembreMusica, perhaps also thanks to an organization that is efficient, fresh and captivating, bolstered by a team of young and enthusiastic collaborators (who are often university interns) keen and impassioned enough to make sure the whole great music machine, despite its mammoth dimensions, runs like clockwork. Indeed, last year’s edition of MITO SettembreMusica featured over 4,000 artists from 33 different countries in twenty four performance-packed days and evenings! Innovation, as we said, means not repeating a formula. Much attention has been focused on the environment and the project’s “sustainability”. Our doors swing open to cultural diversity and to “other” musical worlds with presentations of cultures from the world over, film screenings, publication of books, and international round tables. This year the spotlight is on Japan, and many are the appointments accompanying an impressive selection of Japanese music, including gastronomic forays, tea ceremonies, explorations of traditional costumes, cartoons for young and old alike, and a grand Madame Butterfly exhibition promoted by the Ricordi publishing house. We’ll be celebrating the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln with a concert of very special American music, and we’ll also remember Jerusalem with the stellar presence of Jordi Savall.

We’ll even be taking a look at the world of neurosciences with a day of study and music, as we explore recent discoveries aimed at deciphering the formulation of musical thought within the human brain. Besides providing a huge range of performances, opening up to new audiences means we’ll also be focusing on a host of music seminars for children in the months of June, July and September to help broaden young peoples’ understanding of the musical arts. New and different venues have been added to this expanded initiative, including the new Bocconi University center in Milano’s Navigli district, a hangar at the Linate airport, subway stations, and a new list of churches and piazzas in both Milano and Torino. Other cities in the Milano-Torino metropolitan area will also be involved, and for the first time we’ll be reaching out to bring a grand concert by the Reigakusha Japanese Imperial Orchestra to Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, as MITO SettembreMusica further expands its area of influence. Over the past three years, thanks also to the consistent presence and generosity of our partners, MITO SettembreMusica has become a major force, at the center of “widespread and innovative networks” which local administrators in Milano and Torino are so fond of hailing, and rightly so. These two cities, as well as the entire northwest of Italy, have the good fortune, in strenuous economic times, to be able to keep the focus local while attracting creativity, art, culture and talent from around the globe.

MITO SettembreMusica aims at being a festival that with each edition is more and more open to ever larger audiences, a longtime tradition of the original Torino SettembreMusica festival which continues today.

Francesco Micheli

President

Three years mark the milestones in the history of SettembreMusica: in 1978 Torino city councilman Giorgio Balmas spurs the city to create the Settembre Musica music festival; in 2006 an alliance is born between the cities of Torino and Milano, giving life to the MITO SettembreMusica; in 2008 the Foundation for Music Activities is founded in Torino, which the City of Torino engages to organize the Torino section of Settembre Musica.

The Foundation is proud to take over the difficult task of organizing an impeccable, smooth-running international music festival, following in the footsteps of this festival’s past organizers, which include the City of Torino, Fondazione Teatro Regio, and Unione Musicale. We know we can do the job, as we rely on the irreplaceable contributions of all those people who, with their experience, dedication, and high professional standards, have assured the much touted success of the festival’s previous editions.

After just a single season under our belts, we are not in much of a position to sing our own praises, but we can shed a little light on our current work and what lies in store for the future.

Torino’s collaboration with Milano has meant doubling the power of SettembreMusica. The program has grown in terms of both quantity and quality; all musical genres, from the most refined and sophisticated to those most accessible to broad swaths of the public, get the space they deserve; the festival has been able to attract increasing numbers of both Italian and foreign music lovers. With the advent of MITO SettembreMusica, the festival takes on a two-city character, as both Milano and Torino provide the perfect settings for a truly thrilling international music festival. Repeat performances have been reduced, as we seek to bring out the best each city has to offer, especially in terms of performance venues.

Such projects demand massive efforts and truckloads of determination, even more so when operating in hard economic times like the present. Looking toward the future, MITO SettembreMusica will be projected beyond the national level, to a European level, while we’ll be seeking out music from all over the world to dazzle audiences with sounds and ways of interpreting music new to Western audiences. Regional talent, which is abundant and of prime quality, will continue to be showcased. In addition, music may be combined with art shows and exhibitions. MITO SettembreMusica will provide an important vehicle for lively cultural events programs in Torino and Milano.

We hope everyone, from our longtime, die-hard fans to first-time concert-goers, will come out and let themselves be amazed by the 2009 edition of MITO SettembreMusica.

Angelo Chianale

President of the Foundation for Music Activities, Torino