News

The Orchestra della Toscana inaugurates the 103rd Micat in Vertice season at the Chigiana. On 22 November, in Siena Cathedral, a tribute to Arvo Pärt for his 90th birthday.

The Orchestra della Toscana will inaugurate the 103rd Micat in Vertice Season of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana on Saturday, 22 November 2025, in the Cathedral of Siena. This occurs on the feast day of Saint Cecilia.

The inaugural concert is organised in collaboration with the Opera della Metropolitana di Siena. It is under the patronage of the Estonian Embassy in Italy. The concert is dedicated to Arvo Pärt, one of the greatest living composers, on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The ORT will be conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, who is a leading interpreter of Pärt’s music. They will perform together with the Siena Cathedral Choir “Guido Chigi Saracini” and its soloists.

The event inaugurates a season that includes sixteen concerts, from 22 November 2025 to 8 May 2026. The programme ranges from early music to contemporary sounds and welcomes great performers from the international scene. These include Ian Bostridge, Francesco Piemontesi, Jean Rondeau, the Quatuor Modigliani, the Danish String Quartetand Peppe Servillo.

The participation of the Orchestra della Toscana in the inauguration confirms its solid collaboration with the Accademia Chigiana. It also underlines the ensemble’s ongoing commitment to promoting great symphonic and choral repertoires in the most symbolic venues of Italy’s artistic heritage.

For further information on the season and concerts, visit the Accademia Chigiana website.

On September 27th, Palazzo Strozzi inaugurated the largest retrospective ever organized in Italy dedicated to Helen Frankenthaler, one of the most revolutionary artists of the 20th century. The exhibition will be open until January 26th, 2025, and a special promotion is available for our audience.

Palazzo Strozzi presents the most comprehensive retrospective ever held in Italy dedicated to one of the most revolutionary artists of the 20th century. The exhibition offers an in-depth overview of Helen Frankenthaler’s work, placing her creations in dialogue with those of contemporary artists such as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Morris Louis, David Smith, Anthony Caro, and Anne Truitt.

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through large-scale paintings, works on paper, and sculptures, creating a path that highlights the artist’s extraordinary originality. It includes loans from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and prestigious international museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) played a pivotal role in the transition from Abstract Expressionism to Color Field painting, challenging conventions and pushing the boundaries of art in search of new expressive freedom. Famous for her innovative soak-stain technique, Frankenthaler applied diluted paint to unprimed canvases, creating watercolor-like effects on a large scale. This approach allowed her to explore new relationships between color, space, and form, uniquely expanding the possibilities of abstract painting and inspiring new generations of artists to this day.

Once again, the collaboration between Fondazione ORT and Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi is renewed. Our subscribers—or the attendees of our concerts—will be able to access the exhibition at a reduced ticket price upon presenting their concert ticket. Similarly, those who purchase a ticket for the exhibition will be eligible for a discounted entry to any of our season concerts.

New challenges and undertakings for the ORT

Increasingly in demand on an international level, Daniele Rustioni has taken the responsible decision to step aside. Daniele Spini is appointed new artistic director by the foundation’s board of directors.

An important appointment for the general director of the ORT

Parri’s new position was made official at the AGIS headquarters today in Rome. One of his first commitments will be to develop “an ongoing and productive relationship between the various components of the performing arts sector, while ensuring direct contact with the institutions and the new executive.”