Di Lernia ospite d'eccezione al FOS, con l'Orchestra da Camera Oles

The appointment of the Salento Organ Festival, scheduled for Wednesday, December 4 at the Sanctuary of St. Anthony at Fulgenzio in Lecce (7:00 PM), is dedicated to the great romantic concerts for organ and orchestra. The Oles Chamber Orchestra, conducted on this occasion by Maestro Francesco Scarcella—harpsichordist, organist, and artistic director of the FOS—will perform. At the Mascioni organ (from 1935) will be the exceptional guest organist of the festival, Francesco Di Lernia.

The concert, with free admission, will feature music by Ottorino Respighi, including the "Suite in G major for Strings and Organ" and Suite no. 3 from the "Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute," and by Giacomo Puccini, with the elegy "Crisantemi" for String Orchestra, written by the author in 1890 in just one night. The Suite in G is a tribute to the Baroque suite of Bach, Frescobaldi, and Corelli, structured on the model of the Concerto Grosso. The taste for music and ancient instruments instead inspires the four movements of Suite no. 3 of "Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute," transcribed by Respighi for strings only.

Francesco Di Lernia studied in Italy and Germany, pursuing his artistic activity for years amidst the major festivals worldwide. He has also collaborated with numerous soloists, groups, and orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Academy. He regularly holds lectures, courses, and seminars at important academies worldwide and is a jury member in international organ competitions. He is a professor of organ at the U. Giordano Conservatory in Foggia.

The FOS, directed by Francesco Scarcella, is organized by the J.S. Bach Institute of Music Culture in Tricase, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Puglia Region, in agreement with the Superintendency for the provinces of Brindisi and Lecce and with the patronage of the Province of Lecce, the Municipalities of Lecce, Andrano, Minervino and Salve, the Tito Schipa Conservatory, the University of Salento, and the dioceses of Lecce (info: 347.6190411).