Musica Maestri!

**“Maestri!”: in Bari, the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese takes center stage in a conducting challenge**

On September 5, the final concert of Maestro Fabrizio Dorsi’s Conducting Masterclass: six conductors, a great orchestra, and masterpieces by Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Rossini

**BARI – September 5, 2026, 8:30 p.m.**

The evocative garden of the Church of Sant’Andrea, at 1 Via Bissolati in Bari, will provide the setting for “Maestri!”, the final concert of the Conducting Masterclass led by **Maestro Fabrizio Dorsi**.

At the heart of the evening will be a particularly meaningful meeting between training, talent, and musical professionalism: the Masterclass participants will take the podium to conduct, one piece each, the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese. The orchestra will be not merely the interpreter of the program, but the true protagonist of the entire event.

It is precisely through working with an orchestra of highly skilled musicians that a conductor can concretely measure their preparation. The baton alone is not enough: listening, authority, clarity of gesture, the ability to communicate, and above all the sensitivity required to build a musical interpretation together with the orchestral musicians are essential.

This is where the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese plays a fundamental role. With its experience and professionalism, the orchestra will offer the young conductors an authentic and highly demanding test, transforming the Masterclass’s final concert into a genuine professional experience.

Not merely an accompaniment, then, but an artistic dialogue between the podium and the orchestra, in which every gesture by the conductor must immediately be translated into sound, phrasing, dynamics, and expression.

### Six conductors, one great orchestra

The evening’s program offers a fascinating journey through some of the most celebrated masterpieces of the symphonic and operatic repertoire.

The concert will open with Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 7 in B minor, “Unfinished,” one of the absolute high points of nineteenth-century symphonic music. The *Allegro moderato* will be conducted by Rosy Cristiano, while Francesco Maria Gaudelli will take the podium for the *Andante con moto*.

Entrusting the two movements to two different conductors will represent an additional point of interest: the same orchestra will be called upon to engage with two distinct interpretive personalities, highlighting its extraordinary ability to adapt and respond to the different directions coming from the podium.

This will be followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s celebrated overture to *Die Zauberflöte* (*The Magic Flute*), conducted by Luca Puglielli—a piece in which precision, transparency of sound, and theatrical flair will be essential.

Next will come Ludwig van Beethoven’s *Coriolanus* Overture, entrusted to Marco Boccadamo, with its intense contrast between dramatic tension and lyrical moments.

The program will continue with Felix Mendelssohn’s *The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)*, conducted by Pierangelo Pietracatella—a work emblematic of music’s ability to transform landscapes and impressions of nature into sound.

The musical portion of the evening will conclude with Gioachino Rossini’s brilliant overture to *The Barber of Seville*, under the direction of Song Yang: a finale marked by energy, rhythm, and Rossini’s irresistible vitality.

### The orchestra as a proving ground

For the Masterclass participants, conducting the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese will represent the culmination of a course of study in which knowledge of the score must be transformed into a concrete ability to make music together.

The orchestra will thus become a kind of litmus test of the young conductors’ preparation: every gesture, every dynamic indication, every choice of tempo, and every interpretive intention must be translated by the musicians into a coherent and immediate musical response.

It is in this relationship—built on mutual listening and communication—that a conductor’s quality is measured. The presence of the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese makes this test especially meaningful, giving the participants the opportunity to engage with a real orchestral setting and the demands of a public performance.

For the orchestra, in turn, it will be an evening of great artistic responsibility: accompanying six young conductors means being able to recognize and enhance different interpretive ideas while maintaining the high musical standard required by the repertoire.

### The audience will choose the best conductor

But the evening will not end with Rossini’s final note.

At the conclusion of the concert, the audience, together with the orchestra members and a prestigious technical jury, will choose the best conductor of the Masterclass.

The voting will be divided into three components: the audience vote, the vote of the musicians of the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese, and the vote of the technical jury.

The jury will consist of Maestro Michele Nitti, Maestro Giovanni Rinaldi, Maestro Pierluigi Camicia, and Maestro Vito Paternoster—figures who will provide a qualified assessment of the various conducting performances.

The presence of the orchestra members among the voters adds a particularly valuable element to the competition: it will be the very musicians who have shared the stage with the candidates who will express their judgment, based on their direct experience of the relationship established with each conductor.

### A concert, but above all a meeting between generations and professionals

“Maestri!” therefore goes beyond the traditional closing concert of a Masterclass. It is a meeting point between the training of new conductors and the experience of a professional orchestra, in a setting where every performance becomes an opportunity for growth.

On one side are six young conductors ready to put themselves to the test before an audience; on the other, the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese, called upon to give voice to their musical ideas and transform the conductor’s gesture into a tangible sonic experience.

This dialogue will form the heart of the evening: six different personalities on the podium, but a single orchestra capable of following them, listening to them, and responding to their musical direction.

From the mystery of Schubert’s “Unfinished” to Mozart’s magic, from Beethoven’s drama to Mendelssohn’s soundscape, and finally to Rossini’s irresistible brilliance, the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese will lead the audience through a captivating musical journey, placing its experience at the service of a new generation of conductors.

On September 5, therefore, Bari will host more than just a concert: audiences will witness the birth of new interpretive ideas, the encounter between young talents and professionals, and a genuine field test for those aspiring to conquer the podium.

“Maestri!” will be a celebration of music, training, and the orchestra, with the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese at the center of the stage.

**The appointment is Saturday, September 5, 2026, at 8:30 p.m., in the garden of the Church of Sant’Andrea, 1 Via Bissolati, Bari.**

Six conductors. Five great composers. One great orchestra. And the audience called upon to choose the next Maestro.
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