from 14 to 23 August 2026 – Sala Falconetto, via Belenzani, Trento

CONCERTS

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• OFF-FESTIVAL – CLASS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC – CONSERVATORIO F.A.BONPORTI DI TRENTO – Friday 14 August 2026 – Sala Falconetto (Palazzo Geremia, via Belenzani 20 – Trento)

 

• ANTEPRIMA – Saturday 15 August 2026 – Sala Fondazione Caritro (Trento)

 

• DAY 1 –  MOTOCONTRARIO – Tuesday 18 August 2026 – Sala Falconetto (Palazzo Geremia, via Belenzani 20 – Trento)

 

• DAY 2 – QUARTETTO MAURICE – Wednesday 19 August 2026 – Sala Falconetto (Palazzo Geremia, via Belenzani 20 – Trento)

 

• DAY 3 – ENSEMBLE NUOVE MUSICHE – Thursday 20 August 2026 – Sala Falconetto (Palazzo Geremia, via Belenzani 20 – Trento)

 

• DAY 4 – MUSIKFABRIK – Saturday 22 August 2026 – Sala Falconetto (Palazzo Geremia, via Belenzani 20 – Trento)

 

• DAY 5 –  MASTERCLASS 2026 FINAL CONCERT: MOTOCONTRARIO –  Sunday 23 August 2026 – Sala Falconetto (Palazzo Geremia, via Belenzani 20 – Trento)

 

LECTURE

 

• MARCO STROPPA – PUBLIC LECTURE – Friday 21 August 2026  – Sala Falconetto (Palazzo Geremia, via Belenzani 20 – Trento)

 

MASTERCLASS

 

• INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION MASTERCLASS 2026 with MARCO STROPPA – 18-23 August 2026 – Spazio TrentoLab (Torre Mirana, via Belenzani, 1 – Trento)

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After an off-festival concert by the electronic music class of the Conservatory of Trento and Professor Raul Masu, and the festival preview on Saturday, August 15, curated by Motocontrario, the Festival will focus on six days full of activities and events.

The core of the Festival will consist of five concerts, three of which will feature ensembles and musicians of great renown, known on the national and international scene and specialized in the performance of contemporary music: the Maurice Quartet, the MusikFabrik ensemble, and the Nuove Musiche ensemble.

Two concerts will be curated by the MotoContrario ensemble: the first will be dedicated to pieces by B. Bartok, G. Kurtag, M. Spahlinger, and M. Stroppa, while the second will be held on the last day and will feature performances of pieces by students of the International Composition Masterclass organized within the Festival.

This year, the Festival will be dedicated to “sonic space“, that is, that part of contemporary musical production that explores sonic space through new writings. for acoustic instruments, exploring the relationships between sound, environment, and perception.

The pieces on the program, performed exclusively on traditional, non-electronic instruments, open up new listening perspectives through exploration of resonance, distance, movement, and timbral layering, transforming space into an integral part of the musical experience. Intertwined paths will unfold through diverse compositional experiences: from the fragmented and intimate tension of György Kurtág‘s writing (in the year of his 100th birthday), to Marco Stroppa‘s complex exploration of sound and acoustic spatiality, to the radical reflections on gesture, listening, and sonic matter in Mathias Spahlinger‘s work.

This journey traverses diverse visions of contemporary music, united by the exploration of sonic space through traditional instruments and profoundly renewed listening practices.

The central figure of the entire Festival will be Italian composer Marco Stroppa, whose poetics are distinguished by a profound attention to the spatial dimension of sound, the richness of timbral matter, and the construction of ever-changing perceptual forms. In his work, the relationship between instrumental gesture, sonic energy, and the articulation of the listening space generates complex and dynamic textures, in which the instrumental writing develops a strong tension between structural precision, acoustic imagination, and expressive intensity.

Marco Stroppa, whose music will resonate in each of the concerts, will be the composer who will lead this year’s International Composition Masterclass organized within the Festival. The masterclass, spread over six days of intensive lessons and seminars, will serve as the backdrop and backdrop to the entire festival, bringing young composers from around the world to Trento, in addition, of course, to the illustrious composer.

The Festival also offers a lecture open to the public, which will be given by Marco Stroppa himself on his own music.

Finally, the collaboration with the Municipality of Trento, which hosts all the Festival events in some of its spaces, is of great value; concerts in Sala Falconetto of Palazzo Geremia and masterclasses in the SpazioLab of Torre Mirana, in the heart of the city.

This year, MotoContrario once again offers audiences a music festival that aims to deepen their understanding of composers and trends within the complex world of contemporary music research. The Contrasti Festival, in this sense, is internationally recognized as a reliable space for the representation of the most cutting-edge musical creativity, promoting and producing high-quality professional performances, provided by the MotoContrario ensemble and the numerous prestigious guests who have been invited over the years. Enjoy!

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