Each year, the northern Italian region of Trentino becomes home to unforgettable classical, jazz, and world music concerts set amongst the beautiful Dolomites, now officially a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This year, the highly anticipated Sounds of the Dolomites offers seventeen different events from 23rd August to 1st October, inviting all music lovers to experience the mountains whilst listening to mesmerising melodies and soaking up the region’s rich culture.
Often referred to as the Monti Pallidi (pale mountains), The Dolomites are a uniquely soft grey colour; however, at sunrise and sunset, this provides the perfect backdrop to the intense colours of the sky, reflecting and amplifying each shade of orange, pink, yellow, and red. The Dawn in the Dolomites concert, which occurs throughout the festival each year, offers the audience the chance to see this transformation. This year, Mario Brunello will hold a show at dawn on 1st September, accompanied by a Polish Quartet of four leading cellists. The music greets the sun as it emerges through the staggering mountains and the crowds gathered to watch. Mario Brunello notes that just how the sky transforms the mountain landscape, as does the music. He describes the experience of playing in the concert as mystical and yet nourishing. The region of Trentino is widely known for its holistic wellness practices and connection to the landscape, with barefoot walking, forest bathing, tree-hugging, and outdoor yoga not only on offer but also encouraged; as Mario explains, Sounds of the Dolomites is no less a practice of wellness and meditation than these experiences, a large part of the reason why the festival finds its home in the region.
The festival was initially created to showcase Trentino’s beauty and immerse visitors in nature and music. Many concerts are free of charge, except the experiences held indoors and include special trekking projects, which are three-day packages, during which musicians and participants accompanied by the Trentino Alpine Guides share daily journeys to the mountains and offer exclusive concerts.
