© Emma Graziani

Call to the Arts
a project by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti
artistic direction Michele Marco Rossi e Anna Leonardi
reception at the Classis Museum curated by Francesca Masi 

from 11.30 am to 5 pm
Corde e martelletti – cento piccoli pezzi per crescere al pianoforte
by Alessandro Solbiati
performed by the young pianists of the Conservatori di Milano e Bergamo
Free admission

9 pm
Michele Marco Rossi
cello and live electronics
Free admission. Booking is required

in collaboration with Museo Classis Ravenna and RavennAntica
under the patronage of Nuovo Imaie


The Ravenna Festival’s constant focus on the new generations has resulted in an unprecedented project: the Call to the Arts. The exhortation of the title sums up the spirit of this peaceful and creative “meeting”, which, through a public call, invites the youngest—up to 25 years old, with no minimum age—without forcing their artistic vein into pre-established patterns, without teaching lessons or suggesting strategies, but rather offering a space and time where they can express themselves and confront themselves with other young artists and with the public. This project is the result of the visionary tenacity of Cristina Mazzavillani Muti, who has entrusted it to the enthusiastic experience of young musicians such as Michele Marco Rossi, perhaps the most highly regarded cellist of his generation by contemporary composers, and Anna Leonardi, former oboist of the Orchestra Cherubini youth ensemble, who also works in the organisational and editorial fields. And since this multidisciplinary approach is a value that cannot be renounced, the call is open to the most diverse forms of expression: photography, video, poetry, rap, trap, traditional or innovative visual arts, mosaic, musical composition… all of which will find expression in the “museum-factory” of the Classis. During four intensive days, original works will be collected, exhibited or performed, and the artistic process will be recreated in a rich series of events: a creative workshop always open to the public.

Moving images. Images that vibrate in (and with) sound. On the second day, video art will dominate: not only sophisticated or professional equipment, but also plain smartphones, meant to capture everyday life, will be useful tools to ‘translate’ the corporeality of two contemporary works into video. On the one hand, the mythological inspiration that drives the complex personality of Iannis Xenakis in Kottos (1977), where the crucial issues of the 20th century converge, from war to migration to technology; on the other hand, the struggle of existence is embodied in the rugged topicality of Obstinate (2022), by Georges Aperghis, while Solbiati’s “hundred short pieces” will unfold in an unusual musical marathon under the fingertips of some very young pianists: a concert, an installation and a party.