The Festival of Sacred Franciscan Music gets to the heart of its new edition.
Many concerts and moments of meeting will enlive the franciscan places in Assisi and Santa Maria degli Angeli from thursday the 20th to saturday the 22rd of October 2022: 16 vocal and orchestra groups are going to participate to Assisi Pax Mundi. More than 370 artists coming from different parts of Italy.
The theme of this ninth edition of the Festival is “Et dame fede dricta”(FF 276).
The concert that is occurring on thursday the 20th of October will kick off the festival at 9 p.m. in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli with the Vocal Group “ArmoniosoInCanto” coming from
Perugia. Friday and Saturday will be rich in events: three concerts a day will be performed.
The first concert of Friday the 21st of October will start at 11:30 a.m. in the Church of Santa Maria in Minerva with the “Medievales Ætnei” Ensemble coming from Paternò. In the afternoon, it will be the turn of the “Laudate et Benedicite” Liturgic Choir from Sassari that will perform in the Santa Chiarella Oratory at 5 p.m.
The day will end with the concert of the Manos Blancas Choir from San Vito al Tagliamento with the cooperation of Noincanto e Naonis Clarinet Ensemble and the Choir of Ittireddu (Ittireddu SS): it will occur at 9 p.m. in the Saint Rufino Cathedral.
On saturday the 22rd of October the music will start enliven the franciscan places at 11 a.m. in Saint Peter Church. Two choirs are going to perform their concerts: the Polimnia Polyphonic Choir (Padule SA) and the Magnificat Choir (Barrafranca EN). In the afternoon, at 4, the concert will take place in Saint Peter Church as well, with the “Sturm und Drang” Polyphonic Choir coming from Paternò and the Choir of the Basilica of Sorrento.
As usual, the Saturday night appointment will be the moment for a collective meeting that will allow to all participating groups to meet each other in a unique shared concert. They are going to sing all toghether on saturday the 22rd of October at 8:30 p.m. in the Saint Francis Upper Basilica.
“Assisi Pax Mundi” festival is organized by the four Franciscan Families in Assisi with the cooperation of the Chapel Choir of the Papal Basilica of St Francis: it has reached its 9th edition and it really want to offer the possibility to dialogue for peace and communion. Artists participating at the event are invited to present their repertoire and to meet each other in the beautiful scenery of Assisi, to share their experiences and feelings.
I’ll cast the nets in your Word” (Lc 5,5): these few words perfectly define the concept of believing. Above all, we notice that believing is to answer to a person who speaks daily in our life, believing isn’t to start a new life all at once; St Peter affirms “I’ll cast the nets in your Word”: he does what the Lord ask to him and he does it day by day. Jesus doesn’t offer a magic formula that can solve his problems (“We worked hard all night long but we didn’t get anything”); believing is to watch your life through a new perspective.
Things that we do every day, trusting in our ideas and abilities, may becloud our days, our work and get us depressed. A believer thinks that if he perfoms every day actions with his faith, he will live them with a new spirit. Studying, loving, working, accepting challenges, every day joys and sorrows aren’t deal breaker any more but chances that con allow us to grow spiritually and humanly. If we believe in Christ, in the Living Word, all our person will grow.
Consequently the life of the believer becomes joyfull, free to love without injuries. This is our faith: trusting in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we think to St Francis, as franciscan families, we make its “Pray in front of the Cross” our: “Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart, and give me a right faith (Et dame fede dricta)”, and not a faith that goes wrong because of the sin.
Music scores of the franciscan songs performed during the festival will be put on sale at the Sacred Convent shop and at the International Franciscan Library.
The festival is realized thanks to the contribution of the Ministry of Culture, the Umbria Region, the City of 16Assisi and the Pontifical Council for Culture.