The 41st Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy & Festival has unfortunately been cancelled due to the worldwide spread of COVID-19. Although the music festival cannot be held, we have received messages from seven of the faculty members who were planning to participate in this year’s festival.
We will introduce a video message from Prof. Gemma Bertagnolli.

Among the things this global pandemic has taken from us, the annual appointment with the Kusatsu Music Academy and Festival is a regretful one to miss. I am deeply saddened by the fact that this year I won’t be meeting the students, the colleagues and the amazing staff that have all become such a beloved part of my summer.  While we wait to meet again next time I want to celebrate Beethoven’s anniversary with a lied recorded in my living room all the way back in Italy, with Fabio Galessi playing the piano. Again looking forward to next time I want to greet you all with Beethoven’s words: Ich Liebe Dich.

Gemma Bertagnolli

Soprano / Participated every year since the 34th (2013) Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy & Festival.
Her career has already taken her to major Opera Houses and Concert Halls including the Teatro La Scala, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and others. It is above all as a singer of Baroque Music that she is most celebrated. Conductors with whom she has worked in opera and concert include Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti. She is currently teaching at Vicenza, at the Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Pedrollo.

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