AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL FESTIVAL

Jazz lies at the heart of the program. Umbria Jazz 2025 (Perugia, July 11-20) gives us the identity of an increasingly global festival that, on the pillar of jazz music, builds a varied program that is open to different suggestions and able to meet the tastes of an audience that keeps on increasing year after year.

The Festival hosts international stars, emerging talents, rock guitar virtuosos, orthodox and cross-sectional jazz music, classical and innovative performers, top-quality pop, music to get excited and to have fun, great voices and recently emerged artists, black music in its various forms, elegant chamber-like projects and unchained entertainers. Plenty of free music (more than half of the 250 events) will give the city, especially the city center, that atmosphere of popular feasts which has always been the history and soul of Umbria Jazz.

Two features are characteristic and remain unchanged: the program’s quality and the formula that has been consolidated over the years, which the audience has always loved.

The program’s quality means that Umbria Jazz always looks for the best, whether free or ticketed concerts, music for purists or everyone. The formula – music at all times in the city center, with thirteen indoor and outdoor stages – means to create a global village for ten days where everyone can meet their tastes.

Umbria Jazz wants to be – like jazz music – an inclusive phenomenon.

The quality search is declined – as well as with the artistic project – with a great organizational effort to make the festival experience as comfortable as possible. The details were refined year after year to turn a concert into a pleasant stay. This inevitably means investing resources, first of all, in the staff. The number of people working during the Festival gives a good idea of the scale of this effort: more than 1500 people, including technicians, stagehands, drivers, ticket clerks, ushers, offices, production, Clinics, caterers, doctors, Red Cross, firefighters, merchandisers, Civil Protection volunteers, security, stand builders, media and radio, UJ4KIDS, as well as suppliers, law enforcement agencies, garbage collectors, etc.

Walking around Perugia’s historic center and listening to the concerts – from noon till after midnight – also means following a fascinating tourist itinerary among squares, museums, civil and religious monuments, theaters, main streets with breathtaking views, and crowded alleys, day or night. The combination of culture and tourism has always been the cornerstone of the phenomenon, lasting over fifty years. The chemistry of this unique festival lies in the charm of music and the city’s beauty.

The program can be easily read, venue by venue.

The Arena Santa Giuliana is the main stage and hosts major primetime events.

The Teatro Morlacchi and the Teatro del Pavone are the venues dedicated to jazz music. The Festival returns to the eighteenth-century theater, which was accurately restored. Umbria Jazz inaugurates a new season at this venue, which is set to regain an essential role in the city’s cultural life. Jazz fans may recall some fantastic concerts at the Teatro del Pavone, such as the ones of Sarah Vaughan or Tony Bennett (with João Gilberto as an unexpected special guest).

The Sala Podiani of the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria is the precious chest of the most intimate projects.

The outdoor stages of Piazza IV Novembre and Giardini Carducci are dedicated to more popular genres with the highest quality. These venues maintain the connection with the early editions: free music in the squares. That 53-year-old intuition is jealously confirmed.

The Terrace of the Mercato Coperto – with its stunning view over Perugia – is dedicated to swing, the traditional jazz music that has never lost its freshness.

The festival continues its partnership with Cinegatti and Nuovo Cinema Méliès, featuring daily screenings of music-related films and videos, including the docu-series JazzLife, produced by Umbria Jazz.

JAZZ FOOD & WINE

A tradition of Umbria Jazz is to combine music and food, two pleasures of life that match well together.

Bottega del Vino is a fine place to eat or to have an aperitif listening to good live music.

La Taverna hosts jazz lunches on the two weekends. Autographs of jazz stars cover the walls of this restaurant.

The Hotel Priori Secret Garden hosts an aperitif with music daily at 6:30 pm.

The Arena Santa Giuliana includes a restaurant and food stands. People can eat and listen to good live music before the main concert.

STUDYING JAZZ IN PERUGIA WITH BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC.

A FESTIVAL PREVIEW IN PIAZZA IV NOVEMBRE TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY.

Alongside the Festival, the Clinics of Berklee College of Music of Boston (from July 8 to 20 at the Secondary School “San Paolo” in Viale Roma) offer more than 200 students from all over the world the opportunity to improve their skills with professors and one of the most prestigious teaching methods in the world (this year is the 40th anniversary). A rich program – including theoretical and practical sessions addressed to young musicians and drawn up by the professors of this world-leading institution – is concentrated over twelve days. Even many Italian musicians who now perform as professionals on the stages of Umbria Jazz attended the Clinics many years ago.

The presence of the students (applications are still open) helps to create a music campus that is a feature of the city during Umbria Jazz.

Even before the concerts start, Perugia begins to feel the Festival vibe. Early in the morning, students go to the Clinics holding their instruments.

The College offers the best students a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Thanks to the sponsorship with Unicredit, three young talents will receive a special award that will allow them to live this extraordinary experience.

To celebrate the fortieth anniversary, a concert will take place on July 10 in Piazza IV Novembre as a preview of the festival featuring a band of professors, another one of ex-alumni – which are now successful professionals – and a piano solo by Mathis Picard, who is an ex-alumnus too.

IN SEARCH OF NEW TALENTS THANKS TO CONAD

The focus of the Festival on young people is also confirmed by the Conad Jazz Contest, now in its twelfth edition, in the hope of discovering and supporting the future’s jazz musicians.

Ten bands – nine selected by a technical jury and one by the online audience – will perform at Giardini Carducci over three afternoons. Participants must be over 18 and under 28 years of age. An artistic jury chaired by Stefano Bragatto, director of Radio Monte Carlo, and composed of musicians and experts, will select the winners, who will receive a cash prize of 5,000 euros, a tour between summer 2025 and 2026 with live performances on important jazz stages in Italy. The great news of the 2025 edition is that the winner will also receive digital distribution of an EP by Universal Music Italia.

UJ4KIDS, MUSIC TO PLAY AND GROW UP

UJ4KIDS is the successful synthesis of game, culture, creativity, and sociality for children and kids (and their families). The project has reached its seventh edition and earned its place in the architecture of Umbria Jazz, also thanks to its increasing success.

UJ4KIDS is a festival within the Festival, where kids are the real protagonists: an intense program of artistic- multidisciplinary workshops focused on sound and improvisation. The goal is to stimulate creativity and improve communication skills. Over the past few years, Fondazione Umbria Jazz has worked closely with local authorities, public schools, and private music schools in the region to make jazz music more familiar to people of any age. The aim is to promote a music culture and, specifically, the knowledge of jazz and improvised music. Fondazione Umbria Jazz wholeheartedly runs this project in collaboration with the local school institutions.

UJ4KIDS stands as a service and reference activity for public schools with musical orientation, music schools and professional associations, as well as teachers, families, pediatricians and musicians.

The declared intent is to make children and teenagers the protagonists of music events for once and show the results of the work done for years in our region through entertainment and dissemination: it is considered an instrument of cultural and social growth.

The event takes place in the garden area of the Arena Santa Giuliana from July 12 to 20.

JAZZ AT THE CONSERVATORY

In addition to Berklee, Umbria Jazz opens its program to the Conservatory “Francesco Morlacchi” to promote jazz at the highest level of musical education.

Three concerts, performed by students and professors of jazz (and classical) music courses, will be held from July 14 to 16 at the Conservatory’s Auditorium. The repertoires will focus on the compositions by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Every performance will end with a spectacular orchestra.

COLLEGE BANDS AT UMBRIA JAZZ

As it has been for several years, the stage of Umbria Jazz hosts big bands from all-grade schools, from university colleges to high schools. Most of them come from the USA. This is a crucial section of music in the squares because these orchestras play good music in a dimension of cultured amateurism, and tomorrow’s professional jazzmen grow among those sections.

Here are the orchestras of UJ25: The University Of South Carolina Faculty Jazz Combo (Columbia, South Carolina); Left Bank Big Band (Columbia, South Carolina); George Mason University Jazz Combo I (Fairfax, Virginia); Jazz House Kids Big Band (Montclair, New Jersey); Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Jazzschool Berkeley Ensemble (Berkeley, California).

THE MIDNIGHT CLUB WITH THE HOUSE BAND

Umbria Jazz has been resuming one of its historical traditions in recent editions: the night-time jam sessions to round off a day of music. Any self-respecting jam session starts after midnight and goes on until people want to play. Its heart is a “house band”, a quintet that has already performed at the Festival and is led by saxophone player Piero Odorici. Its lineup consists of Daniele Scannapieco (tenor sax), Luca Mannutza (piano), Aldo Zunino (double bass) and Pasquale Fiore (drums).

This is the resident band of Umbria Jazz, and all the other musicians can join. They are experienced jazzmen, among the top players of their instruments. This band can recreate the fervent atmosphere loved by night owls at the Bistrot Priori Secret Garden.

UMBRIA JAZZ AND THE SPOLETO FESTIVAL

Umbria Jazz and the Festival dei Due Mondi of Spoleto continue their collaboration. Three concerts are part of the Spoleto Festival program.

THE MUSICIANS OF UMBRIA JAZZ 2025 edition

ARENA SANTA GIULIANA

Singers are the real protagonists of the Arena. Significant jazz stars such as Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling with the Yellowjackets, Gregory Porter, or recently famed vocalists such as Samara Joy. Black music is represented by Lionel Richie, Ledisi and Thee Sacred Souls, pop music by Mika and I Patagarri, and the African voice opens the edition with Angélique Kidjo. The voice of multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier will also be part of the lineup.

The “major” jazz music will feature Herbie Hancock with a stellar band, Stefano Bollani with a new quintet, and Kamasi Washington with his complex compositional structures.

Rock guitar is represented by Lee Ritenour and SatchVai with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Funk by Candy Dulfer and Marcus Miller leads the audience to powerful music, which has always been part of Umbria Jazz. Mitch Woods, blues and rock & roll singer and pianist, is a spectacular entertainer as opening act for the last night.

TEATRO MORLACCHI and TEATRO DEL PAVONE

The program of the two theaters is traditionally dedicated to jazz music with great attention to the contemporary and innovative African American scene: Ambrose Akinmusire will perform with a nine-piece band; Jonathan Blake, Kenny Barron’s drummer, is the leader of Penthad, a quintet whose mission is to play the most honest music possible; Isaiah Collier, a multi-instrumentalist from Chicago featured in DownBeat Magazine’s 25 for the future in their 90th Anniversary issue in July 2024; Immanuel Wilkins, with his Blues Blood Quartet, is the author of music inspired by a spiritual and ecstatic dimension; Mark Turner, the Californian saxophone player, proceeds along the path of the great tenors of jazz history with his quartet.

Enrico Rava and Fred Hersch are a duo where music is pure emotion; another trumpet/piano duo features Paolo Fresu and Omar Sosa.

Jazzmeia Horn is the last custodian of the great singers’ tradition. Hers is pure vocal jazz music.

The Festival doesn’t forget history: to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Oscar Peterson’s birth, Sullivan Fortner will perform in trio with two members of Peterson’s trio, John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton. Fortner will also perform with his trio. Another celebration is the one of a modern double bass monument, Ray Brown. Christian McBride will play with Benny Green on piano and Greg Hutchinson on drums, both of Brown’s trio. Those two tributes will take place at the Teatro del Pavone.

GALLERIA NAZIONALE DELL’UMBRIA

The Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria hosts an elegant program for jazz fans. The red thread is the piano. The piano solos are: Mathis Picard, Enrico Pieranunzi, Danilo Rea, Alessandro Lanzoni, Dado Moroni, Craig Taborn. Besides the solos, there is the trio by Giovanni Guidi, the piano/sax duo by Giovanni Mirabassi and Rosario Giuliani, piano and trumpet by Julian Oliver Mazzariello and Fabrizio Bosso, piano and accordion by Danilo Rea and Luciano Biondini, and piano and guitar by Gerald Clayton and Kurt Rosenwinkel.

This section of jazz piano is a sort of small festival.

The Galleria will also host Melissa Aldana with her quartet, the Italian-French quartet by Matteo Bordone, and the Marco Bardoscia Quintet featuring Gabriele Mirabassi and the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia.

PIAZZA IV NOVEMBRE, GIARDINI CARDUCCI, TERRACE OF THE MERCATO COPERTO

Free fun-filled music for everyone focused on musical content: from blues music of singer and pianist Mitch Woods to the harmonica and guitar classicism of Delta Wires; from the vocal quartet of New Orleans Mystics to the all-female Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band; from Mathis Picard’s multicultural piano eclecticism to the virtuoso sense of humor of Sugarpie & The Candymen; from the magical clarinet played by Nico Gori with his Young Lions to the acoustic and electric crossover by Accordi Disaccordi.

The captivating sound of the orchestras is represented by the Tribunal Mist Jazz Band and the Mario Corvini Big Band, with special guest Rosario Giuliani.

The Sticky Bones recall the Early Jazz with new arrangements, while Brassense is a classic brass band with a rhythm section.

Funk Off and their street parades are the unmissable element of the Festival.

UMBRIA JAZZ 2025 is the first edition of the Fondazione with Stefano Mazzoni as the new President of the Fondazione and a new Board of Directors: Fausto Palombelli (Vice President), Donatella Miliani, Luca Gatti, Daniele Moretti.

It is also the first edition with Stefania Proietti as the new governor of the Umbria Region.

The close synergy between the Fondazione and the local institutions (the Umbria Region and the Municipality of Perugia) is confirmed for a growth project lasting for more than 50 years with beneficial effects on Umbria’s cultural and economic life.

Radio Monte Carlois the official radio of the Festival.

See you at Umbria Jazz Winter 2025-2026 (Orvieto, 30 December 2025 – 3 January 2026).

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Il manifesto ufficiale è a cura del collettivo Becoming X

Radio Monte Carlo è la radio ufficiale del Festival.