Continuous sell-outs for all concerts, with enthusiastic appreciation from large audiences, 27 countries, 153 applications, 56 music workshops and a truly international community. For more than two weeks, Siena welcomed students and leading figures from the world of jazz.
The 56th edition of the Siena Jazz International Summer Workshops has just come to a close with an overwhelmingly positive balance. The prestigious advanced music training project, a flagship initiative of the Siena Academy, supported by the National Performing Arts Fund promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the Municipality of Siena, brought an extraordinary international community of musicians, students, teachers and artists back to Siena from July 21 to August 7.
The edition once again confirmed Siena’s role as one of Europe’s leading centers for education, research and artistic production in the field of jazz and improvised music.
The figures clearly reflect the international dimension the project has achieved: 153 applications, students from 27 countries – including Sweden, Turkey, Tunisia, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Austria, China, Greece, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, Estonia, Taiwan, Armenia, Singapore, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and Italy – as well as 56 music workshops, 8 instrumental and ensemble classes, and one Miscellanea class, introduced for the first time in the 2026 edition.
These activities were complemented by 10 faculty concerts, the Siena Jazz Masters, original productions, jam sessions and the final concerts by the student ensembles. Together, these activities transformed Siena for more than two weeks into a genuine international music campus, where education was inseparable from artistic practice and live performance.
AN EDITION CENTERED ON CREATIVITY
The central theme of the 2026 edition was creativity: not simply the transmission of knowledge and technical skills, but the creation of new music, new ensembles, new collaborations and new artistic possibilities.
Students worked every day with leading musicians from the international scene, engaging with different languages, generations and approaches to music, while directly experiencing the process that leads from study to performance. The Italian Ministry of Culture itself recognizes Siena Jazz as a national center of excellence for advanced musical training.
The plurality of artistic experiences and musical languages offered by the faculty was one of the most significant aspects of this year’s edition. The different approaches to language, artistic vision, compositional practice and improvisation brought by each individual musician created an extraordinarily broad creative space. Students were able to encounter very different conceptions of music, significantly expanding their artistic imagination and developing new tools in the search for their own individual voice.
The Medici Fortress, the classrooms, the city’s squares and other venues thus became one large space for education and artistic production, where music also became an opportunity for cultural exchange and human encounter.
“The 56th edition has come to an end with an important confirmation: the International Summer Workshops continue to have an extraordinary international strength,” said Silvia Bolognesi, Artistic and Educational Director of Siena Jazz. “The presence of participants from 27 countries and the 153 applications demonstrate how strong the desire remains among younger generations to engage, study and build their own artistic paths through music. But however significant the numbers may be, they tell only part of the story of what happened in Siena.
“The true richness of these weeks was to be found in the encounters: students and teachers sharing ideas, languages, experiences and stages, creating a temporary yet deeply international community. We wanted creativity to be at the heart of this edition because studying music also means learning how to create, how to listen to others, how to question one’s own certainties and how to find one’s own voice.
“The different musical languages, artistic visions and compositional practices proposed by each member of the faculty created an extraordinarily vast creative space, significantly expanding the students’ imagination. At Siena Jazz, every musician brings their own idea of music, their own way of composing, arranging, improvising and functioning within an ensemble. Bringing these different perspectives together gives students the opportunity to move beyond their usual references, encounter new stimuli and discover artistic possibilities they may never have imagined.
“This was the meaning behind the work carried out in the classes, ensembles and productions. These were intense days in which education became artistic experience, and artistic experience became education. This is the connection we want to continue to protect and develop.”
FROM GREAT MASTERS TO YOUNG MUSICIANS
Once again, one of the defining features of the International Summer Workshops was the direct encounter between younger generations and some of the most important figures in contemporary jazz.
The Siena Jazz Masters were among the central highlights of the program, featuring ensembles specifically created for the occasion and concerts that brought musicians such as Jo Lawry, Nguyên Lê, Mark Dresser, Zeno De Rossi, Greg Hutchinson, Alex Sipiagin, Pietro Tonolo, Lage Lund, Pasquale Mirra, Fabian Almazan, Gerald Clayton, Nicole Mitchell, Jen Shyu, Marquis Hill, Fabrizio Puglisi, Brandon Ross, Thomas Morgan, Savannah Harris, David Linx, Jason Palmer, Ben Van Gelder, Aruán Ortiz, Chad Taylor and James Brandon Lewis to stages across the city.
This extraordinary international presence gave students a unique educational experience, allowing them to meet leading artists not only in the classroom but also on stage.
ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS
The concert program accompanied the entire Workshop experience, bringing the different dimensions of the project into the heart of the city and creating a direct relationship between Siena Jazz’s artistic research and the public.
One of the most eagerly awaited events took place on July 23 in Piazza del Campo, with two original Siena Jazz productions dedicated to two legendary figures in jazz history: Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
The first set, “Miles Davis Songbook,” paid tribute to the poetic and revolutionary universe of the great American trumpeter, revisiting his legacy more than thirty years after his death. The production, directed and arranged by Roberto Spadoni, brought together faculty members, students and external musicians in an unprecedented ensemble combining a brass quintet and a jazz quintet to reinterpret one of the most influential musical legacies of the twentieth century.
The performers included Silvia Bolognesi, Maurizio Giammarco, Paolo Corsi, Guglielmo Santimone and Alessandro Presti, together with students Jacopo Fagioli, Matilde Gori and Carlo Ponte, and external musician Giovanni Lombardo.
The second set featured the world premiere of “Tranescape,” a project created to mark the centenary of the birth of John Coltrane. A journey into the spiritual and visionary dimension of the great saxophonist, the project featured Dan Kinzelman, Fabrizio Puglisi, Demian Cabaud and Greg Hutchinson, with special guest David Linx.
More than a tribute, Tranescape offered a contemporary reinterpretation of Coltrane’s legacy, looking toward the future while maintaining a living dialogue with tradition.
The evening received an extraordinary response from the public, with Piazza del Campo packed to capacity for an event that brought international jazz to one of Siena’s most iconic locations. The strong turnout of local residents, jazz enthusiasts, students and visitors confirmed Siena Jazz’s ability to build a bridge between advanced education, artistic production and the cultural life of the city.
Another particularly significant event took place on July 26 in Piazza Provenzano with “Aspettando il Seminario”, a project reflecting Siena Jazz’s commitment to social inclusion.
The protagonists were the Orchestra Speciale, directed by Stefano Tamborrino, together with the New Naif cooperative: a unique ensemble bringing together professional musicians and people with disabilities in an artistic journey that treats diversity as a creative resource.
It was an evening in which jazz once again proved to be a language of participation, listening and sharing.
The concert season continued on July 27 in Piazza Provenzano with the Siena Jazz University Orchestra, conducted by Roberto Spadoni, featuring Pietro Tonolo and Alex Sipiagin.
The concert presented Bud Powell and La Folia – Visions and Fragility of a Genius, an original production dedicated to Bud Powell on the sixtieth anniversary of his death. Roberto Spadoni’s arrangements brought together the music of the great American pianist and contemporary variations on the “Folia” theme, creating a musical journey centered on creativity, fragility, inclusion and openness.
The program also featured further original productions and projects devoted to the history and evolution of jazz, alongside the International Workshop in Jazz Orchestra Writing and Arranging and the collaboration with the Frost Jazz Orchestra of the University of Miami.
Another major artistic highlight, warmly received by the large audience, was the “Chigiana Meets Siena Jazz” project, born from the collaboration between two major Siena-based musical institutions, featuring David Linx and the “Guido Chigi Saracini” Cathedral Choir of Siena.
The Siena Jazz Masters were another major highlight, bringing together some of the most important figures on the international jazz scene in exclusive ensembles and world-premiere performances.
THE STUDENTS TAKE THE STAGE
As tradition dictates, the educational program culminated in concerts by the student ensemble classes.
The performances were organized in two separate stages, following the change of faculty teaching sessions: the first round took place on July 31 and August 1, while the final concerts were held on August 6 and 7.
Each teacher worked with their own groups through to their stage performance, transforming the work carried out in the classroom into a genuine live performance experience.
For the students, these concerts represented the symbolic transition from classroom to stage and the opportunity to share with the public the results of weeks of study, rehearsals and artistic exchange.
The musical level of the ensembles was particularly high. Many participants are already professional musicians or are at an advanced stage of their careers, allowing the faculty to work with the groups in a way similar to their approach with professional bands, tackling repertoire, arrangements and ensemble dynamics at a significant level of depth.
The result was a series of performances often of a very high standard, in which students were able to put their acquired skills into practice, engage with an audience and experience a shared artistic and professional environment alongside their teachers.
This is one of the most important elements of Siena Jazz’s educational philosophy: training does not end with a lesson, but continues all the way to the stage, transforming study into practical experience and musical practice into artistic growth.
SIENA JAZZ: AN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
The conclusion of the 56th edition has therefore once again confirmed the strength of a project founded in 1977 which, almost fifty years later, continues to preserve its international vocation.
“What has come to an end was not simply a summer course,” added Silvia Bolognesi, “but an experience of community through music. Students arrived in Siena from different countries and with very different backgrounds, but they found a place where they could listen to one another and build something together. I believe this is precisely our responsibility: to offer younger generations not only technical tools, but also a space in which they can imagine their future as musicians.”
The 2026 International Summer Workshops have left Siena with a wealth of encounters, experiences and new collaborations, once again confirming the city and Siena Jazz as an international reference point for the education and production of improvised music.
Through the Siena Jazz Masters, Siena Jazz also continues to strengthen the dialogue between education and artistic production, turning the faculty of the International Workshops into the protagonists of exclusive concerts that represent one of the highlights of Siena’s summer music season.
It is an opportunity for local residents, enthusiasts and students to share an experience of jazz that is alive, creative and open to encounters between cultures and musical languages.
As tradition dictates, the final concerts by the student ensemble classes also represented the concluding and symbolic moment of the entire educational experience, allowing students to share the stage with their teachers and transforming the work carried out during the weeks of study into a genuine professional and artistic experience open to the city.
The Siena Jazz International Summer Workshops are held under the patronage of RAI Toscana and with RAI Radio 3 and RAI Italia as Media Partners.
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