AlturEstival, the festival of nature, arts and culture in the mountains of Sicily, is now in its fifth edition, organized by the Formedonda Cultural Association and the Sicilian Alpine Club, which again this year will see a large program in the mountains of the Conca D’Oro and the Madonie Regional Natural Park from 3 September to 3 October.

An edition dedicated to musical excursions, sound walks, concerts, performances, trekking, photographic exhibitions, listening, musical theater, narrations and poetry, which seeks to combine nature, culture and places of memory, scheduled from 3 to 5 September and from 10 to 12 September.

This year, in addition to the usual Sundays spent at Castellaccio di Monreale, located in Monte Caputo, there will be three events that will involve the first three weekends of September. The first and second weekend will see a focus on meditation and nature music which takes the name of “Sound walks at Piano Sempria 2021”.

“A full program of artistic projects based on sound, poetic and expressive reflections born with the intention of combining natural places such as the Castelbuono wood, the high Madonie of Piano Imperiale or Piano Pomo, with the expressive intervention of artists and musicians who, on tiptoe, will play in harmony with the environment, with the landscapes and with the woods, accompanying the various excursions planned with their acoustic instruments ”- explains Mario Crispi, artistic director of AlturEstival and president of the Sicilian Alpine Club.

The “Sound walks at Piano Sempria 2021” project will start from this magical location, in the heart of the Castelbuono wood, where the refuge of the Sicilian Alpine Club, Francesco Crispi, has been located since 1973 and where some of the scheduled concerts will also be held. Here, in fact, there are also thematic tastings of a vegetarian nature and with local products.

Concerts

AlturEstival will open on 3 September , at 6 pm, in Piano Sempria with a concert by Nino Errera, a virtuoso percussionist from Marsala who on this occasion will perform a forest percussion performance. At 9 pm, again at Piano Sempria, the concert by Area & amp; Strepitz Open Project entitled “Improvvisa_meditazione”. It is a work on lyrics and music by Paolo Tofani (founder of the famous progressive group Area) and by Giovanni Floreani, with Cristina Spadotto Sybell, Giulia Grimaz, Daniela Gattorno.

Sunday 5 September , at 6 pm, after the hiking ascent of Monte Caputo and the visit of the Castle, in the church of Castellaccio di Monreale, Biagio Guerrera will present his editorial work “Casa Munnu”, accompanied by Puccio Castrogiovanni (marranzano, guitar and percussion). Followed by the concert of the singer-songwriter from Paternò, Eleonora Bordonaro with songs taken from her repertoire and from her latest album “Moviti Ferma”, also here with Puccio Castrogiovanni on guitar.

Sunday 12 September , at 5.30 pm, at Castellaccio di Monreale, concert of acousmatic music and soundscapes by Alfredo Giammanco. An immersive acoustic experience of listening music interpreted live by the electronic music composer.

Friday 17 September , at 6 pm, at Castellaccio di Monreale, it will be the turn of the Sound Landscapes of the World proposed with the acousmatic concert by Soplar Lejero (Mario Crispi) who will mix live sounds, tracks and reportages sounds of some of his works resulting from his many travels around the world.

Saturday 18 September , at 6 pm, at the Castellaccio it will be the turn of Miriam Palma, a well-known author, singer and performer from Palermo, of great expressive impact and artistic research, who will present her musical theater work “Il viaggio del Meschino ”accompanied by Nino Giannotta on guitar.

On Sunday 19 September , at 11.45 am, again at the Castellaccio, the energetic Oriana Civile will perform with songs and pieces from her repertoire as a Sicilian singer-songwriter and interpreter. In the afternoon, however, at 6 pm, it will be the turn of Costanza Paternò, another Sicilian voice of refined sweetness and sentiment and accompanied on the guitar by Vincenzo Ganci, known as a former bassist of the well-known Sicilian group of etnorock Kunzertu.

Sunday 26 September , at 11.45, at the Castellaccio, there will be a concert by Dario Lo Cicero who with his curious sound tools will perform in two moments (the concert will also be repeated at 18).

Saturday 2 October , at 10, at the Abbey of San Martino delle Scale, the conference entitled “Paths of Memory of the Mountains of Palermo” is scheduled, a report on the path taken for the creation of the Ecomuseum of Monreale, Monte Caputo and San Martino delle Scale proposed by the promoting committee.

AlturEstival will close Sunday 3 October , at 11.45 am, at Castellaccio di Monreale with the latest immersive listening conducted by Maurizio Curcio, musician and composer from Monreale, who will interpret his acousmatic compositions and soundscapes live.

For all activities, given the limited number of seats due to rules against COVID 19, reservations are required. For those of shows and catering services, as per DPC of 6.8.21, the green pass is required.

AlturEstival shows are free.

For those at the Crispi refuge in Piano Semprìa the seat requires reservations: € 12.00 aperitif, € 20.00 dinner, € 25.00.

Access to Castellaccio di Monreale provides for a maintenance contribution to the monument.

In the case of the guided hike up to Monte Caputo and the guided tour of the castle, there is a participation fee of 10 euros. The excursions may include a participation fee. The afternoon visit to Castellaccio di Monreale, on 12, 19 and 26 September, will be organized in collaboration with Le Vie dei Tesori and will be managed by the festival’s booking office at 091 8420253 (from 10.00 to 18.00) .

Text and photos from the web