Discover the twenty-second season of the Rome Chamber Music Festival at Auditorium della Conciliazione
One of city’s most anticipated cultural events, the Rome Chamber Music Festival was founded by Robert McDuffie in 2003 and this year celebrates its 22nd anniversary season at Rome’s Auditorium Conciliazione.
Over four days, forty-three renowned musicians and young talents from around the world will be guided by American violinist Robert McDuffie, the festival’s founder and artistic director.
Robert McDuffie is an international star who has been in love with Rome for decades, having lived there for a long time before founding the Rome Chamber Music Festival.
The festival is a reflection of McDuffie’s contemporary and cross-genre vision, offering audiences a captivating selection of works drawn from the rich and diverse musical landscape of both past and present.
Among the guests of this 22nd edition are pianist Andrea Lucchesini, composer and conductor Flavio Emilio Scogna, the soloists of the Vox Medicea choir in collaboration with The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, and bandoneon virtuoso Ulises Passarella. A celebration marked by vibrant energy and harmony throughout.
The 2025 edition of RCMF, an internationally renowned festival, will take place in the heart of the Eternal City, under the shadow of St. Peter’s dome and Castel Sant’Angelo. The curtain will rise on Monday, June 16, and for four consecutive evenings—until Thursday, June 19—the Auditorium Conciliazione, designed by acclaimed Roman architect Marcello Piacentini, will come alive with music.
Each night will offer a unique blend of programs, instruments, and performers, including a choral tribute to the Jubilee Year and a symbolic welcome to Pope Leone XIV.
The opening night on June 16 sets the tone with a journey between the sacred and the secular, featuring a double rendition of Giuseppe Tartini’s Devil’s Trill Sonata, followed by a tribute to the sacred music of the Italian Renaissance. The soloists of Vox Medicea will guide the audience through some of the era’s most sublime works—not only honoring Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina on the 500th anniversary of his birth, but also celebrating the music of Animuccia, Galilei, Cifra, and Corteccia. Joining them on stage, The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, marking 30 years of their remarkable career, will celebrate this milestone together with the Festival in Rome.
On the second evening, June 17, the program delves into a distinctive repertoire, featuring works by Ravel and Brahms. The performance brings together a vibrant ensemble of young musicians, enriched by the presence of two distinguished masters: pianist Andrea Lucchesini and violinist Robert McDuffie.
The third concert, on June 18, opens with George Frideric Handel’s renowned Passacaglia, followed by works by Miklós Rózsa, and concludes with a vibrant selection of traditional Jewish Klezmer music, featuring the acclaimed clarinetist David Krakauer.
A grand finale awaits on June 19, featuring a chamber version of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major – The Titan for 14 instruments, arranged by Flavio Emilio Scogna. The evening will close with a surprise encore featuring the incomparable Ulises Passarella.
This festival truly breaks the routine of Italian programming, offering rare repertoires and bringing together young talents and established masters.
Check the full program: romechamberfestival.org
16-19 June 2025
Auditorium Conciliazione
Via della Conciliazione, 4
Entry fee: €10-44
Rome Summer Festivals 2025
