Program
Saturday
31 August
These acts have been confirmed, more to folow. The timetable will be published soon.
Eros Ramazzotti
Italian singer and songwriter Eros Ramazzotti started playing music when he was 7 years old and writing songs as a teen. Although he failed the admission examination at the conservatory he wanted to attend, he landed his first record contract at age 18 after he was spotted at a talent show. After he won the Newcomers category at the Sanremo Festival in 1984, he started his international career and became known for hit singles such as Se Bastasse Una Canzone and Musica è. His repertoire also includes many duets with renowned artists, including Tina Turner, Cher, Julia Iglesias and Luciano Pavarotti. Over a career spanning more than 40 years, Ramazzotti sold over 70 million albums and garnered 2 billion streams. His latest album, Battito Infinito, was released in 2022.
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson is an American singer-songwriter, actress, talk show host, and producer. Born and raised in and near Chicago, she started singing in church and doing community theatre from age 7. Hudson was a finalist in American Idol in 2004 and truly rose to fame two years later, when she played the role of Effie in the musical film Dreamgirls. Her version of And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going especially impressed viewers the world over. She has released three albums to date, acted in movies and tv series, starred on Broadway, was a coach on the The Voice in both the US and UK, has been hosting her own talk show since 2020 and became the youngest woman and second African-American woman to receive all four of the major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT). In 2020, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Lizz Wright
Thanks to her inimitable voice, American singer Lizz Wright has been one of the most highly regarded jazz vocalists of her generation since her widely acclaimed debut Salt was released in 2003. She is the daughter of a pastor and learned about music the old-fashioned way: by singing and playing gospel songs. In this way, she carries on the heritage of iconic singers like Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, although she gives the genre a contemporary twist. On her 2017 album Grace, Wright returned to her roots and immersed the listener in a stream of gospel, blues, jazz, folk, soul, and pop. This year she will release Shadow, the first studio album on her own label Blues & Greens Records, where she previously released her live album, Holding Space, in 2022.
Maluma
Colombian singer-songwriter Maluma, real name Juan Luis Londoño Arias, is one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Born and raised in Medellín, he started making music from a young age and was already recording songs as a teen. His debut album Magia (‘Magic’) was released in 2012 when he was 17 and earned him his first Latin Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Three years later came his breakthrough album Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy, a combination of soft ballads and reggaeton. It started off his many collaborations with other artists, among which Shakira, Ricky Martin, J Balvin and Madonna. Maluma also branched out into acting, starring next to Jennifer Lopez in the 2022 film Marry Me. But music remains his main focus and 2023 saw the release of his latest album Don Juan, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Matteo Mancuso
Matteo Mancuso is an Italian jazz and rock guitarist and composer from Palermo, Sicily. Born in 1996, he was a musical prodigy from an early age, mentored by his father Vincenzo, a well-known guitarist and producer. Matteo played at local festivals at just 11 years old and enrolled in a music high school as a teen, specializing in classical guitar. He was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston and in 2022 graduated with honours in jazz guitar from the Palermo Conservatory of Music. Mancuso is known for adapting a quasi-flamenco right-hand technique to the electric guitar and improvised solos without the use of a pick. Some of the most renowned current guitar heroes, including Al Di Meola, Joe Bonamassa, and Steve Vai, have praised him – with the latter even calling him “the evolution of fusion guitar”. In 2023 Mancuso released his first studio album, The Journey.
