Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein and Kirill Petrenko are just a few of the greats who conducted the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia from when it began, first in Italy in 1908, to dealing exclusively with symphonic repertoire. A history of great names and great performances is now in the hands of Antonio Pappano, Music Director since 2005. A guest at major international festivals and winner of numerous recording awards, in recent years under Pappano's direction it has reaffirmed its role among international orchestras (also in 2020 named among the top ten according to BBC Music Magazine).

For the first chapter of the five-year residency to Spoleto, the 'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia deploys all its forces: the Piazza del Duomo welcomes the Orchestra and Chorus, conducted from Pascal Rophé, for the performance of Igor Stravinsky's Oedipus rex and Claude Debussy's three Nocturnes. The Choir, directed for the occasion from Alvise Casellati, performs a program exploring languages and traditions of mysticism from different cultures, with music by Gustav Holst, Giya Kancheli and Leonard Bernstein. For the from chamber concert series, the Academy's professors present a matinee dedicated to Francis Poulenc; Quartets for strings and piano by Gustav Mahler and Robert Schumann with the Werther Quartet, composed from students from the Academy's master classes; and a concert dedicated to the music of Johannes Brahms with Antonio Pappano, Luigi Piovano and Alessandro Carbonare.

Antonio Pappano is on the podium for the concert that closes the Festival's rich musical offerings, with a program from a thousand and one nights that looks at the relationship between Two Worlds - East and West - and mutual inspirations and suggestions.