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Cava del Sole, the sound box of Matera 2019

The bands play the "Ode to Joy" (2019-01-19) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Along the ancient Via Appia, on the outskirts of the city of the Sassi stone districts, there is a place that best represents the region and its history: the Cava del Sole. It takes its name from an ancient seventeenth-century bas-relief depicting an anthropomorphic sun: the relationship between humans and nature is the key to understanding how the city of Matera has been built by 'subtraction' and was first declared a UNESCO heritage site and then the third oldest settlement in the world. A place forgotten for years; it has been reinvented as a receptacle for events: this is where the adventure of Matera European Capital of Culture 2019 began.

The bands during the Open Sound performance (2019-01-19) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

The opening ceremony on 19 January 2019 was headlined by bands from Basilicata and all over Europe. Every town in Basilicata had its own 'twin' that it welcomed for the occasion.

The bands during the Open Sound performance (2019-01-19) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

In the following days, the bands shared their music from Matera to the rest of Basilicata, marking the beginning of a year-long programme that covered the entire region.

The bands during the Open Sound performance (2019-01-19) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Also present at the opening ceremony was a band from Galway, the city to which Matera will pass on the baton in 2020.

The emotions of 19 January 2019 (2019-01-19)Matera European Capital of Culture 2019

The quarry is just one of so many expressions of the hypogean culture: on its walls there are still signs left by the zuccatori to extract the tuff blocks used to build the famous Sassi stone districts of Matera. This place, steeped in history, has undergone a transformation that reflects the experiences of the city itself, making it the perfect setting for hosting music and artists from all over the world.

Moon's greeting to the Icebreaker (2019-07-18) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

In this limestone shell, halfway between a lunar landscape and a land of giants, there has been a gathering of artists from all over the world. A curious audience welcomed them, livening up the Cava every evening, which proved to be the ideal launch pad, suspended between the past and future. To celebrate the arrival of man on the moon, the British group Icebreaker performed 'Apollo soundtrack', composed by Brian Eno, Roger Eno and Daniel Lanois with arrangement by WooJun Lee. 50 years later, the spectator becomes a child before a stage that opens and lights up with video installations projected onto the tuff walls with images taken from the NASA and e-Geos archives. The unusual guest of honour in this case is the Moon, rising high above the Cava.

Gyda Valtysdottir's cello (2019-07-18) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

The Icelandic cellist Gyda Valtysdottir was a special guest at the 'Apollo Soundtrack' evening.

The lights and the sounds of "Apollo Soundtrack" (2019-07-18)Matera European Capital of Culture 2019

The Subsonica during their last tour "8" (2019-07-19) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

As part of the show 'Matera seen from the moon', Subsonica brought their ‘tour 8’ to Matera. Their electronic and experimental music got the whole Cava up and dancing!

The emotional "short circuit" of the Subsonica (2019-07-19) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

The Popular Orchestra "La Notte della Taranta" (2019-09-14) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

In an increasingly cosmopolitan and frenetic society the concept of 'tradition' has anchored itself to that of 'culture' with an increasingly stronger need to rediscover its roots; and so, in a strange play on words, what came first, from the Latin 'tradĕre', now becomes a source of attraction, calling to itself an ever wider audience. The Night of Taranta, now in its XXII edition, was one of the first examples of this phenomenon that encompasses the Matera 2019 project as a whole. This year Materadio, the Rai Radio 3 party, was dedicated to 'I Sud' and to the way southerners attract and send a message to the rest of the world.

Jan Garbarek group with Trilok Gurtu (2019-09-13) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Every artist brings a world with him and Jan Garbarek does so literally: supported in his performance by German keyboardist Rainer Brüninghaus and Brazilian bassist Yuri Daniel.

The percussion by Trilok Gurtu (2019-09-22) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

The guest of honour of the Jan Garbarek group was Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, who enchanted the Cava with a thousand nuances of percussion.

Bollani and de Holanda in concert (2019-07-25) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Stefano Bollani and Hamilton De Holanda surfed the wave of improvisation and fun to create atmospheres and musical grandeur between Italy and Brazil. Two great artists and world citizens.

Bollani and de Holanda in concert (2019-07-25) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Paolo Baldini Dubfiles with Agotrance (2019-08-31) by Monkeys VideoLabMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

No framework, no limits to creativity and collaboration: during the first edition of the Open Sound Festival, producers from all over the world have enthusiastically taken up the challenge of reclaiming elements labelled as rural and obsolete and reinterpreting them with a modern twist. Instruments such as the cupa-cupa, the bagpipes and the frame drum have become the undisputed protagonists of one of the most revolutionary festivals in recent years.

The tribal rhythm of Gaël Califano (2019-08-30) by Monkeys VideoLabMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

JoyCut, originating from Potenza, have over the years conquered an ever wider following with their project that mixes tribal and electronic music, even performing at the Meltdown Festival in London.

The Neapolitan sound of Nu Guinea (2019-08-30) by Monkeys VideoLabMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Nu Guinea, a duo composed of Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina, do not betray their Neapolitan origin, reworking the sound of their Earth with a modern twist.

Dardust and his astral piano (2019-08-31) by Monkeys VideoLabMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Cava del Sole: witness of a future yet to be discovered.

The creative process has its own circularity: what was considered classic until yesterday, tomorrow can be new. And at this musical crossroads all these stories reminded us of who we were and who we can become.

The Rai National Symphony Orchestra in "Symphony for Europe" (2019-07-24) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Open Future, Together! (2019-12-20) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

Here, where it all began, the wonderful journey of Matera 2019 came to an end. December 20 was the day dedicated to 'Open Future, Together!', a series of events that greeted Matera and its citizens, absolute stars of the Italian and European cultural scene, throughout 2019. The culmination of the day was reached in Cava del Sole, where a touching institutional ceremony gave way to an engaging and fast-paced concert.

Rancore with Carmen Consoli and the Afterhours (2019-12-20) by Digital LighthouseMatera European Capital of Culture 2019

The credit goes to the artistic direction of Manuel Agnelli, Afterhours frontman, who, together with his band, brought internationally renowned artists such as Lous and the Yakuza, Fatoumata Diawara and Damon Albarn to the Matera stage, but also great voices of Italian music such as Carmen Consoli, Daniele Silvestri and Rancore: an immersive show in which the images of a year of events illuminated the stage and the walls of the Cava, enveloping the spectators in an embrace of lights, music and colours, a greeting between Europe and community that seemed to say: “Open Future, Together!".

Open Future, Together! (2019-12-20)Matera European Capital of Culture 2019

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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