Vatican Museums

From 3 May to 25 October the eagerly awaited concert series "Musica ai Musei" (Music at the Museums) will begin: eleven musical events will be offered to the vast public of the Pope's Museums as part of the Friday evening openings (the museums will close at 08.00 p.m., with last entrance at 06.00 p.m.).
The cultural initiative – strongly desired and reconfirmed over the years by the Director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta – is a significant expression of the special synergy between the visual and musical arts, in dialogue with each other thanks to the universality of creative languages.
The concerts, free of charge and included in the price of admission, will begin at 06.00 p.m. in two special places in the Vatican Museums: the New Wing, at the beginning and the end of the musical season, and the Gallery of the Statues in the Pio Clementino Museum for all the other performances.

The Vatican Museums will once again add value to their Friday evening openings by involving, as in previous editions, the young talents of the Italian music conservatories and of the International Academies of Higher Education, offering them – in collaboration with the Italian National Music Committee (CIDIM) – a unique stage for visibility and beauty. Performing live, amidst masterpieces of classical statuary, will therefore be instrumental and vocal excellence from all over Italy: Modena, Imola, Terni, Pinerolo, Sassari, Naples, Castelfranco Veneto and Siena.
The performances scheduled for the opening and closing days of the programme will be “dual”, and of great appeal, with the joint performances, in the majestic setting of the Braccio Nuovo, of the Musical Band of the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps with the Musical Band of the Italian Air Force (Friday 3 May) and the Italian Navy Military Musical Band (Friday 25 October).

The musicians of the Vatican Band will also be the protagonists, at the Castel Gandolfo Museum Complex, of the concert for the Brass Ensemble exceptionally hosted in the Papal Palace, at 05.00 p.m. on Sunday 29 September, on the occasion of the liturgical feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, patron and protector of the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps.

As part of the “musical Fridays”, visitors to the Vatican Museums will be able to use an on demand guided tour service, and will also be able to enjoy a relaxing break in the evocative Courtyard of the Pinecone, sipping a pleasant aperitif at sunset (Happy Hour and guide service can be booked when purchasing the admission ticket online).
The calendar and programme of “Musica ai Musei” may undergo modifications due to force majeure.