Amiata Music:
Shaping a new chapter in Tuscany's cultural life
Amiata Music
Rooted in Tuscany, Amiata Music celebrates and expands the region’s rich musical life. Our work has three strands: to support music education in Grosseto’s schools; to provide opportunities for exceptional young musicians; and to bring some of the world’s finest artists to perform at the Forum Fondazione Bertarelli.
Supporting our community
Amiata Music works closely with schools, teachers and local partners to strengthen the region’s musical life. Through school partnerships, choral festivals, singing competitions and family performances, we create lasting opportunities for young people in the Grosseto area, nurturing curiosity, confidence and a lifelong love of music.
Nurturing new talent
Amiata Music supports emerging artists at important moments in their professional journey. We provide dedicated performance opportunities for young professional musicians, alongside residencies designed to help them refine their artistry or explore new creative ideas.
Collaborating with the world's best
Amiata Music collaborates with some of the world’s most distinguished artists. Together we create bespoke projects ranging from public performances at the Forum, to closed research and development residencies, enabling artists to shape new programmes or commissions. Many of these collaborations also lead to studio recordings with leading record labels, continuing the Forum’s tradition as a space for creativity and excellence.
Artistic Leadership
Nicholas Chalmers and Rosenna East are delighted to be working together to deliver the new creative programme for Amiata Music at the Forum Fondazione Bertarelli. They first worked together at Nevill Holt Opera in the United Kingdom, where they established a critically acclaimed sell-out summer opera festival, together with a wide-reaching and award-winning education programme in schools and a young artists programme for emerging opera singers. The success of the Leicestershire festival in the grounds of the historic Nevill Holt estate culminated in the construction of a multiple award-winning 400 seat theatre in 2018.
Nicholas and Rosenna bring to Amiata Music a wide range of experience in other roles; Rosenna is Managing Director of Sinfonia of London, a symphony orchestra described regularly in the press as ‘setting the gold standard’ for its outstanding performances and recordings, while continuing to consult for various national and international arts projects; Nicholas is the Fernside Professor of Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, Senior Associate Artist of the Royal Ballet and Opera, Associate Conductor of the BBC Singers and Principal Conductor of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Nicholas studied at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Nicolini, Piacenza and was on the music staff at La basilica cattedrale della Vergine Assunta, Lodi. Both Nicholas and Rosenna hold degrees from Oxford University.
A home for music
Opened in 2015, the Forum Fondazione Bertarelli offers a visually striking and acoustically perfect 300-seat concert hall, designed by architect Edoardo Milesi for the Fondazione Bertarelli. It quickly became a centrepiece for cultural life in the Maremma region and a destination for musicians and audiences from around the world.
Music among the vineyards
Set among the olive groves and vineyards of ColleMassari, the Forum forms part of a wine relais that embodies the natural beauty and tranquillity of the Tuscan landscape. It is a secluded place to make and experience music — a setting that invites reflection, creativity and inspiration.
The origins
The Forum’s story began with founder-patron Claudio Tipa, who first hosted a series of intimate concerts on the ColleMassari estate. In 2009 these gatherings evolved into the Amiata Piano Festival under the artistic direction of Maurizio Baglini, whose vision and energy established the foundations of what has now become Amiata Music.
