TRASIMENO MUSIC FESTIVAL

Day 1 | Sunday 21 June
Arrive Rome - To Cortona
Our tour commences at Rome Fiumicino airport in the early afternoon, before we make our way by coach to the beautiful hilltop town of Cortona in the heart of Tuscany. After time to check in, we meet for a welcome drink in the hotel before enjoying a dinner of traditional Tuscan cuisine in a local restaurant. Overnight Cortona (D)

Day 2 | Monday 22 June
Cortona | NUME Festival Concert
Rising above the Valdichiana Aretina in the rural heart of Tuscany, Cortona is one of the region’s oldest settlements, dating to the 8th century BCE, when it was an important city of the Etruscan League. We spend the day exploring its layered history on a walking tour of the town centre, visiting the Duomo, built atop Etruscan-Roman walls, and the church of San Francesco, traditionally associated with a relic of the Holy Cross. We then visit the Diocesan Museum, home to a notable collection including Fra Angelico’s Annunciation. Lunch follows
in a traditional Tuscan restaurant. In the afternoon, we visit the Etruscan Academy Museum (MAEC), housed in the Palazzo Casali, where collections trace Cortona’s ancient past with a particular focus on its Etruscan heritage. Highlights include the Tabula Cortonensis, a rare bronze inscription central to the study of the Etruscan language, alongside material illustrating the town’s Roman and medieval development. In the evening, we attend a chamber music concert at the Teatro Signorelli, featuring three internationally renowned performers: violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, cellist Torleif Thedéen and pianist Enrico Pace. Overnight Cortona (B, L)

Day 3 | Tuesday 23 June
Pienza & Montepulciano
Today we travel to Pienza – often described as the ‘ideal Renaissance town’ and reshaped according to new humanist planning principles at the behest of its most famous son, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II. A short walking tour introduces the town’s harmonious layout, followed by a visit to the Palazzo Piccolomini, where its elegant loggia opens onto sweeping views of the Val d’Orcia. Lunch follows within the former 15th-century convent beside the palazzo. In the afternoon we continue to Montepulciano, first stopping just outside the town to visit the Renaissance church of San Biagio – a masterpiece of proportion set in open countryside. We then make our way into the historic centre for a stroll through its  principal squares. In the late afternoon we return to Cortona, with the evening at leisure. Overnight Cortona (B, L)

Day 4 | Wednesday 24 June
Perugia | Gala Dinner & Trasimeno Music Festival
We leave Cortona this morning and transfer to Perugia for the next seven nights. Described by Henry James as ‘the little city of the infinite view’, Perugia is not only the capital, but also the heart of Umbria, with a history stretching back to the ancient Etruscan period. This seraphically beautiful city rises and dips across hazy hills and valleys, with expansive panoramas across the region. We begin our sojourn in the characterful ‘rione’, or neighbourhood, of the Porta Sant’Angelo, with its crenelated medieval gate and walls. There, we’ll take in the remarkable 5th-century church of St Michael the Archangel, raised on the hill just above the old gateway and built when Perugia was still a Roman city. We’ll then enjoy a private visit to the nearby Brozzetti Atelier, one of the last workshops in Italy which continues the tradition of hand-loomed fabrics, housed in a luminous 13th-century Franciscan convent. We reconvene in the early evening for a Gala Dinner offering the chance to meet pianist and festival director Angela Hewitt, followed by the opening concert of the Trasimeno Festival at the auditorium of San Francesco al Prato. Overnight Perugia (B, D)

Day 5 | Thursday 25 June
Perugia & Magione | Trasimeno Music Festival
This morning we enjoy an introductory walking tour of Perugia’s historical centre taking in the Rocca Paolina fortress, with its impressive underground vaults and passageways; the Romanesque pink-and-white marble Fontana Maggiore and the beautiful Cathedral of St Laurence. After free time for lunch, we head to the Gothic Palazzo dei Priori – home to the National Gallery of Umbria where we can enjoy works by Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, Perugino and Il Pinturicchio. In the evening, we go by private coach to the second concert in the Trasimeno Festival in the atmospheric setting of the Castle of the Knights of Malta in Magione. Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 6 | Friday 26 June
Gubbio & Magione | Trasimeno Music Festival
Rising up the slopes of Mount Ingino in northern Umbria, Gubbio, known as the ‘city of stone’, is a gracious labyrinth of medieval alleys and narrow streets, with a history that spans the ages. Once the capital of Umbria, the town still holds a series of bronze tablets written in the language of the ancient Umbri, who named their settlement Ikuvium. The town’s multi-layered history is written in its architectural monuments: from the imposing Roman theatre and the towering medieval Palazzo dei Consoli, to the Renaissance Ducal Palace and the precious Baroque oratory of the Misericordia. As well as these sights, our tour today will explore Gubbio’s influential and distinctive tradition of making ceramics and the colourful and popular Festa dei Ceri, one of the oldest street festivals in Italy. We’ll return to Perugia in the afternoon. After free time to rest and refresh, we’ll leave by private coach for the next concert in the Trasimeno Festival at the Castle of the Knights of Malta in Magione. Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 7 | Saturday 27 June
Perugia | Trasimeno Music Festival
We devote today to the masterpieces of Perugino and the young Raphael, encountered in the very settings for which they were created, and to a gentle exploration of Porta Sole, one of the city’s most panoramic viewpoints. For centuries the Palazzo dei Priori was home to the Arte del Cambio, the powerful guild of moneychangers whose influence shaped civic and artistic life in 15th-century Perugia. It was they who commissioned Perugino to fresco their audience hall, creating one of the most refined Renaissance interiors in central Italy. This luminous ‘jewel box’ of classical virtues, prophets and elegant portraiture forms the focus of our first visit. We then walk up to the quiet church of San Severo, which preserves the only surviving frescoes painted by Raphael during his time in Perugia – a poignant glimpse of the master at a formative moment in his career, working alongside Perugino. The afternoon is free for independent exploration before we gather again this evening for a performance at the Auditorium San Francesco al Prato. Conducted by John Rutter, the program features the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia with violinist Kerson Leong, harpist Silvia Podrecca and the ladies of the Cantores Beati Ubaldi, and brings together works by Rutter alongside Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy and Samuel Barber. Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 8 | Sunday 28 June
Todi | Trasimeno Music Festival
Founded by the ancient Umbri, the Italic people of ancient Italy whose history predates the Etruscan civilisation (and after whom the region is named), Todi is a ruggedly handsome example of an Umbrian hill town, with sweeping views to the majestic Martani and Sibillini Mountains. We spend today exploring the town, whose concentric rings of walls reveal successive stages of its historical flourishing. We begin at the Temple of St Mary of Consolation, a Renaissance sanctuary church and pilgrimage site housing a ‘miraculous’ image of the Virgin, before continuing to the Chiesa della Nunziatina, a jewel of Baroque art known as the ‘little Sistine Chapel’. We then explore the civic buildings of the Piazza del Popolo, one of the finest surviving examples of medieval urban planning in Italy, before enjoying a lunch of traditional Umbrian dishes. Returning to Perugia later in the afternoon, our concert this evening will be held in the Pavone Theatre, just a short walk from the hotel. Overnight Perugia (B, L)

Day 9 | Monday 29 June
Assisi | Trasimeno Music Festival
Our visit to Assisi explores one of the most powerful artistic and spiritual landscapes of medieval Italy. For centuries, this hill town has drawn pilgrims from across the world to the Basilica of San Francesco, built to enshrine the tomb of its most famous son and to proclaim his message through architecture and art. We examine the creation of this extraordinary double basilica, a masterful fusion of Roman solidity and emerging Gothic lightness, conceived on a monumental scale unprecedented in Italy at the time. Particular attention is given to its fresco cycles, above all the celebrated Life of Saint Francis, traditionally attributed to Giotto and his workshop, whose vivid narrative realism marks a turning point in the history of Western painting. Time is also set aside for a walking tour through Assisi’s atmospheric streets. We return in the afternoon for a performance and interview in the Pavone Theatre. Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 10 | Tuesday 30 June
Lake Trasimeno | Trasimeno Music Festival & Gala Dinner
Following a relaxed morning, we take the public ferry across Lake Trasimeno – Italy’s fourth largest lake. Described by Lord Byron as a ‘silver veil’, Trasimeno’s calm waters are girdled with olive groves, vineyards, historic villages and castles. Our tour takes us to the pretty island of Isola Maggiore, beloved by Saint Francis of Assisi due to its other-worldly serenity. Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries the islands were settled by Franciscans and Olivetans, and the evocative remains of former monasteries, churches and castles create a sense of spiritual peace. In the afternoon, we return to Perugia to relax before our final concert of the Trasimeno Music Festival at the Basilica of San Pietro, followed by a Gala Dinner with the artists and director, Angela Hewitt. Overnight Perugia (B, D)

Day 11 | Wednesday 1 July
Spello
Departing Perugia for Spoleto today, we stop en route at the enchanting medieval town of Spello. Set in a bucolic landscape at the southern foot of Mount Subasio and forged from Subasio’s pink-hued stone, Spello is simply one of the most beautiful towns in the entire region. Centuries of history and culture will unfold as we explore its ancient Roman gateways, Roman villas and mosaics, and its maze of flower-filled medieval streets, stone houses and noble palazzi. Our tour will include the Villa dei Mosaici, which boasts ten rooms of Roman mosaic floors, and remains one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the century, and the exquisite 16th-century Baglioni Chapel, entirely frescoed by the outstanding Umbrian artist Il Pinturicchio, whose Biblical scenes play out against a verdant Umbrian landscape. After Spello, we will continue to our base for the last five nights of our tour: the ravishing and culturally rich town of Spoleto. Once settled into our hotel, we’ll enjoy dinner together to finish the day. Overnight Spoleto (B, D)

Day 12 | Thursday 2 July
Spoleto & Montefalco
Like many of the hill towns in Umbria, Spoleto began as a settlement of the ancient Italic people known as the Umbri, before being absorbed into the Roman world as Spoletium. Its strategic position has ensured that these successive layers remain clearly visible, from stretches of ancient city walls to the remains of its Roman forum. We begin today exploring the city, including the remarkably well-preserved Casa Romana. After our walking tour, we make the short journey to the hill town of Montefalco. Here we enjoy lunch together before visiting the Museo di San Francesco, home to Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco cycle of the Life of St Francis, whose richly detailed landscapes provide early views of the town and its surrounding countryside. In the afternoon we continue to the borgo of Colle del Marchese to visit artist, and Academy Travel tour leader, Neil Moore. Since 1988, Neil has made his home here in his medieval tower-house, and during our visit he recounts the story of its restoration, accompanied by an aperitivo. We return to Spoleto in the early evening. Overnight Spoleto (B, L)

Day 13 | Friday 3 July
Spoleto | Festival of the Two Worlds
Spoleto’s Duomo forms both the spiritual and artistic centre of the city and this morning we visit the cathedral to study Filippo Lippi’s final fresco cycle, The Life of the Virgin, regarded as one of the most refined narrative works of the Florentine Renaissance. At midday, we attend our first performance at the Festival of Two Worlds, with a chamber concert in the Romanesque church of Sant’Eufemia – an intimate space defined by its austere stone interior. Here we enjoy cellist Clara Yuna Friedensburg and pianist Martina Consonni in recital. The afternoon is then devoted to Palazzo Collicola, where a guided visit explores both the historic piano nobile and the contemporary galleries. In the evening we gather for another performance in Piazza Duomo, one of Italy’s most atmospheric open-air concert settings, where the broad steps of the cathedral form a natural auditorium. Under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with pianist Yuja Wang as soloist, the London Symphony Orchestra performs a program centred on Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, paired with a major orchestral work by Igor Stravinsky. Overnight Spoleto (B)

Day 14 | Saturday 4 July
Spoleto | Festival of the Two Worlds
Spoleto’s Roman past remains visible in the structures that continue to define its cultural life. This morning we visit the Archaeological Museum, housed within the former monastery of Sant’Agata, followed by a visit to the adjacent Roman theatre. We then attend a midday recital at the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti, the Festival’s principal indoor venue. Here, violinist Marc Bouchkov and violist Kim Kashkashian are joined by the outstanding young musicians of the Festival Academy in a program pairing two of the greatest works of string chamber music: Schönberg’s yearning sextet, Transfigured Night, and Mendelssohn’s youthfully exhuberant Octet. The afternoon is then at leisure before we reconvene in the evening for a solo recital by pianist Arcadi Volodos. Performing in the same theatre, Volodos’s program draws on the Romantic and late-Romantic repertoire, offering a fitting contrast to the earlier chamber performance. Overnight Spoleto (B)

Day 15 | Sunday 5 July
Spoleto | Festival of the Two Worlds
Spoleto’s commanding position above the Umbrian valley is most fully appreciated from its upper reaches. This morning we ascend to the Rocca Albornoziana, the 14th-century fortress that has dominated the skyline since its construction under papal authority. From here we continue to the nearby Ponte delle Torri, a striking limestone structure incorporating an earlier Roman aqueduct that has long inspired travellers and artists alike. At midday we attend our final performance of the tour at the Teatro Caio Melisso Carla Fendi – an intimate historic theatre closely associated with the festival’s more refined and experimental programming. In a chamber concert, we hear the Quatuor Arod, one of Europe’s leading young ensembles, with a program centred on the core string quartet repertoire. The afternoon is then at leisure before we gather in the evening for a farewell dinner, marking the conclusion of our time together. Overnight Spoleto (B, D)

Day 16 | Monday 6 July
Depart to Rome
Our tour ends after breakfast this morning, followed by a private transfer to Rome Fiumicino airport. (B)