The monthly residency project “Sonata for 7 Cities” conceived by the Italian pianist will begin in Vienna from 10 February 2025, followed by Cape Town, Hong Kong, Portland (Oregon), and Milan in 2027

Filippo Gorini, the twenty-nine-year-old pianist, is revolutionizing concert market conventions by bringing music to everyone in seven cities around the world through seven month-long artistic residencies, commissioning works from seven contemporary composers. “Sonata for 7 Cities” is the visionary project awarded the Franco Buitoni Award in 2023, which aims to promote philanthropic and educational initiatives through classical and contemporary music. “I want to question the role of a pianist today: our audience, the places where we make music, the repertoire… Music, whether classical or contemporary, should be offered to everyone. Staying in a city for a longer time makes that possible” says the pianist from Italy.

Gorini will start on February 10, 2025 in Vienna — a city that has been home to Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, and Brahms — with approximately twenty events scheduled over the month. The Mauer psychiatric hospital, the Franziskaner Suppenküche, a retirement home, several high schools, the charitable music school Open Piano for Refugees, the Steinway Hall and the Italian Cultural Institute are just some of the unique locations for the masterclasses and concerts led by the Abbiati Award-winning pianist. These performances will be organized around two main concerts at the prestigious Wiener Konzerthaus, the residency’s central venue.

“I want to emphasize that the concerts in schools, hospitals, and other decentralized venues are full-fledged recitals, with the same program I present in the major concert season. I don’t believe that a Schubert sonata or a contemporary piece is more suited to one audience than another. I think what needs to change is how this repertoire is offered,” Gorini explains, presenting in Vienna a recital on 26 February with the Reliquie Sonata D. 840 by Franz Schubert, Beethoven’s Sonata op. 111, and the world premiere of a new piano sonata composed specifically for the occasion by Italian composer Stefano Gervasoni. At the Konzerthaus, Gorini will also give a concert on March 9, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.

“The inspiration comes from the music itself: music that embraces the whole human being, moving us by describing our suffering, our joy, our hopes… This is why I wish more and more that a wider audience can encounter it. Over the last few years, I have already had experiences of this kind, and they moved me deeply” Gorini concludes. He will take Sonata for 7 Cities to Cape Town in September 2025, Hong Kong in November 2025, Portland (Oregon) in 2026, and Milan in 2027 — at least for now — featuring composers Beat Furrer, Michelle Agnes Magalhaes, Oscar Jockel, Yukiko Watanabe, and Federico Gardella.

The concerts at the Wiener Konzerthaus and various moments of the residency will be filmed by Italian director Ruggero Romano, who will create a 7-part documentary produced by Movies Move Us, following every phase of the project.

Photo credits: Filippo Gorini @Simon Pauly