Music in an “Off” Year: MiniSEYO Launches an Eclectic Format in Italy

 
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Music in an “Off” Year: MiniSEYO Launches an Eclectic Format in Italy

Maria Majno, SONG President and Sistema Europe Vice President, and Nicola Tomasi, Project Coordinator, MiniSEYO

06-03-2026

Rehearsing with Francesca Perrotta at Milan’s Pini School, May 16, 2026. Photo: Marco Caselli Nirmal.

Since the inception of the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra in 2012, our international network has created SEYO summer camps every two or three years, bringing young people together from different countries for a week of rehearsing and performing together. It’s an exciting tradition!—and its only downside is the restlessness of the participating members…during the “off” years, when camps don’t take place. 

This year, rather than letting the collaborative spirit go dormant until the next large edition (planned for 2027), the SONG Sistema program in Lombardy, Italy decided to open its spring concert to a lively injection of cross-border energy. On May 17, 2026, at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, 250 young Lombard musicians shared their musical vigor with 20 delegates from nine other European programs: Austria, Sistema Cyprus, El Sistema Greece, Symphonia Hungary, Trillargento Italy, Orquestra Geração Portugal, Acción por la Música and Orquesta Escuela from Spain, and Superar Suisse. Indeed, the call had been open to the whole SEYO network, but the experimental nature of this first-time initiative funneled the participation towards an intense three-day residency suited to more experienced players: just enough time to focus and succeed.

Concert at Teatro Dal Verme, with conductor Carlo Taffuri leading the PYO, the SONG Choir, the SEYO guest programs, and the Olimpia Orchestra, May 17, 2026. Photo: Marco Caselli Nirmal.

The idea was inspired by the concurrent resonance of the winter Olympics and Paralympics, of which Milan was a main host, along with Cortina, in the Dolomites; the aim was to perpetuate the values of coexistence and respectful, balanced competitiveness. An additional new “note of the podium” was the guest appearance of Francesca Perrotta, co-founder of Orchestra Olimpia, an all-women ensemble dedicated to promoting messages of equality, harmony and peace. That ensemble performed side by side with the PYO (SONG’s Pasquinelli Young Orchestra) and the SEYO forces, offering purposeful repertoire choices such as the poignant String Chorale by Ukrainian composer Hanna Havrylet and two traditional Afghan songs—powerful reminders of the voices of countries where music is struggling in wartime or downright banned. It has been a steady principle of SONG to dedicate such concerts to humanitarian causes, in keeping with the conviction that the value of music can reach far beyond its already established cultural, intellectual, and social worth.  

Pilar Bravo conducting Bob Chilcott’s “Songs of Innocence” with the SONG choir and the Civica Scuola Jazz Trio. Photo: Marco Caselli Nirmal.

The scope of the program ranged from the opening of Charpentier’s Te Deum and pieces by Schubert and Schumann to South American staples such as Arturo Márquez’s Conga del Fuego Nuevo and Danzón No. 2, which allowed the more advanced sections to showcase their remarkable technical progress. The PYO players were boosted by the presence of their senior international allies, and all were energized by conductor Carlo Taffuri. The SONG choir joined the expansive instrumental forces for a triptych of famous songs, including “Touching the Sky with our Hands”—a piece that has become a sort of anthem for SONG’s inclusive program “Music Without Barriers,” which includes a Manos Blancas chorus. 

The young musicians’ ambitious spirit was also on display in Bob Chilcott’s highly original suite Jazz Songs of Innocence, under the direction of Pilar Bravo, featuring a jazz trio from the Claudio Abbado Civic School of Music in a specially created arrangement.

Overall, the “miniSEYO” produced more than an impressive concert; it was an effective way to keep the international network productive and engaged between major summer events. This debut convening proved that you don’t need a massive summer camp to make music matter. In the words of Kira, from Orquesta Escuela in Zaragoza, Spain: “It’s a great opportunity to shape an international gathering that can easily adapt to each context. Right now, it’s essential to promote European values of unity and to highlight the richness and diversity of the young people who grow within our projects. The SEYO idea in all its variations offers an example of the society we want: children and young people from different countries, all playing the same music, together.”

Bob Chilcott, Carlo Taffuri, Community Music Programs, Cross-Border Collaboration, Cultural Exchange, European Unity, European Youth Programs, Francesca Perrotta, Humanitarian Music Initiatives, Inclusive Music Education, International Music Collaboration, Jazz Songs Of Innocence, June 2026, Maria Majno, Milan Concert, Music Education, Music Without Barriers, Nicola Tomasi, Orchestra Olimpia, Orchestral Performance, SEYO, Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra, Social Impact through Music, SONG Sistema Lombardy, Teatro Dal Verme, Youth Empowerment, Youth Musicians, Youth Orchestra

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