Project Overview
classicAscona’s Children and Youth Program 2026 is an interdisciplinary musical project focused on promoting creativity, cultural participation, and artistic education for children and youth in the Ascona-Locarno region. Under the title “Dreams,” inspired by the world of dreams, hopes, and imagination, an innovative stage program is born, combining music, theater, and movement to create new connections among the younger generation, local educational institutions, and an international classical music festival like classicAscona. The goal is to promote educational exchange between generations and develop formats that can sustainably strengthen the regional community.
It is being produced in close collaboration with the Accademia Teatro Dimitri (physical theater, dance, dramaturgy, theater pedagogy), the Scuola di Musica di Locarno (SMUS), and the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (CSI). The heart of the project is a 45-minute stage production, based on a specially arranged suite from Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet for young pianists and a percussion ensemble, enriched with scenic and choreographic elements.
Key Points
- Format: Interdisciplinary musical and scenic project interweaving music, dance, and movement theater
- Participants: about 30-40 children and young people from music schools and educational institutions in the Ascona-Locarno region
- Repertoire: a musical work designed to engage children and youth at all levels: instrumental, vocal, dance and movement
- Partner institutions:
- Accademia Teatro Dimitri
- Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Department of Schools of Music)
- Local schools
- Working method: A shared creative process in which children and youth are actively involved, with support from professionals in the fields of art and education.
- Performances: public performances as part of the classicAscona festival program
Calendar
- Summer/Fall 2025: Conceptual work by leaders, organizational preparation, coordination of artistic directions, and first outreach and exchange activities in schools
- Spring 2026: Ensemble formation, joint workshops and rehearsals in music, dance, and movement
- September 2026: Intensive rehearsal phase with professional coaching and integration of musical and stage elements
- Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2026
Public performances at Collegio Papio in Ascona, included in the program for the festival classicAscona 2026
A bridge with the people and the festival
The project serves as a bridge among the festival, the local education system, and the population. It also has a significant cultural and social impact and contributes sustainably to the cultural education and regional rootedness of classicAscona.
- Active participation: About 30-40 children and youth directly involved in a professional artistic process for several months
- Fallout on families: the rehearsal and project phase, lasting about nine months, occurs within a broad social context and strengthens families’ identification with the festival
- Facilitated access: the interdisciplinary format makes classical music accessible in an open, contemporary context, even for audiences unfamiliar with classical music festivals
- Regional network: Collaboration among music schools, high schools of theater, and local educational institutions unites regional expertise on the festival platform.
- First meeting with the festival: Through collaboration among music schools, the theater academy, and local educational institutions, the festival becomes a platform for the convergence of regional expertise
- Early encounter with the festival: Children and youth experience classicAscona not only as an audience but also as an active creative space
Project 2026: “Dreams”
Under the title “Dreams,” an interdisciplinary performance lasting approximately 45 minutes, inspired by the themes of dreams, desire, and the future. Starting point ia suite arranged by Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, enriched by additional musical works and scenic, choreographic,ic and movement theater elements.
Young students from music schools and from the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana’s propaedeutic course, as well as second-year Bachelor students from the Accademia Teatro Dimitri, participate. Together, they develop a poetic format that makes classical music accessible to a wide audience and gives young people a voice within the festival.
The artistic process is designed to be participatory: young performers are involved at different levels in the development of content, dramaturgy, and stage form, gaining valuable experience in the interaction between artistic practice and collective work.
The goal is to promote creativity and engage children and youth through music, movement and imagination, while strengthening pedagogical value, artistic collaboration and intergenerational exchange, and classicAscona’s commitment to the community.
Location:
Collegio Papio, Aula Magna, Ascona
Performances:
- Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, 5:00 p.m.
- Thursday, Oct. 01, 2026, 5:00 p.m.
Participating Schools:
- Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana, Schools of Music – Luca Medici
- Accademia Teatro Dimitri – Daniel Bausch
Artistic direction:
- Luca Medici (Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana, Schools of Music)
- Alessandro La Rocca (Rhythm)
- Luisa Braga (Dance/Movement)
- David Labanca (Acrobatics)
- Redjan Teqja (resposnible teacher for the pianists)
- Luca Bruno (responsible teacher for the percussion ensemble)
Project direction:
- Suzana Gostimirović
The project is supported by BAK Jugend & Musik
