Fondazione Musica per Roma: the summer draws to a close with 230,000 attendees
Sold out, major international artists, a young and increasingly international audience: almost one in five spectators comes from abroad
Key points
The summer programme of the Fondazione Musica per Roma has drawn to a close with 230,000 attendees. This figure is in line with the record levels achieved the previous year and testifies to the strength and appeal of a programme capable of transcending genres, generations and geographical boundaries and which, with over 100 events in total, brought the Ennio Morricone Auditorium Parco della Musica and the Casa del Jazz to life throughout the summer. A programme of exceptional quality, characterised by numerous sold-out performances and extraordinary audience turnout, which brought together some of the most important voices and leading figures on the Italian and international scene. An artistic journey that, from electronic music to pop, rock to singer-songwriter music, jazz to contemporary music, showcased the full variety of a programme capable of appealing to diverse audiences and confirming the Ennio Morricone Auditorium Parco della Musica and the Casa del Jazz as among the capital’s leading venues for live music. The Cavea was sold out for Ludovico Einaudi’s four consecutive evenings, as well as for the concerts by Mac DeMarco, Bresh, Marilyn Manson, Jacob Collier, Kool & The Gang, Capo Plaza, Djo, Tony Pitony and Fiorella Mannoia, I Cani, Pat Metheny, Marco Castello and Subsonica.
The benefits of programming
The ‘Summertime’ festival at the Casa del Jazz was also a huge success, confirming the quality and international reputation of its programme, as well as its ability to bring together big names from the world of music with the next generation of artists. Concerts featuring Devendra Banhart, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Samara Joy were sold out; they headlined some of the summer’s most eagerly awaited evenings in the Casa del Jazz Park alongside, amongst others, Nate Smith, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Fred Hersh with Peter Erskin, Anouar Brahem, Kris Davis, and Fabrizio Bosso, who took centre stage in the original reinterpretation of *Sketches of Spain*, an original production by the Fondazione Musica per Roma.
Further confirmation of the international calibre and artistic quality of the programme comes from a particularly significant statistic: the headlining artists for the summer of 2026, performing at the Cavea of the Ennio Morricone Auditorium Parco della Musica and the Casa del Jazz, have won a total of 63 Grammy Awards – 30 in the pop-rock category and 33 in jazz.
A young, international audience
But one of the most significant findings to emerge from the summer of 2026 concerns the composition of the audience. The Foundation’s programme confirms an ever-increasing ability to engage with younger generations: around 40 per cent of audience members are aged between 31 and 45, 16 per cent are aged between 26 and 30, and 15 per cent are under 25. Overall, almost a third of the audience is under 30, reflecting an artistic programme capable of resonating with even the youngest generations. The international dimension of the audience is also growing and becoming more established. Over 17 per cent of the tickets analysed for the main concerts were purchased from abroad, with significant peaks for artists such as Ludovico Einaudi, Jacob Collier, Marisa Monte, Jalen Ngonda and Djo, confirming how certain events have become genuine draws for international audiences visiting the capital. The main countries of origin for overseas ticket buyers include Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands, the United States and Switzerland. This figure increasingly highlights the role of the Foundation’s programme as a key cultural attraction for Rome and its tourism sector.
Towards the 25th anniversary
Its appeal across the country is also strong. Whilst Lazio represents the main source of its audience, accounting for around 64 per cent of Italian ticket buyers, a significant proportion comes from the rest of the country, particularly from Campania, Tuscany, Puglia, Abruzzo, Lombardy, Sicily, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna. “These figures tell us much more than just audience figures,” comments Raffaele Ranucci, chief executive of the Fondazione Musica per Roma. ‘They tell the story of a Foundation and an Auditorium that never stand still, that continue to explore, innovate and develop a programme capable of appealing to diverse audiences. We are particularly proud to have maintained last year’s record levels, but even more so to see the growing presence of young people and international audiences. 2027 will be a particularly important year for us, as we will be celebrating the Auditorium’s twenty-fifth anniversary, and we want to mark the occasion with a programme that does justice to its history and its future. We can already announce the first big names for next summer: Take That, Tokio Hotel, Hayley Williams, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Beth Hart. And we’ve only just begun. More announcements and new surprises are coming in the months ahead.’
