Go with silky smooth jazz and electronic panoramas

Among the outstanding qualities of the Festival over the past thirty-six years is not only that it has helped us rediscover the treasures of this great capital and port of the late antique and Byzantine period, but also that it has introduced us to the small towns of Romagna with their unique examples of civil and private architecture. Like the Pavaglione di Lugo, an imposing four-sided portico built in 1784 for the silkworm cocoon market, which was flourishing at the time. Trade - but also, as always, entertainment: the concert on 21 June features the piano of Stefano Bollani and the trumpet of Enrico Rava, the most beautiful couple in jazz.

Like in nearby Russi, the 17th-century Palazzo S. Giacomo, whose architecture recalls the palace of the Farnese family in Colorno and the ducal palace of the Estensi family in Modena. There, on 29 June, there is The Night of Spiritual Jazz, with Lakecia Benjamin and Hamid Drake. The former, with her sax, strong of five Grammy nominations, presents her latest album Phoenix reimagined, between r&b and funk, in the only Italian date.

There are numerous concerts on the Festival programme, from Uri Caine to Malika Ayane and others. Also in Ravenna where, in the contemporary architecture of Palazzo De André designed by Sadich, on 6 July we hear Max Richter with his ninth album, In A Landscape. He himself on electronics, together with a string quintet; a fleeting self-portrait of a musician in constant motion, searching for a perfect balance between electronic and acoustic sounds. About three billion streams and one million albums sold: we remember his planetary success for his reinterpretation of the Four Seasons and the soundtrack of the world-selling TV series, L'amica geniale.

Grand finale by the sea, at the Stadio dei Pini Arena in Cervia when, on 9 July, the Pakistani voice of Arooj Aftab, a composer who fuses the folklore of her homeland with jazz, will resound with Night Reign. On this album, nominated for a Grammy for 'Best Alternative Jazz Album', she explores the night as a metaphor for introspection and mystery, weaving together lyrics in Urdu and English. The music creates a hypnotic and experimental soundscape of minimal atmospheres and pulsating rhythms.