The Tuscan Sun Festival, 3-9 August 2009

The annual Tuscan Sun Festival, now in course for its 7th year, is celebrated by those who share a passion for fine arts, music, film, culinary arts, wine-making and wellness- all encircled within the rich Tuscan history of the concert’s surroundings. The festival is held in Cortona, a medieval town found in the province of Arezzo, in central Tuscany, and is managed by IMG Arts, the distinguished arts management firm.

The concert lasts for 6 days, from Aug 3-9th, and each day is filled with an extensive program composed of a myriad of events to take part in including art exhibitions, wine tastings, literary and culinary lectures and musical concerts.

The most anticipated events of the festival are the evening concerts performed in the 420 seat Roman theatre, Teatro Signorelli, led by some of the world’s leading artists.

The festival’s special guest for this year is Anthony Hopkins, whose featured musical compositions and art exhibit entitled Masques, will be on display. Additional featured artists of this year’s festival include Joshua Bell, Stéphane Denève, Nina Kotova, Danielle de Niese, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Maija Kovalevska, Vlad Mirita, Jaap van Zweden, Michael Guttman and Gisele Ben-Dor.

In harmony with The Tuscan Sun festival’s ideals, the Napa Valley in California gave birth in 2006 to the Festival del Sole Napa Valley, registered as a non-profit charity. The festival features music, gourmet food, famous chefs, winemakers and art, among countless other aspects that contribute to its uniqueness.

Following Napa’s creation of it’s Sun Festivalfestival, Signapore became home to the Singapore Sun Festival in 2007, lasting 11 days and featuring over 250 ininternational and regional artists in nearly 100 events. Highlighted events include film screenings and yoga and tai-chi sessions led by experts.

The spirit of the Tuscan Sun Festival is truly inspiring and celebratory. Information about the festival can be obtained via http://www.tuscansunfestival.com/.