Networking Event

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm - Church of Saint George - Via Duomo, 19

The Ensemble Salernitano is an orchestral group founded in 2022 by the young musician, Nicola Santulli, who is also the group's artistic and musical director. Initially composed of only strings, it now boasts approximately 35 members, including strings, woodwinds, and percussion.
It is an entirely youthful ensemble, composed of musicians from Salerno, Naples, and Avellino; predominantly students from Campania's conservatories, they have come together in an independent musical project, curated and managed entirely by them.
The underlying idea that gave rise to the project is the same one that makes it even more alive today, day after day, and with ever greater strength: a true declaration of intent signed by the sound of those who will not resign themselves to silence, of those who will not accept that cultured music be locked away in a glass case, dusted once a year, then forgotten. It is the voice of a generation that studies, commits, takes risks, and demands to be heard. Indeed, the choice and commitment to play, sing, and conduct with seriousness and passion means firmly opposing those who want to close the doors of knowledge, those who think that beauty is useless. And it means doing so not with words, but with art, with expertise, with sound that vibrates, alive.
The project, in fact, was born from the courage and determination of young musicians who believe in the power of music as a tool for growth, encounter, and change, but with a very specific mission: to bring music out of conservatories and theatres, and present it with the same seriousness in living, real, and accessible places.
Proposing itself not as an exception, but as a possibility, an example of life that brings a free sound, the Ensemble Salernitano wants to create a safe, active, and proactive place in the artistic and social spheres, telling the city of Salerno, its province, and the entire region that young people are here in Campania!
Indeed, despite its relatively young average age, the Ensemble Salernitano already boasts numerous significant experiences, most notably the 2024 Christmas Concert at the Teatro Verdi in Salerno, in collaboration with the Children's Choir of the Teatro Massimo, the inaugural concert, in collaboration with the Telediocese, the annual concert series at the Church of San Paolo Apostolo in Salerno, and more.

8:30 pm - 11:00 pm - Salerno Diocesan Museum - Largo Plebiscito, 12

Church of Saint George - a brief description

Saint George is the most beautiful Baroque church in Salerno, rich in high-quality frescoes. It was part of the convent of Benedictine nuns, now serving as a barracks for the Guardia di Finanza and Carabinieri. It is one of the oldest monastic settlements in Salerno, dating back to the early ninth century. This period is also associated with the discovery of remains of an apse fresco in the church. At the end of the sixteenth century, all the nuns of the other Benedictine monasteries in the city (St. Sophia, St. Michael and St. Mary Magdalene) were transferred to San Giorgio. In 1711, the monastery was expanded with a new project elaborated by Ferdinando Sanfelice, the most famous Neapolitan architect of the first half of the eighteenth century. The interior is richly covered with murals and canvas paintings.

Among the other paintings in the church of great importance: The Virgin and Child with Saints and a nun praying by Andrea Sabatini, dated 1523, The Martyrdom of Saint George in capolatare dating back to the early decades of the seventeenth century, three paintings depicting San Gregorio Magno, the Holy Family with St. John, The Vision of St. Nicholas of Bari dated 1669, artworks by Giacinto De Populi, the Archangel Michael, dated 1690 by Francesco Solimena, some canvases portraying the Virtues, by Paolo De Matteis, dating from the early eighteenth century. Of particular value is the high altar, inlaid with marble and featuring bas-reliefs and sculptures.

Salerno Diocesan Museum - a brief description

The Diocesan Museum is one of the most significant repositories of art in Salerno. The actual location corresponds to the restoration of the Diocesan Seminary's structure, a major cultural centre of the city and the Province, together with the Library and Archives.
The current configuration of the building corresponds to the work contracted out in 1832 by Archbishop Lupoli. Following this restoration work, the complex has a strictly neoclassical physiognomy, with symmetrical development built around the central axis of the door, on which stands a keystone marble coat of arms of the prelate, and above the balcony, framed by a newsstand that echoes a classical temple.

The artistic heritage of the Museum encompasses works spanning from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. There you can find:

• The Ivories of Salerno: the largest and most complete collection of stained glass tablets (first half of the XII century) of the Christian Middle Ages in the world. These are 67 pieces, 37 of which are illustrated with scenes from the Old and New Testament.
• An illuminated roll of the Exultet, divided into 11 parchment sheets illustrating the Easter Proclamation (proclamation of Easter), dating from the end of the first half of the thirteenth century.
• A painted cross (called the Barliario), of the beginning of the eighteenth century.
• Paintings by the Caravaggio school were donated by the Marquis Giovanni Ruggi of Aragon in 1870 to the Cathedral of Salerno. These are primarily works of the seventeenth century. The main works are: The Judith, The David with the Head of Goliath, St. Jerome, and St. Peter, who cries for failing to recognise Jesus Christ, and the painting of the biblical episode of Lot and his daughters.
• Part of the collection of coins of Ancient Greece, the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, and the Zecca of Salerno deserves to be admired. Among the thousands of coins is the famous Follaro of Gisulfo II with the depiction of Opulent Salernu.
• In addition to the works exhibited, the museum has paintings, mostly of wood and canvas, dating from the fourteenth to the twentieth century. Worth noting is also a Pontifical ad usum Ecclesiae Salernitanae.

To visit the Diocesan Museum, please check the visiting hours and the rates.