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Best Jazz festivals in Italy
From Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny to Mary Halvorson
Three decades of international jazz, with midnight concerts and performances at dawn
The pleasure of a jazz trip to Vicenza is partly architectural: an evening at the Teatro Olimpico, Andrea Palladio’s Renaissance theatre, can be followed by music in the city’s bars. Founded in 1996, New Conversations Vicenza Jazz has welcomed Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny, with Mary Halvorson among the artists on its 2026 programme. The festival has also staged midnight concerts at the monumental cemetery and a dawn concert at the former stables of Villa La Rotonda.
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Know before you go
The 2026 edition has concluded. Check the official source for 2027 dates before booking your trip. Vicenza Jazz takes place across several venues, with separate start times and admission arrangements for each concert. CONTACTS: Phone +39 0444 324442 Festival enquiries vicenzajazz@tcvi.it Tickets and booking enquiries biglietteria@tcvi.it
About
Since its first edition in 1996, New Conversations Vicenza Jazz has presented musicians as different as Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Dee Dee Bridgewater, John Zorn, Bill Frisell and Hiromi.
The festival’s original idea has remained remarkably consistent: put contemporary jazz inside Palladian palaces, Renaissance theatres, churches and historic spaces, then let the programme take increasingly adventurous liberties with the rest of the city. For its 30th edition in 2026, dedicated to the centenary of Miles Davis, the bill included Makaya McCraven, Barbara Hannigan, Mary Halvorson, Uri Caine, Billy Cobham, Joshua Redman, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava and Fabrizio Bosso. At the Teatro Olimpico alone, Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou performed John Zorn, followed the next evening by Mary Halvorson and Uri Caine.
Midnight and dawn concerts ↓
MIDNIGHT AT THE CEMETERY, DAWN AT LA ROTONDA
Vicenza Jazz has developed two appointments worth planning the weekend around. At midnight, the Cimitero Maggiore hosts a concert after the gates would normally be closed. In 2026, Greek singer Savina Yannatou brought Water Songs there in an Italian première. Two mornings later, at 6am, Dimitri Grechi Espinoza played a meditation on John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme at the Scuderie of Villa Capra La Rotonda. Breakfast was included, and from 7:30 the villa opened for visits to the Piano Nobile and Romantic Wood. Palladio before breakfast is a fairly persuasive festival perk.
JAZZ AFTER DINNER
The main concerts are only part of May. In 2026, 16 cafés and bars in the historic centre hosted live sets from late afternoon into the evening, with free Happy Hour concerts at 19:00 and After Hour sessions from 22:30. Corso Palladio even had a festival playlist broadcast along the street during the day and evening. So a festival night can begin at the Teatro Olimpico, continue over a drink in the old centre and end considerably later than planned.