The opera will be staged in Bergamo “as part of the 2026 Donizetti festival”
and will be a participatory performance aimed at younger audiences
The deadline for submitting applications is July 21, 2025,
and the winner will receive a fee of three thousand euros
in addition to a publishing contract with Casa Ricordi
The call is open to librettists Under 35
and isavailable at this link:
www.donizettiopera.org/#
A new libretto for a new opera aimed at younger audiences: this is the next challenge of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, which begins with the publication of a call to select a librettist Under 35, who will be entrusted with writing the text, in Italian, for a new opera for young audiences between 8 and 14 years old. This is a concrete opportunity for young Italian and European theater writers who will be able to hear their verses sung in autumn 2026 as part of Donizetti Opera, the international festival dedicated to the famous Bergamo composer.
The call for applications with mandatory attachments is already online in the Open Calls section of the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti website, accessible via the link: www.donizettiopera.org/#
The call is open to all those who, as of January 1, 2025, have not yet turned 35 and is part of a project that combines dramaturgical research, education in listening, and concrete attention to emerging creativity. The opera will be dedicated to brothers Gaetano and Giuseppe Donizetti, based on a subject by Luca Baccolini, journalist, music critic, and author, with music composed by Marco Taralli.
The performance will include moments of active participation from the audience in the hall, with guided choral interventions. The chosen author for writing the libretto will receive a gross fee of 3,000.00 euros and will work closely with the creative team of Donizetti Opera, in addition to signing a publishing contract with the prestigious Casa Ricordi.
To participate in the selection, candidates are invited to create the dramaturgical transposition and detailed synopsis with scene divisions of two famous stories from 20th-century Italian literature: Il colombre by Dino Buzzati and Il treno ha fischiato by Luigi Pirandello, for which they will also write the libretto for at least two scenes of their choice, using prose or verse writing. Applications must be submitted no later than July 21, 2025, exclusively through the online form attached to the call. The ranking will be published on September 15, and the delivery of the final version of the libretto is scheduled for December 31, 2025.
With this initiative – strongly supported by the artistic and musical director of Donizetti Opera, Riccardo Frizza – the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti reaffirms its commitment to the development of contemporary operatic repertoire aimed at young audiences, fostering the emergence of a new generation of authors capable of engaging with sung words and the great themes of modernity. At the same time, it relaunches a vision of opera as a living space, capable of educating, engaging, and renewing itself, expanding the promotion and enhancement of Gaetano Donizetti’s figure.
