SOLITARIA | Procession of Listening

Solitaria is an invitation to listen.
A contemporary sonic ritual that entrusts the ear with the role of guide.
The step of the seeker is uncertain, open to wonder; Solitaria welcomes the energy of discovery and shapes it into a procession suggested by sound.

A wandering concert for a diffuse orchestra. Solitaria is a ritual that comes to life while moving through the spaces of Santa Caterina da Siena. Structured in four acts, two cycles, and a final moment, the sound itself leads the spectators’ steps, renewing the parallel with the ancient procession for Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, once guarded by the women of the Real Conservatorio—the historical soul of this place.

The entire complex of Santa Caterina da Siena becomes a single, living musical instrument.
At precisely 7:30 pm, the ritual begins simultaneously in four stations: the expansion of the low register envelops the listener in the Church; rituality gathers in the Sala Provenzale; sonic ascension takes shape in the Refectory, rising finally to the contemplation of the Sala del Coro.

Silence and listening thus become a map.
There is no predetermined path: you are free to move, guided by your ear. You may remain immersed in the Church, ascend toward the Choir, lose yourselves in the corridors, or linger in the Refectory, perceiving how the sounds blend and transform along the way. It is the very act of listening that traces each individual procession.

But how can musicians play in unison while separated by the architecture? They are guided by a flow.
A digital score written by Neapolitan electroacoustic composer Paolo Montella, scrolling in real time on their screens, acting as a silent conductor. This perfect synchrony unites what the walls divide, turning four isolated groups into a single voice inhabiting the entire complex.

The ritual unfolds in two cycles.
This expanded time allows the experience to be lived from multiple perspectives: what was heard up close in the first cycle may be heard from afar in the second. It is a time for exploration, for retracing one’s steps, for choosing which sounds to follow and which rooms to inhabit.

At the end of the second cycle, the procession concludes and separation dissolves.
The orchestra, once “diffuse,” becomes “shared”: the musicians leave their isolated stations and gather together in the Church for a final orchestral moment.

In the end, listening becomes communion: the union of architecture, historical memory, and the community which, after wandering and exploring, finds itself reunited in sound.