Fondazione Orchestra Jazz Siciliana The Brass Group

Fondazione Orchestra Jazz Siciliana – The Brass Group is a non-profit cultural foundation based in Palermo, Sicily, dedicated to the production and diffusion of twentieth-century musical art and culture, with a particular focus on jazz and music of Afro-American derivation. It is headquartered across two monumental sites in the city: the Complesso Monumentale di S. Maria dello Spasimo, a sixteenth-century complex, and the Regio Teatro S. Cecilia, a seventeenth-century theatre. These venues host its concert seasons, educational activities and museum functions. The foundation organises and manages a permanent orchestral ensemble called the Orchestra Jazz Siciliana (OJS), specialised in the performance of contemporary music. Beyond the orchestra, it promotes and operates a study centre equipped with a library, newspaper archive, tape archive and video archive, known as the Brass Group Jazz Museum, which is open to the public. It also provides professional training for its own artistic and technical staff and offers musical education to the wider community through its Scuola Popolare di Musica (Popular Music School). The Brass Group's public programming is anchored by recurring concert seasons. Its flagship series, "Brass in Jazz – Musiche del Nostro Tempo," brings jazz, soul, swing, Cuban music, vocal jazz and new compositions to the Real Teatro Santa Cecilia, featuring Grammy Award winners and world premieres and positioning Palermo in dialogue with the international music scene. The foundation also runs events under the "Brass at Spasimo" banner and maintains an active calendar of concerts across the year, including September programming. The foundation's institutional standing in Sicily is formalised by law: the Parliament of the Region of Sicily recognised Fondazione The Brass Group as a primary instrument for the production and diffusion of the art and musical culture of our time, with particular attention to jazz and Afro-American-derived music, and enacted Law No. 5 of 1 February 2006 establishing the foundation. This legal recognition underpins its public cultural mission and its role as a regional centre for jazz performance, education and heritage. As a non-profit entity, The Brass Group operates without profit motive, channelling its activity into concerts, education and the preservation of jazz heritage. Its identity combines the functions of an orchestra, a music school, a museum and a concert promoter, making it a distinctive cultural brand in southern Italy. Its communications run through its official website, which publishes its event calendar, news and educational open days.

Fondazione Orchestra Jazz Siciliana – The Brass Group is a non-profit foundation headquartered in Palermo, Sicily, operating from two of the city's most prestigious monumental sites: the Complesso Monumentale di S. Maria dello Spasimo, dating from the sixteenth century, and the Regio Teatro S. Cecilia, dating from the seventeenth century. Its mission, pursued without profit motive, is the diffusion of the art and musical culture of the twentieth century. The foundation's institutional basis was established by the Parliament of the Region of Sicily, which recognised Fondazione The Brass Group as a primary instrument for the production and diffusion of the art and musical culture of our time, with particular attention to jazz and music of Afro-American derivation. This recognition was formalised through Law No. 5 of 1 February 2006, which instituted the foundation. That legislative act gives the organisation a public cultural mandate alongside its non-profit status. Central to the foundation's activity is the Orchestra Jazz Siciliana (OJS), a permanent orchestral ensemble that it organises and manages, specialised in the performance of contemporary music. The foundation also promotes and operates a study centre named the Brass Group Jazz Museum, equipped with a library, newspaper archive, tape archive and video archive, open to public use. In parallel, it provides professional training for its own artistic and technical personnel and delivers musical education to the community through the Scuola Popolare di Musica. Over the years the foundation has built a substantial public concert programme. Its flagship season, "Brass in Jazz – Musiche del Nostro Tempo," is staged at the Real Teatro Santa Cecilia and has featured jazz, soul, swing, Cuban music, vocal jazz and new compositions, with Grammy Award winners and world premieres, framing Palermo in dialogue with the international music scene. Additional programming, such as "Brass at Spasimo," extends the foundation's concert activity across its venues and through the year, including September calendars that traverse languages, generations and different expressions of jazz. The foundation also collaborates with individual artists, as illustrated by a concert by Olivia Sellerio with the OJS that was rescheduled to autumn. Through its combination of a permanent orchestra, a museum and archive centre, a music school and recurring concert seasons, The Brass Group functions as a distinctive cultural brand in southern Italy, uniting performance, education and heritage preservation under a single non-profit institution.

• 2006

  Law No. 5 of 1 February 2006, enacted by the Parliament of the Region of Sicily, institutes Fondazione The Brass Group and recognises it as a primary instrument for the production and diffusion of contemporary musical art and culture, with particular attention to jazz and Afro-American-derived music.

• The foundation establishes and manages the Orchestra Jazz Siciliana (OJS), a permanent orchestral ensemble specialised in contemporary music.

• The Brass Group Jazz Museum, a study centre with library, newspaper archive, tape archive and video archive, is opened to public use.

• The Scuola Popolare di Musica provides musical education to the community and professional training to the foundation's artistic and technical staff.

• The "Brass in Jazz – Musiche del Nostro Tempo" season is staged at the Real Teatro Santa Cecilia, featuring fourteen appointments across jazz, soul, swing, Cuban music, vocal jazz and new compositions.

A publicly recognised, non-profit Sicilian institution for jazz performance, education and heritage, based in Palermo's monumental venues.

• Orchestra Jazz Siciliana (OJS)

  A permanent orchestral ensemble organised and managed by the foundation, specialised in the performance of contemporary music.

• Brass Group Jazz Museum

  A study centre equipped with a library, newspaper archive, tape archive and video archive, open to public use.

• Scuola Popolare di Musica

  The foundation's popular music school, providing musical education to the community and professional training for its artistic and technical staff.

• Brass in Jazz – Musiche del Nostro Tempo

  The foundation's flagship concert season at the Real Teatro Santa Cecilia, spanning jazz, soul, swing, Cuban music, vocal jazz and new compositions.

• Brass at Spasimo

  A concert programme staged at the Complesso Monumentale di S. Maria dello Spasimo, extending the foundation's activity across its venues.

1. 1The Brass Group – official websitebrassgroup.it
2. 2Chi Siamo – The Brass Groupbrassgroup.it
3. 3Fondazione Orchestra Jazz Siciliana The Brass Group – Wikidatawikidata.org