About Us

AME

Founded in Catania in 1973, the Associazione Musicale Etnea (AME) belongs to a group of concert promoters that are considered historical in Italy. The artistic director, from 1974, was Salvatore Enrico Failla, followed by the composer Emanuele Casale from 2002 to 2020, and today the AME operates under an Artistic Committee formed by Biagio Guerrera, Nello Nicotra, Luca Recupero and Diego Vespa.
With regular finanancial support from the MIC, the AME is recognized by the Region of Sicily as “an Association of regional interest” and collaborates with important national and international institutions such as the Goethe Institut and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Embassy of France, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, the Polish Institute in Rome, the Egyptian Academy of Arts, etc.
In its 49th consecutive concert season, the AME has presented over 1600 performances, from early music to contemporary musical languages, from world music to computer music, as well as contemporary dance and art rock. We give great consideration to alternative and under-represented repertoires.

Starting from 2020, AME has obtained the support of the European Union, through the Creative Europe program, first as a partner in the “Tremolo” project and subsequently as the lead partner in the “Tremolo_FORTE” project. These projects have enabled the development of an organic network between organizations and music festivals at the European level, working on the contemporary valorization of the intangible heritage represented by the fascinating musical traditions preserved in peripheral regions and minority cultures in Europe. In 2024, AME participates in the “Merita” project, supported by the EU, as a member of the Amur Committee, a national entity that brings together some of the most prestigious concert associations in Italy.

Starting from 2021, AME has decided to capitalize on its many years of experience in organizational and production activities by adding to artistic production, the promotion and sale of musical projects by numerous highly qualified musicians from its own territory and creating a dedicated section of work, a section of music publishing, and record production.

Additionally, we continue to share and promote musical experiences with younger generations through dedicated concert seasons and courses designed and offered in collaboration with a number of educational organizations, from schools to universities.
As early as its second year, the AME started organizing a series of educational concerts – to date numbering about 500 matinées in all – conceived specifically for primary school students as an effective educational support.
More recently we have started offering activities to promote creativity in younger generations through workshops and artist residencies. This is how Jacarànda, Piccola Orchestra giovanile dell’Etna (The small youth orchestra of Etna), came about. Jacarànda is about to record its first album that has also been shaped by a creative writing workshop held at a juvenile detention centre in Acireale.
The AME has expanded its activities to sectors dealing with special needs – children’s hospitals and juvenile detention centres – offering its support in contexts where there is a risk of social exclusion.
The AME adheres to Polo Catanese di Educazione interculturale (the intercultural education group in Catania), consisting of a network of schools and associations set up within the Fontanarossa Secondary School, with activity centres in the peripheral district of Librino in Catania.
In January 2020 in Librino, the AME inaugurated the Centre for Arts in the facilities of the Nuova Masseria Moncada c/o l’IC Fontanarossa.
The Cente for Arts was established under the “Scuole aperte partecipate in rete” (open schools network) project, presented for the “Un Passo Avanti” (A step forward) tender following the recently approved bid by the social enterprise “Con I Bambini”(With the kids). The aim of the project is to activate/reinforce an independent, responsible support network capable of contrasting juvenile educational poverty in the district of Librino.

Since 2015 the AME organizes the Marranzano World Fest, its 14th edition being in 2023. The Fest is the most concrete example of our coherent and unfaltering quest to rediscover and preserve the patrimony of Sicilian traditional music, enhanced innovatively by an intercultural approach, and accompanying concerts with workshops and scientific talks.

Over the years, the average number of performances by the AME has risen from 10 in the early seasons to about 50 in the most recent.
Performers include artists of undisputed stature, internationally renowned orchestras, soloists and ensembles revered as among the best in the world; here we mention some of them