The initiative Encounters Method Documentary Next stage Gallery
EN | IT
Get in touch
The Archive Rome · 2016

Five encounters.

One evolving practice.

In 2016, five pairs of exceptional musicians came together in intimate venues across Rome. Each encounter began with two separate musical languages. Each ended in shared improvisation. Nothing was guaranteed in advance.

Serhat Akbal and Marwan Samer performing at Fondazione Maitreya, Rome
Kurdistan × Iraq

Two strings.
Two histories.

Serhat Akbal × Marwan Samer

Fondazione Maitreya · Monti, Rome 29 January 2016

A Kurdish bağlama player meets an Iraqi oud player. Two instruments from the same region, two communities shaped by the same conflict. What happened when they played together is preserved in the archive.

Explore encounter
Pejman Tadayon and Riccardo Manzi at Fondazione Maitreya, Rome
Iran × Jewish Traditions

Two displaced
musical languages.

Pejman Tadayon × Riccardo Manzi

Fondazione Maitreya · Monti, Rome 4 March 2016

A Persian târ and oud player meets a guitarist from the Sephardic and Klezmer tradition. Two traditions that once shared the same cities, then did not. The encounter did not repair history. It placed two musicians in the same room.

Explore encounter
Nando Citarella and Tcha Limberger at Cappella Orsini, Campo de' Fiori, Rome
Italy × Rom Traditions

In a deconsecrated
chapel.

Nando Citarella × Tcha Limberger

Cappella Orsini · Campo de' Fiori, Rome 8 April 2016

A Southern Italian musician — tammorra, chitarra battente, voice — meets a Rom violinist whose musical lineage crosses Belgium, Hungary and beyond. Centuries of parallel and contested histories. One intimate, stone-walled space.

Explore encounter
Gabin Dabiré and Zam Moustapha Dembélé at Teatro Sala Uno, Rome
Burkina Faso × Mali

Proximity is
not sameness.

Gabin Dabiré × Zam Moustapha Dembélé

Teatro Sala Uno · San Giovanni, Rome 28 April 2016

A Burkinabè singer-songwriter whose path crossed Africa, India, Denmark and Italy, meets a Malian Bwa griot carrying a hereditary lineage of music, memory and transmission. Two neighbouring traditions — and the distance between them.

Explore encounter
Shao Yue Shen and Loten Namling at Teatro Sala Uno, Rome
China × Tibet

The most
weighted encounter.

Shao Yue Shen × Loten Namling

Teatro Sala Uno · San Giovanni, Rome 29 May 2016

A Chinese pipa player and a Tibetan musician in exile — activist, storyteller, singer of songs that carry a people's memory across borders they did not choose. The structure was the same as every other encounter. The weight was different. The proposition was the same.

Explore encounter
The archive records what happened. The methodology asks what could happen next. Accordi di Pace · Rome · 2016
View all photographs →
The Next Stage

The archive looks backward.
The residency looks forward.

The 2016 encounters established the artistic and institutional foundation of Accordi di Pace. Each pairing brought musicians together through shared time — rehearsal, meals, conversation, and musical exploration before the public concert. The next phase deepens that commitment. A longer residential period gives the encounter more time: for hesitation, for silence, for the kind of musical understanding that cannot be hurried.

The concert remains the culmination. The encounter is the work.

Read the full proposal →

Audience voices

Hear from audiences who attended Accordi di Pace concerts. Click to read their testimonies in Italian and English, and listen to the authentic recordings.

Attendee 1 · Recording 00:00
Italian

"Lo consiglio a tutti, peccato che c'erano pochi posti."

English

"I recommend it to everyone; it's a pity there were so few seats available."

Attendee 2 · Recording 00:00
Italian

"Vede, è veramente una cosa eccellente. Sono venuto e non mi aspettavo una cosa così intensa, così vibrante, musicisti così bravi, preparati e soprattutto affiatati."

English

"You see, it is truly an excellent thing. I came and did not expect something so intense, so vibrant, with musicians who are so skilled, prepared, and above all in tune with one another."

Attendee 3 · Recording 00:00
Italian

"Penso che sia un progetto molto, molto interessante, profondo e innovativo. Cioè, musiche comunque antiche che sono riusciti a renderle attuali. Quindi ho trovato molto originale l'idea."

English

"I think it's a very, very interesting, profound, and innovative project. Meaning, ancient music nonetheless that they managed to make current. So I found the idea very original."

Attendee 4 · Recording 00:00
Italian

"La musica è pace. Quindi non è neanche lo strumento, non è neanche il terzo veicolo: è la pace."

English

"Music is peace. Therefore, it's not even the instrument, it's not even a third vehicle: it is peace."

Attendee 5 · Recording 00:00
Italian

"Ho trovato uno spettacolo coinvolgente, bellissimo e poi, secondo me, ha rispettato quello che noi volevamo, cioè di trovarci tutti insieme nella stessa sintonia in un momento così piacevole con dei professionisti di altissimo livello."

English

"I found the show engaging, beautiful, and then, in my opinion, it respected what we wanted—that is, to find ourselves all together in the same harmony in such a pleasant moment with professionals of the highest level."

Attendee 6 · Recording 00:00
Italian

"Grandi, grandi emozioni. Forte la vibrazione. È veramente bella anche la... diciamo l'incontro di culture completamente diverse."

English

"Great, great emotions. Strong vibration. The encounter of completely different cultures is also truly beautiful."

Attendee 7 · Recording 00:00
Italian

"Beh, è stato sicuramente emozionante, interessante. Poi ho imparato un un sacco di cose nuove sulla musica. Quindi... lo consiglio a tutti, peccato che c'erano pochi posti."

English

"Well, it was certainly emotional, interesting. Then I learned a lot of new things about the music. So... I recommend it to everyone, it's a pity there were so few seats."