Genoa celebrates 160 years of Italy-Japan relations with a gala featuring Stradivarius violins.

Genoa celebrates the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan with an exceptional musical gala. On Friday, October 2, 2026, in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio of Palazzo Ducale, violins and other string instruments made in the 1700s by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, belonging to the collection of Tokyo's Sasakawa Music Foundation, will be played. The event, with free admission by reservation, will feature performances by the Goldmund Quartet and internationally renowned soloists such as Benjamin Beilman and Timothy Chooi, accompanied on piano by Roberto Arosio, in a program ranging from Bacewicz to Brahms, Shostakovich, and Bartók.

The gala serves as the solemn opening moment of the 'Ottobre Paganini' festival promoted by the Cultural Department of the Municipality of Genoa. The evening will be attended by the Ambassador of Japan to Italy, Hikariko Ono; the President of the Italy-Japan Foundation, Umberto Vattani; the Chairman of the Sasakawa Music Foundation, Tamio Kano; welcomed by the Councillor for Culture, Giacomo Montanari, and the President of the Paganini Prize, Giovanni Panebianco. The musical program was developed by the Director of the Paganini Prize, Nicola Bruzzo, to highlight both the performers and the rarity of the instruments.

Diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan were formally established in 1866, exactly 160 years before the 2026 event. This anniversary provides the context for an unprecedented cultural collaboration centered on music. The protagonist is the Paganini Prize, a prestigious international violin competition based in Genoa, the birthplace of the famous virtuoso Niccolò Paganini. The event stems from the formal signing of an agreement between this prize and the Sasakawa Music Foundation of Tokyo, a foundation that possesses an extraordinary collection of ancient string instruments.

The project is part of the 'Ottobre Paganini' series, a traditional cultural event in Genoa dedicated to violin music. The idea is to unite two excellences: the masterpieces of 18th-century Cremonese Italian lutherie (Stradivari and Guarneri) and talented musicians from the international scene, many of whom are connected to the history of the Genoese competition. The event is not limited to the gala on October 2nd: on October 3rd, at Palazzo Tursi, Japanese violinist Reiko Watanabe will play the famous 'Cannone' by Guarneri del Gesù from 1743, the historic violin that belonged to Paganini and was donated by him to the city. This double appointment initiates a journey that will continue with concerts in Cremona and Siena, promoted by the Violin Museum and the Accademia Chigiana, strengthening the bond between cultural diplomacy and musical artistic heritage.