On December 16, 2017, 40 years after his death, the City of Spoleto will commemorate the great conductor Thomas Schippers, who has linked his name to many editions of the Festival of Two Worlds.

Schippers will be celebrated with a series of initiatives designed to remember his figure and give the opportunity to make him known to those who had not yet been born in those years.

A video made for this occasion will be screened on Sunday, December 17, before each movie, at both the Sala Pegasus and Sala Frau, telling the various phases of his short and intense life.

Posters representing him have also been displayed around the city and a bouquet of flowers has been brought to “his” Piazza del Duomo, where Schippers decided to place his ashes in memory of the many concerts he directed there.

According to deputy mayor Maria Elena Bececco and councillor for culture Camilla Laureti, “Schippers was one of the leading figures of the Festival of Two Worlds, the interpreter of some of the most beautiful pages of Menotti’s creature. He is one of those many people to whom our city owes a lot and for this reason we want to remember him today for the contribution he gave to bring the world to Spoleto and Spoleto all over the world “.

Thomas Schippers was one of Gian Carlo Menotti’s closest collaborators and has been musical director of the Festival dei Due Mondi since its first edition in 1958. He died when he was only 47 years old.