There are some people you meet in the Lucca area who seem to have a particular talent for making things happen, and Giacomo Brunini is certainly one of them.

I have known Giacomo for some time. He is a brilliant guitarist and also the director of the Scuola Civica di Musica “Marco Salotti” in Borgo a Mozzano, the comune just next door to us.

But there is something else about Giacomo’s concerts which makes them rather special. He has a wonderful way of finding places in which you would never necessarily expect to hear a classical concert.

Over the years I have been to concerts of his in lonely little chapels up in the hills, in buildings with fascinating histories and including a power station. There was even one in a planetarium. So when Giacomo announces a concert, the first question is sometimes not “What are they playing?” but “Where on earth are they playing it?”

And that is very much the idea behind his Incontri Musicali – i luoghi del bello e della cultura. The concerts take place in different parts of the territory, bringing good music together with places which are themselves worth discovering.

The 2026 season has just begun, and there are six concerts.

It started on 12 September at the Biblioteca di Cune, with Dall’Opera alla danza, performed by the guitar quartet Le Consonanze, with Dario Atzori, Marta Marchetti, Alessandro Nobili and Giacomo Brunini. The programme ranges from Rossini and Bizet to Boccherini, Torroba, Bellinati and Dyens.

On Sunday 20 September the series moves to the Biblioteca San Giovanni Leonardi in Diecimo for El Canto del Sur, with Giulia Giannetti on flute and Giacomo on guitar. The programme is devoted to South American music, including Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, Jobim, Gnattali, Machado and Blázquez. There will also be guitars made by the local luthier Raffaele Guidugli on display, with some of them actually being used in the concert.

Then on 27 September there is Dialoghi at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Rocca, with the guitar duo Roberto Masini and Simona Costantino. Their programme includes Granados, Puccini, Brahms, Morricone, Piazzolla, Marchelie and Gangi.

On 11 October we return to Borgo a Mozzano, to the Sala Consiliare in the Palazzo Comunale, for Bassorilievi a due Viole da gamba, with Francesco Tomei and Gustavo Cardamone Carloni playing viola da gamba. Their programme takes us back through Couperin, Boismortier, Jenkins, White, Schenck and Schaffrath.

On 18 October there is Il pianoforte romantico at the Church of the Convent of San Francesco in Borgo a Mozzano, with Alberto Lodoletti playing Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt.

And finally, on 25 October, the series ends at the Biblioteca Comunale in Borgo a Mozzano with Ahi vista! Ahi conoscenza!, an unusual programme of Renaissance music, reciting voice and Renaissance flute based around Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata, performed by Elisa Cozzini and Giuseppe Nitti.

All the concerts begin at 5 pm, with a chance to visit and discover the location beforehand, and admission is free, with a voluntary contribution.

What I particularly like about these concerts is that the music never seems to be treated as something separate from the place. Giacomo has an instinct for finding buildings, chapels and other corners of the territory which make you look at the area around us in a different way.

And, of course, the music itself is the most important thing. There is no point finding a wonderful chapel, a power station or a planetarium if the concert isn’t any good. Fortunately, that is not a problem with Giacomo and the musicians he brings together. The playing is consistently excellent.

So a Giacomo Brunini concert is rather more than going to hear some music. You may discover a place you have never seen before, meet some very good musicians and hear some excellent playing — and occasionally find yourself wondering how on earth Giacomo managed to persuade everybody to put a concert there in the first place.

That, I think, is part of the fun.

If you live around Lucca, Borgo a Mozzano or the Garfagnana, or happen to be visiting the area, keep an eye open for the next Giacomo Brunini concert.

You won’t be disappointed.

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