Dissonanze Festival 2026

To grasp the meaning of the 2026 edition of Dissonanze, one has to start from a bold premise: by deciding to host a festival of this kind inside the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone, the Fondazione Musica per Roma set itself the clear goal of legitimising electronic music and DJing within one of Italy's foremost temples of classical music. The idea is hardly an isolated one: in recent years the Auditorium has hosted numerous events tied to the electro scene, and the Cavea has on several occasions turned into a genuine open-air club, thanks to shows by artists such as Jamie XX, Paul Kalkbrenner or Fred Again.. But with Dissonanze the picture is different, and goes far deeper. On Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, this prized venue was entirely given over to the festival and partly redesigned for its purposes. Alongside the well-known Cavea amphitheatre, two further open stages were set up in the upper area, behind the Cavea's own tiered seating, where a food & drink area was also arranged. One can't help wondering why a space like this isn't used more often, with more open-air events scheduled during the summer season.

Performances on the Dissonanze bill start early, at noon, and wrap up at midnight sharp — humane hours by any measure. To stop the area from feeling half-deserted in the early slots, organisers introduced discounted tickets that require entry by 1pm. Not a bad idea, at least for anyone up for spending the whole day there, taking advantage of the ample shaded chill-out areas, some even kitted out with deck chairs. The whole vibe is pleasant, free of the rigidity that so often stiffens the usual Auditorium experience. Being able to move around without restrictions gives a real sense of freedom: you can watch part of a set from right against the barrier, then half an hour later shift up to the tiered seating to take it in from a distance. You can zigzag from stage to stage, checking out the lesser-known acts too. Which naturally raises the question: why doesn't this kind of set-up become the norm? This is the way forward: finally, someone in Rome has realised that the capital has the people, the spaces, the ideas and the useful partnerships to establish itself as a modern artistic and musical hub on a European level, closing the gap with London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Turin, to name the textbook cases.

For two days, Rome thus becomes the centre of the world for the electronic music circuit, leaning in particular on two names — Björk and Peggy Gou, the most anticipated acts of the opening day — capable of working both as a magnet for the crowd and as a sounding board for international visibility, as shown by how many sites and social pages abroad picked up on Björk's highly distinctive set in the days that followed. The Icelandic elf leads the audience on an unpredictable journey through heterogeneous sounds, rhythms and musical worlds, an explosion of energy and eclectic cross-pollination built on a carefully curated mix of Afrocentric rhythms and club music. African traditions, Northern European folklore, tribal percussion, but also experimental electronic worlds borrowed from Marina Herlop and Arca (with three tracks, the most represented artist of the set), as well as Fakemink, Underscores and Kelela, right through to the closing “Berghain” by Rosalia. Ninety minutes with no genre boundaries whatsoever, during which Björk follows the insatiable musical curiosity that made her famous. The stage is transformed into a small forest, and she appears in a dress fitted with fluorescent lights, creating striking visual effects throughout the performance. The look is completed by a mesh mask that barely reveals her face.

After Björk comes Peggy Gou's turn, the only slot during which the Cavea has to be closed off due to the sheer size of the crowd. Peggy Gou — DJ, influencer, cover girl, everywhere all at once — has no trouble getting everyone dancing with a house-oriented selection that inevitably includes her biggest hit, “(It Goes Like) Nanana”. But the most explosive set of the day belongs to Kelly Lee Owens, the Welsh producer based in Berlin, long established with audiences and critics alike thanks to her acclaimed records. Owens alternates her own material with a handful of superclassics, including the celebrated remix of Radiohead's “Everything In Its Right Place”, Jamie XX's “Treat Each Other Right”, and a tribute to Björk herself, who would go on to take the same stage for the following slot. On the opening day, special mention also goes to Nubiyan Twist, the compelling soul-jazz-afrobeat collective who over the years have featured a host of stars on their records, from Nile Rodgers and Sean Kuti to Fatoumata Diawara and Joe Armon-Jones. Among the other standouts were Tony Humphries, a man who in the '80s and '90s remixed countless stars, from Janet Jackson to The Cure, and who still brings his charisma to the decks today, plus the energetic Dutch DJ and producer Carista.

The following day brought another wave of big names, starting with the German duo Session Victim, who, sheltered under a tent (it's just past 4pm and the sun is still high), delivered their trademark sound: house music played in part live with decks, synths and bass, the bassist sporting a Dischord Records t-shirt just to make sure nobody misses his alternative-rock background. Chloé Caillet and Job Jobson are two highly rated DJs, each filling flawless ninety-minute slots in the Cavea, while over at the Park Stage (yes, it really does feel like being right in the middle of a park; the third stage, by contrast, is a bit more tucked away, fittingly named the Hidden Stage) all eyes are on the super-funky back-to-back set from Moodymann and Marcellus Pittman. A DJ set steeped in blackness, with the odd nod to the white funk of Jamiroquai and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. To close, a guaranteed stadium moment courtesy of the White Stripes' “Seven Nation Army”: who knows if they realise just how beloved that song is here in Italy.

Sunday evening rolls on with the propulsive Detroit techno played live by the Burden brothers, Octave One, and with the hypnotic DJ set from one of the few Italians on the bill, Donato Dozzy, who deserves a mention of his own. He may not be Dissonanze 2026's hype name, but his was the only set truly rooted in the present, built from very recent tracks by mostly under-the-radar producers: a choice that shows just how few DJs are genuinely focused on listening to their peers' output in real time, rather than falling back on the comfort of past-leaning selections. Over on the Cavea Stage, the second day's main event pairs two giants of the global electronic circuit, Floating Points and Daphni, in a hugely followed back-to-back. For the closing set, there's a highly symbolic choice: Sama' Abdulhadi, one of the most acclaimed DJs of the younger generation, Palestinian, a closer that goes well beyond mere dancefloor abandon, one intended as an act of protest and a message of peace.

The Dissonanze experiment can therefore be called a complete success, and it sums up just how much the landscape around music event organisation in the capital has shifted in recent times, helped along by the initiatives driven by Fondazione Musica per Roma, which — as we've noted, especially over the past two years — has chosen to give increasing space to electronic music, recognising it as one of the most important and innovative languages of the contemporary scene. The Auditorium Parco della Musica, named after Ennio Morricone, has steadily strengthened its programming dedicated to this world, taking on the role of trailblazer: bringing electronic music into a respected cultural institution means reaching a young, dynamic, cosmopolitan audience, means opening up to new generations, means granting artistic value to a language that today is a protagonist not only on stages around the world but in the everyday life of each of us. Global phenomena like those featured on the Dissonanze bill did more than just fill the Cavea — they helped strengthen Rome's role on the map of music tourism, given also the notable share of foreign visitors. A success also tied to the ability to reinterpret in a new light the spaces designed by Renzo Piano. Bringing artists like those in the Dissonanze line-up into the Cavea means granting full cultural value to a genre still too often saddled with the wrong stereotypes, or dismissed as a phenomenon confined strictly to clubs and the underground.
Turning the domes and hanging gardens into Dissonanze's stages means opening up institutional spaces to new languages and new ways of experiencing music. Electronic music can finally feel free to step outside the boundaries it has long been confined to, and move into the heart of one of Europe's most important cultural venues, in an open, shared dimension capable of engaging in dialogue with the city. It's important to preserve the great musical tradition, but it's equally important to keep pace with change, experiment with new languages, and make room for the rhythms and artists working to shape the future. Let's hope they let us enjoy the Auditorium's spaces like this more often. Let's hope Dissonanze comes back every year stronger and bigger. Together with Spring Attitude and Videocittà, it forms a winning trio that is reshaping Rome's standing in the world of major music events, while the ripple effect allows many smaller ventures to keep growing. Through Dissonanze, a fundamental new piece has been put in place. I am firmly convinced that the 2026 edition will be remembered for a long time as one of the most important electronic music events ever held in the capital.

(Photo by Claudio Lancia)

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