THE EMILIA-ROMAGNA DELEGATION AT MENT 2026

ARCI EMILIA-ROMAGNA APS | SUNER – Bologna (Network of venues, Festival)
Delegate: Marco Pignatiello
Marco is a qualified cultural operator working for ARCI, the main Italian non-profit network that promotes and facilitates universal access to culture – it counts 4000 affiliated associations and more than one million members. Marco is engaged into designing and implementing cultural projects and festivals, he creates connections and establishes partnerships with clubs and cultural organisations within the urban network of Bologna, he is a member of the National Committee for Culture of ARCI.
Since 2019, he has managed the project SUNER, a well-known festival that involves 24 ARCI music clubs in Emilia-Romagna.
He coordinates the Montagnola Republic Festival, which brings in Bologna more than 80 live music concerts yearly, from April to October.
He is the artistic director of the Concerto del Primo Maggio in Bologna, a music event of regional relevance which is organised on the 1st of May each year. Since 2024, he has been a member of the Bologna City Council Night Advisory Commission.

ARCI REGGIO EMILIA – Reggio Emilia (Cultural association)
Delegate: Greta Calzolari, Communication and Event Manager
Arci Reggio Emilia is a long-established association based in the Emilia-Romagna region, active in the fields of social promotion, democratic participation and cultural development.
It develops cultural and community-based activities with a strong focus on live music as a tool for social interaction, participation and access to culture.

Over time, Arci Reggio Emilia has contributed to the growth of the local music ecosystem by supporting concerts, festivals and spaces for artistic experimentation, working in close dialogue with institutions, cultural operators and local communities. Key projects include the Leggera concert series in collaboration with Teatro Valli and Live in Chiostri festival in collaboration with Consorzio 45.

ARTI VIVE FESTIVAL / FODAZIONE CAMPORI – Soliera (Festival)
Delegate: Davide Ciriello, Communication Manager
Arti Vive is the festival that fills the streets and squares of the historic center of Soliera (MO) with music, theater, and artistic performances every July.
Founded in 2007, organised by Fondazione Campori,  the festival has grown year after year, bringing established international names in independent music and theater to Soliera.
Each year, young artists and emerging groups from the regional scene have the opportunity to share the stage with established international guests.
Arti Vive was born from an idea of  Soliera’s youth and associations, and each year relies on the active participation of dozens of volunteers, involved from the planning stage of the event and always at the forefront of its success.

BRONSON PRODUZIONI – Ravenna (Live club, Festivals, Label)
Delegates: Chris Angiolini

Chris Angiolini lives and works in Ravenna. Artistic director, promoter, producer, dj, music addicted, always exploring the underground music scene.
In 2003 he founded Bronson Produzioni and began to think of Ravenna as a new stage in the world indie-rock circuit, opening the legendary Hana-Bi on the beach and Bronson Club in town.
He’s the creator behind international Boutique Festivals such as Transmissions and Beaches Brew. In 2011 he began working on the Bronson Recordings label project which in a few years became an international point of reference by publishing releases by artists such as Live Skull, Micah P Hinson, Martin Bisi or Dirty Beaches. He is now focused in scouting and managing new artists (Leatherette, R.YF., Mondaze among the others). From 2021 he becomes curator of the musical program at the theatre / performing arts festival of Santarcangelo. He’s resident dj at Radio Raheem with a program called Tales from The Red Desert.

ESTRAGON – Bologna (Live club, festivals)
Delegate: Katia Giampaolo, Estragon Director
Katia proudly manages the band JoyCut, who have toured extensively across North America, Europe and Asia. Katia is director of Bologna’s famous Estragon club and BOtanique Festival.
Estragon is the Italian arm of the Europavox Project. Katia is chair of MMF Italy. She has been a jury member of Music Moves Europe Talent Awards between 2019 and 2021.
She is a music lover, a sportswoman and a dreamer.

Her favorite quote is as follows: I hope that one day you will have the experience of doing something you do not understand for someone you love.
(Jonathan Safran Foer)

OZONO FACTORY – Bologna (Live club, Festival, Produzione)
Delegate: Luca Li Voti
Ozono Factory Aps was founded in Bologna in 2015 with the aim of enhancing diversity and encouraging the mixing of artistic languages; it also supports creativity through cultural experimentation, inclusion and social innovation. Since 2015, Ozono Factory has managed the live club Binario69 where it has organised over 100 concerts a year.
From 2018 to 2021, it organised the Montagnola Republic festival in the homonymous park in Bologna, implementing an urban and cultural regeneration through free concerts and events of national and international importance. From 2023, the festival will move to another city park that requires a regenerative path, from which it takes the name Comini Espress: a cultural centre that is always active with live DJ sets, film screenings, book presentations and children’s shows.
Since 2020 he has managed the Il Poggiolo Rifugio Re_Esistente structure within the historic park of Monte Sole where he collaborates with institutional entities by organizing cultural events, guided tours, festivals, nature trails, summer camps, theaters, exhibitions and much more.
Luca Li Voti has been the creative director of Ozono Factory Aps since 2022 and follows in particular the development of Binario69, Comini Espress and Lupo Festival. Musician and sound engineer since 2011, he has dedicated himself to organizing Festivals and events with live and multi-performance programming. Since 2014 he has started collaborating with KeepOn LIVE – Live Club/Italian Festival category association – where today he coordinates the network of KeepOn Festival Experience Festivals.

PANICO CONCERTI – Bologna (Booking)
Delegates: Salvatore Cataudella and Gianluca Giusti
Panico is a dynamic Italian booking and management agency that also operates in label services and music publishing through its imprints Trovarobato/Tanca and Panico Dischi. Representing a diverse roster of forward-thinking artists across multiple genres, the agency places a strong emphasis on innovation, artistic integrity, and long-term career development.
Over the years, Panico has established itself as a key player in the contemporary music industry, recognized for its curatorial approach and strategic vision. The agency offers tailored, artist-centric services designed to support both emerging talents and established acts, guiding them from local and national stages to international platforms while remaining faithful to each artist’s unique identity and creative vision.

Salvatore Cataudella, Booking Agent
Salvatore Cataudella has been working for several years in the booking field and the wider music industry, with a strong focus on artist development and international circulation.
At Panico, he curates and manages booking for Italian artists such as Daniela Pes, Laura Agnusdei, AKA5HA, Emma Grace, among others, across both Italian and European territories. He is also responsible for European booking for Gaia Banfi and recently worked as booking manager for the IOSONOUNCANE & Daniela Pes European Tour in November 2025.
In recent years, he has been actively involved in fostering connections between international and Italian music scenes, supporting the presence in Italy of artists he deeply values, including Tarta Relena, Ada Oda, Lander & Adriaan, Totorro and Katarina Gryvul.

Alongside this activity, for over a decade he has worked in the production and artistic direction of music series in south-eastern Sicily (Churches, AZUL), hosting artists such as Warren Ellis, Marina Herlop and Murcof.

Gianluca Giusti, Artist and Label Manager
Gianluca Giusti began his career as a musician before moving into management and cultural entrepreneurship. He has worked with artists such as IOSONOUNCANE, Daniela Pes and Gaia Banfi, and as label manager and publisher at Trovarobato.
Through Panico SRL, he operates across live and recorded music and audiovisual production, collaborating with major Italian film companies including Vivo Film, Fandango and Palomar, and working on music synchronisation projects for Amazon and Netflix.
He is the founder of Tutto Molto Bello, the five-a-side football tournament for musicians and labels, later expanded into a festival for emerging artists.
Until 2025, he served as Music Export Consultant for ATER Fondazione and Emilia-Romagna Music Commission, supporting the internationalisation of regional artists and professionals. He is also the curator of Suono Grasso, an annual event in London showcasing innovative music projects from Emilia-Romagna.

RETROPOP LIVE | acieloaperto – Cesena (Festival, Live Club)
Delegate: Piero Mantengoli
Piero Mantengoli is a music lover who started his career as a DJ in the Romagna club scene and gradually moved into promoting, concert production, and festival programming.
He is the founder and artistic director of Retro Pop Live, a cultural organization active in live music production across Romagna.
In 2013, he founded acieloaperto, a summer festival now in its 14th edition, welcoming both established and emerging artists, nationally and internationally, in historically and culturally significant venues.
During the pandemic, he co-created Solido, a network that combines three major Emilia-Romagna festivals (acieloaperto, Ferrara Sotto le Stelle, Arti Vive).

Since 2023, Solido has evolved into a curated mini-festival featuring showcases, talks, and live performances.
His work is driven by a strong commitment to inclusivity, gender equality, sustainability, and the development of a forward-looking digital culture in live music.

SHAPE | ROBOT FESTIVAL | GEMINI FESTIVAL – Bologna (Festivals)
Delegate: Marco Ligurgo
An economics graduate, after a long and prolific career as a producer and DJ around Europe, in 2002 he was among the founders of Shape, of which he is the artistic director and administrator. First the experience in the club where, with the ‘Playhouse’ night at Kindergarten, he became a point of reference for the minimal techno scene, then the birth of ROBOT Festival and its broader and more mature artistic direction of all-round electronic music, then Gemini Festival with more pop and transversal sounds. The programmes he puts on are the fruit of a search for a balance between established and emerging artistsə, international profiles and attention to the national scene.

In addition to those in Bologna, there are many international commissions – including ROBOT in Buenos Aires, Unesco Music Days in Utrecht and Glasgow, Fifty Lab in Brussels – and national ones – including New Year’s Eve in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, Festivalle in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento and Linecheck in Milan. Since 2020, he has also been artistic director of the urban regeneration district DumBO in Bologna.

SIGLA EVENTI / GODOT APS / OFF Club – Modena (Live club)
Delegates: Federico Sigillo and Laura Saracino
Godot APS is a social promotion association founded in Modena in 2019, dedicated to the promotion of youth culture through events, artistic projects, and educational programs. Since 2025, Godot APS has been involved in the co-management of OFF Club Modena, overseeing its artistic programming and cultural design.
Within the association, SIGLA was established in 2024 as a cultural start-up aimed at building a bridge between emerging creativity and the institutional cultural system, fostering dialogue between artists, cultural operators, and institutions. SIGLA works on the development, production, and communication of cultural projects, supporting independent practices and participatory processes.

Federico Sigillo is artistic director, director, and production manager for music events, festivals, and cultural programmes.
Through SIGLA EVENTI and Godot APS, he handles the artistic direction of cultural programmes in the city and focuses on promoting young artists, inclusion, and sustainability.

As a director, he creates audiovisual projects and multimedia installations for public institutions and festivals, with particular attention to music and contemporary visual storytelling.

Laura Saracino is project and production manager in the live music and theatre sector, also active as an artist manager, indie booking agent, and promoter.
With SIGLA EVENTI, she mainly works with emerging artists, following projects in a cross-functional way — from event production and artist development to live touring.

She operates within the independent scene and collaborates on cultural events, festivals, and institutions with a hands-on, collaborative approach focused on sustainable growth.

EMILIA-ROMAGNA MUSIC EXPORT – Emilia-Romagna
The internationalization initiative for the regional music scene, promoted by Emilia-Romagna Music Commission in collaboration with ATER Fondazione.

EMILIA-ROMAGNA MUSIC COMMISSION – Emilia-Romagna
Delegates: Simona Giuliano, Head of Emilia-Romagna Music Commission, and Laura Di Salvo, Communication Manager
                 

Emilia-Romagna Music Commission promotes and supports the regional music industry and the development of its artists and emerging acts in the field of original contemporary live music.
It addresses professionals active in the music market — including emerging artists, record labels, press offices, publishing companies, booking agencies, promoters, concert organizers and music production companies — who wish to be supported in their production, distribution and promotion pathways at both national and international levels.
In collaboration with ATER Fondazione, since 2022 the Commission has developed a Music Export activity dedicated to the internationalization of the Emilia-Romagna music scene, recognized as a strategic priority from both an economic and cultural perspective.
Emilia-Romagna Music Commission regularly takes part in major national and international industry events to promote the regional music production ecosystem.

ATER FONDAZIONE – Modena
Delegates: Antonio Volpone, Director, and Giulia Monte, Promotion and Communication ATER Export

ATER Export is the department of ATER Fondazione dedicated to promoting international exchange and the export of productions from Emilia-Romagna’s performing arts ecosystem.
It supports regional companies and artists at every stage, from creation to international touring, providing artistic, promotional, and organizational assistance.