THE EMILIA-ROMAGNA DELEGATION AT ESNS 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.

BRONSON – Ravenna (Live club, Festivals, Label)
Delegates: Chris Angiolini and Enrico Martinelli

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.

Enrico Martinelli, Production and Communications Manager
Enrico Martinelli has been working for nearly 15 years at Bronson Produzioni, where he takes care of communication and event production at Bronson Club and Hana-bi, both in the inland and on the Ravenna coast.
He follows the festivals Beaches Brew, Transmissions and Passatelli in Bronson, managing communication, production and organisation both during the preparation phase and on site.
He graduated in Communication at the University of Bologna, where he also earned a Master’s degree in Semiotics. His long-standing passion is music, contemporary art and street art, with a particular focus on the most innovative and avant-garde proposals.
For 10 years he has also been active as a DJ under the pseudonym Party Marty, selecting new hits and nostalgic classics.

CIRCOLO CULTURALE LEFT APS | VIBRA CLUB | ARCI – Modena (Live Club)
Delegate: Bruno Giusti
Bruno Giusti is a cultural operator and music event organizer with over twenty years of experience.
He is the artistic director of Vibra Club, a cultural venue historically linked to Arci Modena.
Since 2004, he has been part of the team of the international reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash, and he collaborates with production companies such as Roble Factory in Alghero.
He is also a member of the reggae band Train To Roots, contributing to productions and tours both in Italy and abroad.
Since 2019, he has served on the board of Suner Project Festival, a traveling festival that brings original and independent music to ARCI music venues across Emilia-Romagna.

ESTRAGON – Bologna (Live club, festivals)
Delegates: Katia Giampaolo and Lele Roveri

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)

Lele Roveri, Estragon President
Manuele Roveri, renamed “Lele” from everyone, is president of Coop Estragon and founder of Estragon Club in 1992. In more than 30 years of cultural activity he has always held the role of artistic director of the club and over the years has created important international festivals: DiMondi Festival (from 2022) in Bologna,  Irlanda in Festa (from 2006), the most important event of Irish culture in Europe, held simultaneously in 10 Italian cities.
Since the early 2000s he has regularly participated in the main international music fairs and main world music festival and organizes and produces world tour for Italian bands.
In the two-year period 2013/2014 he was artistic director of Bologna Fiere.
Since 2020 he has been a founding member and member of the board of PER – Promoter Emilia Romagna, the association that brings together the main cultural operators of live music in the region.

FERRARA SOTTO LE STELLE – Ferrara (Festival)
Delegate: Arianna Poli, Head of Communications & PR
Founded in 1996, Ferrara Sotto le Stelle is one of Italy’s long-standing music festivals. Each year, in the setting of Piazza Castello in the heart of the city of Ferrara, it presents a programme dedicated to contemporary and independent music, with a constant focus on artistic quality and research.
With the support of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Municipality and the Province of Ferrara, and in collaboration with Arci Ferrara, the festival has established itself as a cultural reference point, successfully combining an international outlook with a strong commitment to emerging musical languages.
Over the years, Ferrara Sotto le Stelle has hosted leading figures of the global music scene such as Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Radiohead and PJ Harvey, while also featuring key artists from the new international scene, such as The Murder Capital, Dry Cleaning and Kevin Morby.
Alongside this international dimension, Ferrara Sotto le Stelle has consistently placed a strong emphasis on Italian music, supporting both influential bands that have shaped the national rock scene, such as Verdena, and some of the most significant experimental and author-driven projects in contemporary Italian music. In this context, artists such as IOSONOUNCANE and Daniela Pes represent a distinctive and forward-looking artistic approach.
Ferrara Sotto le Stelle thus confirms its role as a solid and well-established cultural project, offering audiences a high-level musical experience grounded in a clear artistic vision and a constant dialogue between the Italian and international scenes.

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC AND ARTS – Carpi (Booking)
Delegate: Rita Zappador
International Music and Arts was founded in 1988 by classical musicians, including Rita, all friends. They started the company as italian agents and managers in the area of classic artistic management and classic cultural event promotion as she has herself a degree in classical piano and Italian literature. She then started an international dept with non classical artists, and she has worked with some of the most significant artists of our time, such as Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Philip Glass, Diamanda Galas, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Laurie Anderson, Ornette Coleman, David Byrne, Anohni (fka Antony and the Johnsons), Joan as Policewoman, Asaf Avidan, Sinead O’Connor, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Kronos Quartet and many others.
Rita usually works with all classical and non classical institutions all over Europe and the world, covering every segment of the music business: jazz clubs and festivals, rock presenters, electronic festivals, public institutions and classical opera houses and orchestras.
Her company has 5 departments: classical music, dance, theatre, local artists, export/international artists.
They have a very effective promo division made by a social media manager, a press office, a marketing specialist for the widest degree of service on branding growth of all our artists.

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.

VULCANO SRL – Bologna (Live and Studio Production, Show Design)
Delegate: Marco Caldera, Ceo, Head of production, Producer
Vulcano is a company specialized in music design and production, operating across both live performances and studio environments.
Founded in 2018, Vulcano has curated and delivered the production and show design for Italian artists such as Frah Quintale, Massimo Pericolo, Okgiorgio, Joan Thiele, and many others. Alongside its live work, Vulcano’s studio develops music productions, recording and mixing projects, spanning both music-only and audio-visual formats.

The studio also designs lighting concepts for live shows, cultural institutions, and private artistic initiatives.

 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: Francesca Zitoli, Head of International Project Department | ATER Export, and Giulia Monte, Promotion and Communication 

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.