Indaco, Indigo Tracks at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 23, 2026

Indaco present Indigo Tracks at the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone on Wednesday, December 23, 2026, at 8:00 p.m., in the Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna, at Viale Pietro de Coubertin 30 (00196 Rome). Indigo Tracks is the new album by the Italian world-music band: nine previously unreleased pieces among jazz, world music, and Mediterranean sounds. Joining them on stage are some of the album's guests, among them Fry Moneti and Gianluca Spirito, associated with the Modena City Ramblers, Nicola Alesini, Luigi Cinque, and Giovanni Imparato. To get there, take Metro A to Flaminio and then tram 2 (Flaminia/Reni or Apollodoro stops), or bus 910 from Termini. Tickets start at 18 euros, according to the official event page, and are bought from the Auditorium's website, which links to the presale network authorized by the organizers, or at the complex's box office.

The official presentation calls Indaco one of the most prestigious acts in Italian world jazz, and describes the concert as a journey through tradition, research, and contamination, in which every encounter becomes an occasion for dialogue and improvisation. For a band with more than 30 years of history that celebrated its anniversaries right at the Auditorium, it is an evening of homecoming.

Indaco in Rome: date, time, and tickets

The Indaco concert is scheduled for Wednesday, December 23, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. at the Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna of the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone, in the World section of the Fondazione Musica per Roma's programming.

The price

The event page lists tickets starting at 18 euros. The Teatro Studio is the smallest hall in the complex, and seats are few: exact rates appear at the time of purchase.

Where to buy

The purchase button on the official page leads to the presale network authorized by the organizers. The physical box office is inside the complex, at Viale Pietro de Coubertin 30, open from October to March from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sundays and holidays included, according to the site. The Auditorium's rules warn that tickets bought on unauthorized secondary platforms may not be valid.

A full evening

On December 23 the Auditorium is crowded: at the same hour the duo of Stefano Bollani and Enrico Rava in the Sala Santa Cecilia and Cartoon Heroes in the Sala Petrassi are also scheduled. With about 300 seats, the Teatro Studio fills quickly: it's best not to wait until the last days.

Indigo Tracks: Indaco's new album

Indigo Tracks is an album of nine previously unreleased pieces that, according to the Auditorium's presentation, weave together jazz, world music, and Mediterranean sounds in a journey through tradition, research, and contamination.

An awaited record

The new work comes after Due Mondi, released in 2022 by AlfaMusic, and Mediterraneo Express from 2019, released under the name Indaco Project by Filibusta Records. Production is entrusted to Martino Cappelli and Indaco themselves.

The album's guests

The concert brings together on stage some of the artists who took part in making the album. The official page names Fry Moneti and Gianluca Spirito, longtime names of the Modena City Ramblers, Nicola Alesini, Luigi Cinque, the percussionist Giovanni Imparato, and announces other guests. They are musicians who in recent years have repeatedly shared the band's concerts.

The meaning of the evening

The presentation speaks of a special concert celebrating a new chapter in Indaco's journey and the value of music as a universal language. In practice it is the Roman launch of the record, in a hall the band knows well.

Today's lineup

Indaco's current lineup includes Mario Pio Mancini on bouzouki and mandola, Martino Cappelli on guitar and oud, Maurizio Turriziani on bass, Valerio Michetti on drums, Ilaria Caruso on vocals and tambourine, Angelo Olivieri on trumpet, and Alessandra Bersiani, known as Trinity, on keyboards and vocals.

Mario Pio Mancini

Mancini is the founder and soul of the band: he plays bouzouki, violin, and mandola, and since 1991 has pursued the idea of an Italian ethnic sound open to the Mediterranean and the East. After the death of Rodolfo Maltese, in 2015, he took the original project back in hand.

Maurizio Turriziani

The bassist and double bassist Maurizio Turriziani, who returned to the band in 2020, was a close collaborator of Ennio Morricone. His name creates a curious link with the concert venue, the Auditorium named for the composer.

Voices, winds, and keyboards

The current lineup has taken shape since 2023: the voice and tambourine of Ilaria Caruso, the trumpet of Angelo Olivieri, the keyboards of Alessandra Bersiani, the guitar and oud of Martino Cappelli. The trumpet is a novelty compared with the historic lineups and brings the sound closer to jazz.

The history of Indaco

Indaco are an Italian ethnic-music band active since 1992, founded by Mario Pio Mancini and Rodolfo Maltese, longtime guitarist of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso.

The origins

The idea was born in 1991: Mancini and Maltese wanted a group devoted to the music of the world, with many collaborators around a core of two. In 1992 a vinyl record came out, pressed in a thousand copies, under the name Mario Pio Mancini, Rodolfo Maltese and The New Ensemble, titled precisely Indaco: the band's name comes from the title. In 1995 followed Flying with the Chakras, with Arnaldo Vacca on percussion and Rino Zurzolo on bass.

The Manifesto years

The first real album is Vento del deserto, from 1997, for the Manifesto label, with Pierluigi Calderoni, just out of Banco, on drums, Carlo Mezzanotte on keyboards, Luca Barberini on bass, and guests such as Tony Esposito, Antonello Salis, Enzo Gragnaniello, Francesco Di Giacomo, and Mauro Pagani of PFM. Amorgos followed in 1999, with Andrea Parodi, Vittorio Nocenzi, and the American trumpeter Lester Bowie, and Spezie, a live album, in 2000.

Terra Maris and the splits

In 2002 Terra Maris came out on Helikonia, with Gabriella Aiello on vocals and guests such as Eugenio Bennato, Paolo Fresu, and Daniele Sepe. In 2005 the anthology Porte d'oriente collected the pieces of the earlier years. After the concert for the 10-year anniversary, in 2006, the band split: Maltese continued with a lineup of his own, Mancini founded first Ypsos and then Nu Indaco.

The rebirth

From 2014 Mancini worked on a new lineup with Michele Ascolese, formerly guitarist for Fabrizio De André and PFM. From 2017 the band went through an acoustic phase, with Valeria Villeggia on vocals and harp, and released Mediterraneo Express, in 2022 came Due Mondi, produced by Jacopo Barbato, with the return of Enzo Gragnaniello and Arnaldo Vacca.

Indaco's discography

Before Indigo Tracks, Indaco's discography counts eight studio albums and one live album, plus a DVD, released between 1992 and 2022.

The 1990s

The first title is Indaco, from 1992, self-produced and released under the name Mario Pio Mancini, Rodolfo Maltese and The New Ensemble. In 1995 came Flying with the Chakras, for Babaji, under Mancini's name alone. On the Manifesto label came Vento del deserto in 1997, Amorgos in 1999, and the live album Spezie in 2000, which also contains a few studio tracks.

From 2002 to today

In 2002 Helikonia released Terra Maris, preceded by the single Anteprima Terra Maris, distributed at the concert for the thirtieth anniversary of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, where Indaco were guests. In 2005 the anthology Porte d'oriente, for Squilibri and il Manifesto, in 2006 the DVD Tracce mediterranee, in 2019 Mediterraneo Express, for Filibusta Records, under the name Indaco Project, in 2022 Due Mondi, for AlfaMusic.

The intermediate lineups

After 2006, alongside Mancini's projects with Ypsos and Nu Indaco, Rodolfo Maltese carried on a lineup with Pierluigi Calderoni, Luca Barberini, Antonio Magli, and Massimo Carrano and Massimo Alviti on guitars, oud, and sitar, which played live without leaving records. In the acoustic phase of 2017, by contrast, the band played with Valeria Villeggia on vocals and harp, Bruno Zoia on double bass, and Domenico Amicozzi, then Maurizio Catania, on drums.

A curiosity about Indaco, Indigo Tracks at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 23, 2026

The tastiest curiosity in Indaco's history concerns the Sanremo Festival. At the end of the 1990s the band composed with Andrea Parodi, the singer of Tazenda, a piece titled Salentu, meant for the festival's selections under the name Andrea Parodi e Indaco. According to what Mancini related in an interview, the piece was much liked but was rejected because Indaco were a band of il Manifesto, the newspaper's label. Salentu stayed unreleased for years and appeared only in 2005, as the sole unreleased track on the anthology Porte d'oriente.

The second curiosity is a character. On Flying with the Chakras, the 1995 album, Fiona Davidson sang and played the Celtic harp, a Scottish musician whom Mancini had discovered in a Roman pub. A story that says a lot about the band's way of working: listen, meet, invite.

The third curiosity concerns the print run of the early releases. The first vinyl of 1992 and the CD of 1995 were each pressed in a thousand copies, and the vinyl has never been reissued on CD. Whoever owns those records holds a rare piece of Italian world-music history.

The Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna

The Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna is the smallest hall of the Auditorium Parco della Musica, with about 300 seats: regular shape, walls clad in cherry wood, stage at the same level as the audience, no curtain.

The name

The hall is dedicated to Gianni Borgna, longtime city councilor for cultural policy of the City of Rome and president of the Fondazione Musica per Roma, the body that manages the Auditorium and organizes the concert.

What it's like

It is a space without vertical architectural elements, with movable acoustic panels and curtains that let the sound be adapted to the kind of show. For a seven-piece band with guests, among percussion, winds, and plucked strings, it is an ideal size: every instrument stands out.

Like a club

The stage at audience level and the closeness between musicians and public give the Teatro Studio the atmosphere of a club. For a concert built on improvisation and on meeting the guests, it is the right hall. For the history of the whole complex there is the listing for the Auditorium Parco della Musica.

Something nobody tells you about Indaco, Indigo Tracks at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 23, 2026

What few people say is that Indaco were born as an offshoot of Roman progressive rock. Rodolfo Maltese, co-founder, was the guitarist of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Pierluigi Calderoni, drummer of the early lineups, came from the same Banco, among the guests on the first records were Francesco Di Giacomo and Vittorio Nocenzi, voice and keyboards of Banco, and Mauro Pagani of PFM. Indaco's world music thus has roots in the Italian prog of the 1970s, more than the name lets you guess.

The second thing seldom said is that the December 23 concert is not a Christmas concert. In the holiday week, amid gospel choirs and Christmas carols, Indaco bring a program of new pieces, Mediterranean stringed instruments, percussion, and winds. For anyone looking for an alternative to themed evenings, it is the offering farthest from the holiday mood.

The third thing is practical. In the Teatro Studio there are no galleries: all seats are in the orchestra, a few yards from the stage. Those who arrive early choose, those who arrive last-minute take what's left, often at the sides.

The tip I give you for visiting Indaco, Indigo Tracks at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 23, 2026

The tip is to listen first to Due Mondi, the 2022 album: it is the most recent record before Indigo Tracks and gives the idea of the band's current sound, more than the 1990s records can. Those who want to know the history should also listen to Vento del deserto, from 1997.

The second tip concerns the seat. In the Teatro Studio the center rows, at a medium distance from the stage, give the best balance between voices and instruments. Too close and you lose part of the ensemble, too far to the side and you hear better whoever plays on your side.

The third concerns the evening. With three concerts at once, the Auditorium on the night of December 23 is full of people: arriving around 7:15 lets you get something at the bar, take a turn on the cavea, and enter the hall without hurry. After the concert, those who still want music can find out what the venues of Ponte Milvio, a few minutes away, are offering.

How to get to the Auditorium for Indaco

The Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone is reached by tram 2, stops Flaminia/Reni or Apollodoro, and by buses 910, 53, 982, and 168, the nearest metro station is Flaminio, on Line A.

Metro A and tram 2

From Flaminio station you exit onto Piazzale Flaminio and take tram 2 along Via Flaminia. Get off at Flaminia/Reni or Apollodoro and walk a few minutes across the Olympic Village.

The 910 from Termini

Bus 910 leaves from Piazza dei Cinquecento, in front of Termini station, and stops in front of the Auditorium. The 53 connects Piazza Mancini with the center, the 982 comes from Quattro Venti station, the 168 from Tiburtina station. In Christmas week it's best to check the schedules on Atac's route planner.

By car and the return trip

The complex has a paid internal parking lot, with limited spaces: on the evening of December 23, with three concerts, it will fill up early. After the concert tram 2 takes you back to Piazzale Flaminio, alternatively, a taxi booked shortly before the end.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It is well known, among enthusiasts, that Indaco were among the protagonists of the new Italian ethnic sound of the 1990s. Less often remembered is how long the list of their guests has been: Tony Esposito, Antonello Salis, Enzo Gragnaniello, Mauro Pagani, Andrea Parodi, Mario Rivera of Agricantus, Eugenio Bennato, Paolo Fresu, Daniele Sepe, and above all Lester Bowie, the American trumpeter among the great names of international jazz, a guest on Amorgos in 1999.

Another little-cited fact: the band has passed through almost all the Italian independent world-music labels, from il Manifesto to Helikonia, from Squilibri to Filibusta Records and AlfaMusic. It is the portrait of a genre that in Italy has lived mostly outside the big record companies, in festivals, theaters, and series like the one the Fondazione Musica per Roma devotes to world music.

And a third fact, a recent one. In recent years Indaco have played all over Italy with guests such as Ricky Portera, formerly guitarist of Stadio, Enzo Favata, Canio Loguercio, besides those who take the stage on December 23. Indigo Tracks gathers in the studio the fruit of those encounters.

The right photo to take at Indaco, Indigo Tracks at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 23, 2026

During the concert no photos are taken: in the Teatro Studio the audience is a few yards from the musicians, and a lit screen is noticeable from all over the hall. The right photo is taken before the start or outside.

Before the start, the subject is the stage with the instruments waiting: bouzouki, mandola, oud, guitars, percussion, trumpet, and keyboards, in a hall entirely of cherry wood. It's an image that tells the variety of Indaco's sound better than a portrait.

Outside, at the end of December, by 7 p.m. it is already dark. From the cavea, the stepped square at the center of the complex, you frame the three great shells of the halls lit up: it is the classic image of Renzo Piano's Auditorium, and on holiday evenings the lit foyers make it even warmer.

Some important events that have happened here through history

The history of this area begins long before the complex. During the excavation for the foundations the remains of a Roman villa of the third century BC emerged, built on the site of an archaic farmhouse of the sixth century BC. Renzo Piano changed the design to preserve them, the finds are displayed in a small museum under the cavea.

Rome had lost its great concert hall in 1936, with the demolition of the Augusteo. In 1992 the city council chose the area between the Olympic Village and Flaminio, in 1993 Renzo Piano won the invitation-only competition. On April 21, 2002, the first two halls opened, on December 21 the Sala Santa Cecilia, since 2006 the complex has hosted the Rome Film Festival, and since 2020 it has borne the name of Ennio Morricone.

For Indaco the Auditorium is a hall of anniversaries. On January 28, 2006, the band celebrated its 10 years of activity there with a concert documented in the DVD Tracce mediterranee, with guests Raiz of Almamegretta, Rosie Wiederkehr of Agricantus, and Francesco Di Giacomo of Banco. That evening Massimo Carrano replaced Arnaldo Vacca, and joined the lineup permanently. And Indaco appeared on the Auditorium stage again on March 6, 2025.

Who has passed through Indaco, Indigo Tracks at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, December 23, 2026

An important part of Italian music of the past 50 years has passed through Indaco's history. Rodolfo Maltese, Pierluigi Calderoni, Francesco Di Giacomo, and Vittorio Nocenzi of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Mauro Pagani of PFM, the bassist Rino Zurzolo, Arnaldo Vacca, for a long time percussionist for Massimo Ranieri, Andrea Parodi of Tazenda, Michele Ascolese, guitarist for Fabrizio De André.

Among the guests, besides those already named, the singer Gabriella Aiello, the violinist Stefano Tavernese, later with PFM on the Ulisse tour, Raiz of Almamegretta, and Rosie Wiederkehr of Agricantus. And among international musicians, Lester Bowie. On the evening of December 23 pass Fry Moneti, Gianluca Spirito, Nicola Alesini, Luigi Cinque, and Giovanni Imparato.

Through the Auditorium, in its World programming, pass in the same months Radiodervish, Eugenio Bennato, Kay McCarthy, and the Brazilian musicians of Dominguinho: a series in which Indaco are at home.

The neighborhood around the Auditorium

The Auditorium occupies an area of about 55,000 square meters between the hill of Villa Glori, the Olympic Village, the Corso di Francia viaduct, and Viale Maresciallo Pilsudski.

MAXXI, Teatro Olimpico, and the instruments museum

Near the Flaminia/Reni stop is the MAXXI, the national museum of 20-first-century arts, not far away is the Teatro Olimpico. Inside the Auditorium, for those who arrive early and love antique instruments, is the Musical Instruments Museum of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

Toward the Tiber

From the Auditorium you walk down to the river and the Ponte della Musica, the footbridge leading to the Foro Italico. Farther north is Milvian Bridge, with its evening venues.

Christmas in the city

Those in Rome for the holidays will find ideas in the guide to Christmas in Rome, with tram 2 you're back in a few minutes at Piazza del Popolo.

Accessibility, age, and practical information

The Auditorium is a modern complex on several levels among terraces, foyers, and halls. For accessibility needs at the Teatro Studio it's best to write in advance to the Fondazione Musica per Roma, at info@musicaperroma.it, to find out which entrance to use.

Parking

The Auditorium's paid parking lots, surface and multilevel, have spaces reserved for people with disabilities.

With teenagers

The Indaco concert is suited to curious teenagers: uncommon instruments such as the bouzouki and the oud, percussion, Mediterranean rhythms. For a teenager studying guitar or drums, seeing up close how instruments from different traditions fit together is good listening practice. The rules for minors are those indicated by the Auditorium at the time of purchase.

How to organize your Indaco evening

For an 8 p.m. concert in the Teatro Studio, the ideal evening begins at the Auditorium around 6:45, with time for a walk around the complex before going into the hall.

Before the concert

Those who arrive early can stop on the terrace between the Sala Santa Cecilia and the Sala Sinopoli, from which you can see the remains of the Roman villa discovered during construction, and then get something at the foyer bar. The coat check, on a night with three concerts, is where the most time is lost: it's best to go there first.

After the concert

The concert's running time is not published, after the last encore the evening can continue at Ponte Milvio or, by tram 2, toward Piazzale Flaminio and the center. Those who buy the record at the stand after the concert, when available, also have the chance to exchange a few words with the musicians: at the Teatro Studio the atmosphere allows it more than in the big halls.

Where to eat before or after the concert

Inside the Auditorium Parco della Musica there are a bar and a café in the foyers and a bar-restaurant with street access as well. Between the Olympic Village, Via Flaminia, and Piazza Mancini there are pizzerias, trattorias, and neighborhood bars, for an 8 p.m. concert it's best to sit down to dinner early, around 6:30, with a reservation. Those who prefer to dine afterward find the widest choice at Ponte Milvio, a few minutes away: in Christmas week, between work dinners and holiday toasts, a reservation is indispensable.

World music at the Auditorium this season

The Indaco concert is part of the World section of the Auditorium's programming, which in the 2026 and 2027 season brings music from different traditions to the city.

Before Indaco

In the fall the section presented Radiodervish, on Thursday, October 29, in the Sala Petrassi, and the Ottobrata Romana, on Saturday, October 31, in the Sala Sinopoli.

After Indaco

In 2027 the announced acts are Eugenio Bennato, a guest on Terra Maris in 2002, on Saturday, January 16, in the Sala Petrassi, the singer Kay McCarthy with La voce dell'Irlanda, the same night in the Teatro Studio, Dominguinho, with the Brazilian musicians João Gomes, Jota.pê, and Mestrinho, on Saturday, February 20, in the Sala Sinopoli, the Nubras Ensemble, on Saturday, February 27, in the Teatro Studio. Those who love the genre can build a little personal subscription between December and February.

December at the Auditorium

The Indaco concert falls in the Auditorium's fullest week. From December 13 to January 1 the Roma Gospel Festival is under way, from December 26 to 30 Max Gazzè performs for five nights, on December 23, at the same hour as Indaco, Stefano Bollani and Enrico Rava play in the Sala Santa Cecilia.

Weather and dress

At the end of December Roman evenings are cool and often damp, and the route from the tram to the entrance is outdoors. A coat to leave at the coat check and a folding umbrella are advisable.

Frequently asked questions about Indaco in Rome

When do Indaco play at the Auditorium Parco della Musica?

Indaco play at the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone on Wednesday, December 23, 2026, at 8:00 p.m., in the Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna, to present the new album Indigo Tracks. It is a single date in the Fondazione Musica per Roma's World programming.

How much are tickets for Indaco at the Auditorium?

Tickets for the Indaco concert at the Auditorium start at 18 euros, according to the official event page. They are bought from the Auditorium's website, which links to the authorized presale network, or at the complex's box office at Viale Pietro de Coubertin 30.

What is Indigo Tracks?

Indigo Tracks is Indaco's new album: nine previously unreleased pieces that weave together jazz, world music, and Mediterranean sounds. The record comes after Due Mondi, from 2022, and is presented in Rome with some of the guests who took part in the recording.

Who are the guests at the Indaco concert?

For the December 23 Indaco concert the official page announces Fry Moneti and Gianluca Spirito, associated with the Modena City Ramblers, Nicola Alesini, Luigi Cinque, and Giovanni Imparato, along with other guests not yet named.

Who founded Indaco?

Indaco were founded in 1992 by Mario Pio Mancini, a player of bouzouki, violin, and mandola, and by Rodolfo Maltese, longtime guitarist of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, who died in 2015. Today the band is headed by Mancini.

How many seats does the Auditorium's Teatro Studio have?

The Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna is the smallest hall of the Auditorium Parco della Musica, with about 300 seats, all in the orchestra. It has cherry-wood walls, a stage at audience level, and no curtain.

Is the December 23 Indaco concert a Christmas concert?

No, the December 23 Indaco concert at the Auditorium is not a Christmas program: it is the presentation of the new album Indigo Tracks, with previously unreleased pieces among jazz, world music, and Mediterranean sounds. For those looking for Christmas carols, in the same period the Auditorium hosts the Roma Gospel Festival.

How do you get to the Auditorium Parco della Musica by public transport?

The Auditorium Parco della Musica is reached by Metro A to Flaminio and then tram 2, stops Flaminia/Reni or Apollodoro. From Termini there is bus 910, with no transfers, lines 53, 982, and 168 also pass nearby.

The final tip on Indaco and Indigo Tracks

A band born from Roman prog and become a reference point of Italian world music, a new record, friends from 30 years of concerts on stage, in a 300-seat hall that feels like a club: in our view it is the most original offering of Christmas week at the Auditorium, far from themed programs. The advice is to listen to Due Mondi in the days before, buy tickets early, choose the center rows, and arrive half an hour early, because the same night the complex hosts two other concerts.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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