A letter from Michael Kirkendoll, Cortona Sessions founder and director for the past decade:
Dear Friends,
I am posting to announce that I am stepping down as director of the Cortona Sessions for New Music. Since 2010, this has been the artistic love of my life and has brought me so much joy. The Sessions have become a place of love and inspiration to so many, and I am excited that its spirit will continue under the direction of Brianna Matzke, who has been appointed the new Executive Director of the Cortona Sessions. Following the events of the last year and a half, our home in Cortona, the Hotel Oasi Neumann has closed, and I feel this is the perfect time to step back and allow the Sessions to enter a new phase while keeping its ethos as a place of openness, exploration, friendship, and la dolce vita. Thank you to everyone who has made this program what it is, and I will be eagerly watching to see the next evolution of this most magical of endeavors.
Salute a tutti!
Michael Kirkendoll
And secondly, a note of response from our new Executive Director Brianna Matzke:
Hello everyone,
This is undoubtedly the greatest honor of my career; I am the new Executive Director of the Cortona Sessions. Michael Kirkendoll, the founder and director for the past decade, has led with the utmost of compassion and artistry, building a welcoming community of musicians that have come to feel like family, and infusing every moment with deep beauty. I am dedicated to ensuring that the spirit of the Cortona Sessions lives.
The Cortona Sessions are a two-week contemporary chamber music festival, usually held in a really stunning convent-turned-hotel on a hillside in the heart of Tuscany. The pandemic sent us into uncharted territory (online), and we are now so sad to say our hotel has gone out of business. Finding a new home for the Sessions will be my first great challenge as ED, and while nothing will ever be like it was, I am embracing the joy in new directions and new opportunities.
I want to thank Michael from the bottom of my heart for everything he has done for so many. He remains the single most generous person I have ever met, someone I look up to and want to emulate without a doubt, and I am deeply grateful for his friendship and mentorship. The Cortona Sessions have touched the lives of so, so many, and that is all because of him.
With gratitude,
Brianna Matzke