Six singers will perform on a single stage for over eight hours to support medical and scientific research on cancer.
On October 24 at the Tese delle Nappe in the Arsenale, in the heart of Venice, “Venezia Sounds” returns—the major charity concert created in memory of the Venetian Tomaso Cavanna, a music and cultural manager who passed away prematurely at just 45 years old. The event, aimed at supporting research into cancer treatments, will feature special guest Elisa, the acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer with a thirty-year career behind her, who will be one of the most eagerly anticipated stars of the evening. The event, made possible by the Giancarlo Ligabue Foundation,the Medicine Rocks Association, and some fifty supporters and sixty volunteers, is supported by the City of Venice and Vela spa.
There are two main goals: to bring pop and rock music back to the heart of Venice and to advance research in the fight against cancer. Specifically, the proceeds from the event will go toward continuing the studies led by Prof. Antonio Sica, head of the Molecular Immunology Laboratory at the IRCCS Istituto Clinico Humanitas in Milan, and toward molecular research in the field of neurodegenerative diseases conducted by Dr. Cecilia Laterza of VIMM —the Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) in Padua.
The Largest and Most International Event in Support of Research
Venezia Sounds will not only bring together some of the biggest names in the Italian rock and pop scene, as in past editions, but also several internationally renowned artists. This is thanks to the artistic direction of Samuel Romano, frontman of Subsonica and a close friend of Tomaso’s, who has set his sights ever higher: “We’ve aimed to go beyond the confines of our circle of friends and national borders, looking abroad as well. We want to keep growing bigger and bigger, and not just stick to musicians and singers who are friends of Tomaso,” said Romano. In fact, during the evening hosted by Marco Maccarini and Federico Russo, Elisa will be joined on stage by Morcheeba, the legendary British band with over 10 million records sold, Motta, who has shaken up the Italian singer-songwriter scene; Emma Nolde, who is rewriting the history of pop-rock music; as well as the wild and independent The Zen Circus and the chameleon-like Róisín Murphy. “For the first time, we’re thrilled to have international artists,” Romano continued. “The best part is that everyone will be giving it their all for a good cause and interacting together on stage, creating something truly unique.”
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with live music and numerous food and wine stands, with proceeds from purchases going toward research. The concert, on the other hand, will officially begin at 7:30 p.m. and continue late into the night. There are 2,500 tickets available, which can be purchased on Vivaticket (https://www.vivaticket.com/it/ticket/venezia-sounds-2026/307643). Given the large number of people expected, the vaporetto service for the return trip from the Arsenale will also be expanded.
“Last year alone, we raised 158,000 euros. This year, we’re aiming even higher. We want to exceed 200,000 euros,”said Inti Ligabue, president of the Giancarlo Ligabue Foundation, explaining that with this year’s event, the total amount of donations for research raised over the years will reach at least half a million euros. The proceeds from the evening will be used to fund the IRCCS’s cancer immunotherapy studies and VIMM’s advanced biodynamic research against cancer. In fact, there are approximately 20 million new cases of cancer each year, and according to the World Health Organization, the alarming figure is that by 2050, this number could exceed 35 million new cases. This is precisely why we need to channel ever-greater resources into medical and scientific research: “Research requires a great deal of perseverance, time, and money, and if these are lacking, it cannot progress—and we may even have to forgo hiring new researchers,” said Dr. Cecilia Laterza of VIMM, explaining that with last year’s funding, she launched a new research project focused on an incurable brain tumor: “When the neurosurgeon removes it, the cells spread throughout the brain, and the disease inevitably progresses,” she explains. “Thanks to the grant we received, we’ve created a human brain model on which we’re studying the mechanisms by which the tumor spreads to understand how to stop the process of cell dissemination.”. The first results are already in:“We’ve figured out how the cells move, identifying that some are faster than others. It’s those we need to target to understand how to strike them effectively.” On another front in medicine, Dr. Antonio Sica of the IRCCS Istituto Clinico Humanitas is studying the relationship between tumors and the immune system in the laboratory. The immune system is responsible for attacking cancer and preventing its growth and spread: “However, it often happens that this system fails to respond, and mechanisms of resistance to therapies develop,” explains Sica. “For lung cancer, for example, which we treat with immunotherapy, only 30% of patients respond to treatment. Through our project, carried out in collaboration with several hospitals, weare studying the immune defenses and focusing on resistance mechanisms to improve treatments.”
The event, which has now taken on increasing importance, is “ ”—an initiative launched by about ten friends to commemorate their friend who passed away prematurely—and was presented at Palazzo Erizzo Ligabue: “It’s the heart that moves mountains,” said Inti Ligabue, one of Tomaso’s closest friends. “The most important thing about this event is supporting research while entertaining the Venetians and, at the same time, promoting prevention.”
“We’ve managed to bring back a certain kind of music that was missing in Venice, fulfilling Tomaso’s dream,” said Edy Campo, president of the Medicine Rocks Association and Tomaso’s longtime partner, thanking Inti Ligabue for his willingness to launch the entire project years ago and for the constant energy he continues to pour into the initiative.
Among the major supporters of Venezia Sounds is Saturnino, Jovanotti’s longtime bassist, who—though unable to attend this year’s concert because he’s on tour on the other side of the world—still wanted to be at the event’s presentation and recall how Tomaso, during the 2016 Carnival, convinced him to take the plunge by playing from St. Mark’s bell tower: “When he suggested it, it seemed impossible just to think about it, but he imagined it and made it happen,” he said, remembering his dear friend who has passed away who, in his little boat, took his musician and singer friends out to show people the real Venice. Now, the power of the music he loved continues to bring smiles to people’s faces and, above all, to bring hope to all those who are suffering and to those close to them: because while music stirs the heart, research is advancing in medical laboratories.
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