The Cuomo Foundation at 25

To celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, the Cuomo Foundation brought together its partners and beneficiaries in Rome on 23 June 2026 for an evening devoted to youth, held at the National Academy of Dance on the Aventine Hill.

The Foundation chose the Eternal City to launch its anniversary celebrations, and all its current Italian partners attended, taking their places both in the audience and on stage.

At 6 p.m., the Academy's director, Anna Maria Galeotti, welcomed guests to the Teatro Ruskaja. Housed beneath the vault of a Roman-era cistern, this intimate 120-seat theatre offers an excellent view from every seat, subdued lighting and perfect acoustics. After a speech of thanks by Maria Elena Cuomo, the cultural programme opened with a screening of The Test of Time. The warmly applauded film traced the Foundation's history through nearly all of the seventy-five or so projects it has undertaken over the past twenty-five years, while rare archive footage, some of it never seen before, brought to life the commitment of its founders, Alfredo and Maria Elena Cuomo.

The Foundation's three active partners in Rome (the Marcella Crudeli Foundation, the association I Cerchi Magici and the National Academy of Dance) took turns to present performances of remarkable artistic quality, with dance, song and piano ranging across a variety of genres and styles. Throughout, young people remained at the heart of the evening, as they have been in the Foundation's work from the outset, whether in India, Africa or Europe.

The high point in terms of virtuosity was perhaps the recital by Marco Ottaviani, winner of the most recent Roma International Piano Competition, an annual event the Cuomo Foundation has supported for more than twenty years. The Pesaro-born pianist's programme, moving from the Italian Baroque through European Romanticism to French Impressionism, was demanding, but no less dazzling for that.

After nearly two hours of performances, the 120 guests were invited to a reception on the Academy's terrace, which commands a view over the city of Rome. As a picture-postcard sun went down, the Circus Maximus lay below in all its ancient splendour, and the guests spoke in admiring tones of the Foundation's commitment and of the success of an evening in which they themselves had played a part.

Photos : © 2026 Gaia Recchia pour la Fondation Cuomo