On Oct. 10, the Festival Verdi in Parma will celebrate Verdi’s 208th birthday with a long day of events.

The festivities will begin with a ceremony honoring the composer at 11:30 a.m. The ceremony will be held at the Piazza della Pace near the composer’s monument. The chrous of the Teatro Regio di Parma will perform “Va’, pensiero.”

At 17:00, the Cori al Ridotto concert will be held with the children’s chorus performing alongside pianist Claudia Zucconi and mezzo-soprano Luana Grieco in Martin palmier’s Misa a Buenos Aires.

At 20:00 the festival will present the Verdi Gala with Maria Agresta accompanied by Michele D’Elia. The soprano will sing alongside Gabriele Viviani in arias and duets from “Otello,” “Simon Boccanegra,” “I Masnadieri,” “La Traviata,” “Giovanna d’Arco,” “I due Foscari,” and “Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio.”

The day will also see the inauguration of a new curtain for the Teatro Regio di Parma which was made with sponsorship by the Reggio Parma Festival. The new curtain was created by Giovan Battista Borghesi.