05 March 2022
The Italians have chosen: Fino all’alba (Until Dawn) will be the anthem for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Italy has chosen the new anthem for Milano Cortina 2026. Fino all’Alba won 72% of the votes in the contest, which was held on February 2 onstage at the Sanremo Festival 2022. It is now the official song that will accompany us to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Italy. It was announced on March 5 at Rai 1 by Amadeus, an ambassador for Milano Cortina 2026, and voting kicked off from the Ariston stage.
The winning song was composed by Francesco Marrone and Giulio Gianni of the musical group Cittadina and performed by Arisa. The other candidate song was Un po’ più in là (A Little Bit Further) by Veronia Gori, Gaetano Chirico, Giovanni Muggeri, and Marco Pezzali of the CPM Music Institute of Milan, performed by Malika Ayane.
Fino all’alba is the winning song of the contest, which was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Universities and Research. Civil and military bands, choirs, and conservatories from all over Italy participated in it, and they were invited to create and propose original songs inspired by Olympic and Paralympic values. The initiative’s artistic direction, led by Maestro Peppe Vessicchio, chose the two finalist pieces from the numerous proposals that were submitted.
The composers of the new Anthem for Milano Cortina 2026 are the young members of the musical group "La Cittadina" from San Pietro Martire di Seveso, in the province of Monza and Brianza. This musical group was started 141 years ago in 1881 by a group of young people who were passionate about music. It was funded by grain and fodder sales and with the help of the entire community. The band’s first headquarters was a stable, which was chosen because it was large enough and could shelter the musicians from the cold. Since it was founded, the work of “La Cittadina” has been based on belief in the social and cultural value of music, particularly the working-class musical expression represented by the band, understood as the “school of life.”
Arisa brought the song to life with her voice and performed it on stage at the Sanremo Festival 2022. The singer met the two young composers during a live interview on the Instagram profile of Milano Cortina 2026.
The song can now be heard on the website milanocortina2026.org, on the Milano Cortina 2026 YouTube channel, and on its other social media pages.
