The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina are just around the corner, and Maestro Andrea Bocelli will be there to help usher them in. The iconic Italian tenor has been announced as a performer at the Opening Ceremony, to be held Friday, February 6 at San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan.
The ceremony is titled Armonia—Italian for “Harmony.” Marco Balich, Creative Lead for the event, has previously explained, “It means ‘bringing together’ in musical terms, different elements. Because there are two cities, Milan and Cortina, city and mountain, the harmony between man and nature, between cultures, people and different ways of thinking.”
Bocelli is the latest performer to be announced for the Opening Ceremony following last month’s news that Mariah Carey will take the stage. His participation was revealed via a collaborative Instagram post from his account and the official account of the Milan and Cortina games. “Music has the power to stop time and turn a moment into something unforgettable,” reads the post’s caption. “During the Opening Ceremony, Armonia will bring Italy and the entire world together.”
This won’t be Bocelli’s first time performing at the Olympics. He previously sang at the Closing Ceremony of the Torino games in 2006. More recently, he performed during a different kind of sporting event, singing “White Christmas” with his son Matteo Bocelli and Snoop Dogg during the NFL’s Christmas Day broadcast live from Minneapolis.
Due to the geographically spread-out nature of these Olympics, some parts of the Opening Ceremony will take place away from San Siro. Auxiliary locations include Cortina in the Dolomite mountains, Livigno in the Alps, and Predazzo in the province of Trento. Performers for these locations have yet to be announced.
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