The Municipal Theater of Modena was inaugurated in 1841 under the name Theater of the Illustrious Community. Throughout its history, it has preserved its beauty intact and has not undergone any significant structural transformation. In its current form, the Theater is the result of a meticulous historical-conservation restoration that has returned it to its original splendor and made it compliant with all modern safety standards.
Its acoustic excellence, the value and elegance of the structure, make it one of the most precious theaters in Italy. As a Theater of Tradition, it annually offers one of the richest programs in the region with opera, ballet, and concert seasons, from autumn to late spring.
A place for meeting, discussion, and reflection on its traditions, culture, and contemporary events, the Theater of Modena presents itself as a “space for encounters”, for the exchange of different ideas and languages. In recent years, it has thus accelerated its openness to new musical and visual idioms, giving space to directors, young singers, emerging choreographers, while also expanding the field dedicated to those musical experiences that blossom at the borders, in spaces of different genres.

With the 2001-2002 opera season, the Municipal Theater of Modena achieved its most challenging organizational project, a radical renewal that transformed the institution into a Foundation.
The process, initiated institutionally with a resolution by the City Council in July 2001, concluded with the participation of the Modena Savings Bank Foundation and five private partners.
The entry of the new founding members comes at the end of a decade of renewals, including the complete restoration of the building – one of the city’s most important historic palaces – and the beginning of a new phase that has revitalized production activities in collaboration with other theaters in the Region, many of which have subsequently followed the same management path. The establishment of the new Modena Municipal Theater Foundation – one of the very first traditional theaters to reach the milestone of the new statute – has indeed represented an important goal and an example to follow for the entire Region.

In October 2007, the building was named “Luciano Pavarotti Municipal Theater”, in memory of the great Modenese tenor one month after his passing.