The great composer of delicate, 19th-century airs, Francesco Paolo Tosti, dedicated a series of compositions to the area, the romanze abruzzesi.
By province, they offer: The presence of Flemish composers and private patrons of the arts in L'Aquila accounts for the fact that as long ago as the early 17th century there was an opera theater in Chieti—the Teatro S. Salvatore.
The Marrucini Theater, in Chieti, was built in 1818 and originally named for king Ferdinand of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies at the time.
Other noteworthy theaters in the province are the Teatro Fedele Fenaroli and the Diocleziano auditorium, both in the town of Lanciano.
An ex-Bourbon barracks houses the Museum and Library of the Peoples of Abruzzo, an important source for ethnomusicological research.