COURS FOR ASSISTANT CONDUCTORS
Study and work experience:
technique, style, and performance of Italian Belcanto
Artistic direction: Alberto Triola
Musical direction: Fabio Luisi
ACADEMIC YEAR 2019 |
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR MAESTRI COLLABORATORI
THE ACCADEMIA DEL BELCANTO “Rodolfo Celletti”
The Accademia del Belcanto “Rodolfo Celletti” of Martina Franca, promoted and organised by the
Fondazione Paolo Grassi in collaboration with the Festival della Valle d’Itria, was founded in 2010
with the aim of providing young opera singers with highly specialised training in specific
aspects of the technique, style, and performance of Italian Belcanto (from Monteverdi to
proto-Romanticism), as well as analysis and study praxis in the different fields of Western music
theatre, including the various expressions of contemporary music.
Already supported by MIBAC through the FUS, the “Celletti” Academy is one of the nine Italian
reality to have obtained from General Direction Libraries and Cultural Institute by the Ministry for
cultural assets and activities, the acknowledgment of “School of National excellence operating
in the ambit of the very high musical education” (D.M. n. 433 of 15/10/2018, in progress of art.1
of Law 2015 of 2017)
The course is articulated in several laboratories for performance practice, applied to Belcanto’s
specific techniques and aesthetics: from seventeenth-century “recitar cantando” to expressions of
the Apulian/Neapolitan school; from the technique of coloratura to the art of variation in the Italian
belcanto tradition of the 1800s. Specific practical experiences organised during the Festival della
Valle d’Itria will enrich the students’ training, and made all the more precious as they will be taught
by top-class coaches, performers, and directors.
The training plan also boasts a specific section specialising on Baroque Belcanto, with prestigious
master-classes and one-to-one lessons for those young performers who are particularly interested
in and inclined towards this kind of repertoire. The specialised and personalised study is all the
richer for the work experiences lined up during the programme of the Festival della Valle d’Itria.
The Masters Alerto Triola e Fabio Luisi, respectively Artistic Director and Musical Director of
Accademia del Belcanto and Festival della Valle d’Itria, will coordinate the activity of tutors and
artists of international fame.
STRUCTURE and LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE FOR MAESTRI COLLABORATORI
The course is dedicated to the training of Maestri Collaboratori, who will build awareness also
in relation to the specific necessities of the singing techniques, and to the characteristics of opera
theatre, with its dramatic and musical values and the professions connected to it, so as to favour
an efficient inclusion into the professional world. The study programme includes classroom
lectures on theory and technique, as well as work experience activities in collaboration with
the Festival della Valle d’Itria.
CALENDAR
Years 2019 comprises of three study sessions:
• FIRST SESSION from 18 to 25 March 2019;
• SECOND SESSION from 29 April to 6 may 2019;
• THIRD SESSION from 7 to 30 June 2019, followed by a phase dedicated to a pool of
students identified as suitable for a work-experience within the 45th Festival della Valle
d’Itria: www.festivaldellavalleditria.it
SUBJECTS AND COACHES
The study plan for 2019 is articulated as follows:
- Art and technique of recitative
- Art and technique of seventeenth-century vocality
- Art and technique of belcanto coloratura
- Art and technique of Baroque coloratura
- Art and technique of variation
- Phonetics and diction
- Study of the score and sheet music
- Awareness of breathing dynamics
- Culture and profession of the opera singer
- Character analysis
- Physiology and hygiene of the instrument
- From Baroque to vocality in twentieth-century music
- History and culture of Belcanto
- Workshop: singing, performance practice, study of the score, and acting
- Master-class in style and interpretation
- Master-class on the style of belcanto
Coaches: Marco Beghelli, Stefania Bonfadelli, Nicolai Cok, Domenico Colaianni, Sara
Gamarro, Luca Gorla, Renata Lamanda, Cristina Liuzzi, Sherman Lowe, Fabio Luisi, Ettore
Papadia, Chris Merritt, Carmen Santoro, Roberto Servile, Vittorio Terranova, Alberto Triola
and others tbc.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS and PROCEDURES
The course for
Maestri Collaboratori is dedicated to candidates in possession of the artistic
qualities and an inclination for the profession, as well as a general preparation on theory and
technique such as may benefit from perfecting and hands-on experience, with a view of facilitating
the inclusion into the working world in the field of opera theatre.
Courses are free and with limited enrolment; admission is subject to a selection.
There are three places for maestri collaboratori.
The candidates who have not been selected may step in in the event of the selected candidates’
withdrawal.
The Board will select the candidates on the basis of their qualifications, and after having passed an
audition, which will be held in Martina Franca at the Fondazione Paolo Grassi (main venue of the
Accademia) on
Monday 18th March 2019 at 5pm. The decision of the Board is final.
Further details on the convocation to the audition will be communicated directly to the enrolled
candidates.
Applications are welcome by candidates who are:
• 35 years old or less;
• in possession of a Diploma, or a three-year- or two-year piano course qualification at a state
Conservatoire or equivalent Music Institution. Qualifications obtained in foreign institutions will be
considered only if equivalent to the above.
• Candidates with professional experience as piano accompanists for opera singers will be at an
advantage in the selection process.
The Board reserves the right to grant access to the course to pianists who have shown particular
artistic merit during music productions, competitions, or ex-tempore auditions.
The applications, complete with CV, must be sent by the 12rd March 2019, by e-mail at the
following address:
accademia@fondazionepaolograssi.it
The subject of the e-mail must read “
Iscrizione audizione per Maestri Collaboratori”.
In the same e-mail, candidates must also indicate the repertoire chosen for the audition.
ADMISSION TEST
All candidates must come prepared to the audition with a solo piece of their choice, and two opera
arias complete with recitative and cabaletta (where relevant), with hints to the song line:
• an aria taken from one of Gioachino Rossini’s serious operas;
• an aria taken from an opera by Händel, Porpora, Vivaldi.
We also require first-sight reading of opera extracts from the Italian opera repertoire, chosen by the
Board.
The examining Board has the right to listen to the whole or part of the programme indicated on the
application form.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance to the course is mandatory, in the days and times established together with the
coaches.
At the end of the course, once the verifications of the attendance and participation are complete,
the attendees will receive a certificate of attendance.
VENUE
The lessons will take place at the headquarters of the Fondazione Paolo Grassi in Martina Franca.
The work experience will take place in the venues of the Festival della Valle d’Itria, as well as in the
offices mentioned above.
The staff of the Fondazione Paolo Grassi and the Management of the Accademia may, upon
necessity, provide advice and indications for accommodation at corporate rates.
INFO AND CONTACTS
Accademia del Belcanto "Rodolfo Celletti"
c/o Fondazione Paolo Grassi
Via Metastasio, 20
74015 - Martina Franca (TA), Italy
telephone: +39 080 4306763
e-mail: accademia@fondazionepaolograssi.it
website: www.fondazionepaolograssi.it
How to reach Martina Franca