COURS FOR ASSISTANT CONDUCTORS
Study and work experience:
technique, style, and performance of Italian Belcanto
Artistic direction: Sebastian F. Schwarz
Musical direction: Fabio Luisi
ACADEMIC YEAR 2023 |
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.
Sebastian F. Schwarz and Fabio Luisi, respectively Artistic and Music Directors of the Accademia del Belcanto and of the Festival della Valle d’Itria, will coordinate the teaching and artistic plan.
STRUCTURE and LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE
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
40 days of study, divided in three sessions, are planned for year 2023:
• SESSION ONE: from 26th April to 7th May 2023
• SESSION TWO: from 10th to 25th June 2023
• SESSION THREE: from 23rd October to 4th November 2023
To these days of study will be added others of work-experience between november and december, during which students will be involved in concerts and musical productions, receiving a cooperation contract and compensation commisurate with the commitment.
STUDY SUBJECTS
Art and technique of seventeenth-century vocality
Art and technique of belcanto coloratura
Art and performance of belcanto
Basics of belcanto
Style and technique of belcanto
Score analysis
History and performance practice of Italian opera
Vocal technique
Physiology and hygiene of the vocal instrument
Operatic diction
Elements of verse analysis in relation to dramaturgy
Acting technique and recitation workshop
Opera coaching
Body awareness, posture, vocality and body language
Physiotherapy applied to the performing arts
Psychological training of the musician
Performance master-classes
Performance master-class in Baroque belcanto
Performance master-class in lieder repertoire
Master-class: Culture of the operatic performer as a profession
Master-class: Career Training
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 6 th March 2023.
Further details on the convocation to the audition will be communicated directly to the enrolled candidates.
The decision of the Board is final.
Applications are welcome by candidates who are:
• 18 years old at the date of the audition and who are born after 31 December 1987
• 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 28 th February 2023 by e-mail at the
following address:
accademia@fondazionepaolograssi.it
The subject of the e-mail must read “
Iscrizione audizione per Maestri Collaboratori 2023”.
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
Participation to the courses is free for all admitted students, but attendance is mandatory, that must be 70% of total hours of lessons expected.
Any absence for serious health reason must be backed by medical documentation and communicated immediately to the Director’s Office.
Lack of attendance will result in exclusion from the course.
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.
TREATMENT OF PERSONAL DATA
In accordance with D.Lgs. 30 June 2003 n.196 (Regulation of personal data protection), all personal data provided by the candidates in the enrolment forms will be collected by the Fondazione Paolo Grassi for the management of the present selection procedure. Candidates may assert their rights in accordance with D.Lgs. 30 June 2003 n.196 against the holder of data treatment of the Fondazione Paolo Grassi.
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
