STUDY WORKSHOPS AND WORK-EXPERIENCE: TECHNIQUE, STYLE, AND PERFORMANCE OF ITALIAN BELCANTO 2026

The Accademia del Belcanto “Rodolfo Celletti” of Martina Franca is promoted and organised by the Fondazione Paolo Grassi in collaboration with the Festival della Valle d’Itria. It was founded in 2010 to provide young opera singers with high education in the different aspects of technique, style, and performance of Italian Belcanto (from Monteverdi to proto-Romanticism), including the analysis and practice of several other aspects of Western music theatre, including some of its most modern music expressions.
Supported by MiC by means of the Fondo Nazionale per lo Spettacolo dal Vivo, the “Celletti” Academy is one of the Italian organisations to have received the recognition of “School of national excellence operating in the field of the highest music education” from the General Management of Libraries and Cultural Institute by the Ministry for cultural assets and activities.
The programme includes several performance practice workshops, combined with technical and aesthetic belcanto specificities: from seventeenth-century “recitar cantando” to expressions of the Apulian/Neapolitan School; from the technique of coloratura to the art of Italian early nineteenth-century variation. Students may enjoy hands-on practical artistic experiences with the Festival della Valle d’Itria, trained by established coaches, performers and musicians. The programme also boasts sections for further study dedicated to Baroque belcanto, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Neapolitan school, and the Lieder repertoire, with specific master-classes and one-to-one lessons with teachers and artists of international fame.
Maestros Silvia Colasanti 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.

Academic year 2026 is made up of 40 days of study divided in three sessions:

• SESSION ONE: from 16th to 27th February 2026
• SESSION TWO: from 13th to 24th April 2026
• SESSION THREE: from 7th to 22nd June 2026

These days of study will be complemented by work-experience during the 52th Festival della Valle d’Itria, as well as concerts and music productions by the Fondazione Paolo Grassi, and will result in a contract of collaboration, and compensation commensurate with the commitment.

The courses of the Accademia del Belcanto “Rodolfo Celletti” have limited seats. The selection is open to candidates who have reached 18 years of age by the date of the audition, and who were born after 31th December 1993.
There are twenty seats available for academic year 2026.
To access the courses, students must pass a preliminary pre-selection test on the basis of qualifications and video recordings. A live audition examination is reserved exclusively for those candidates who have passed the pre-selection test.The Board of Directors of the Academy has the right to admit to the course those singers who, on the occasion of music productions, contests, or ex-tempore auditions, have received recognitions for their artistic merits, and show a special inclination for the belcanto repertoire.
Non-EU candidates, or candidates residing in non-EU countries, must conform to the current norms and regulations to access the selection process.
Candidates will be at an advantage if they are in possession of:
• a Conservatoire diploma or equivalent qualification;
• professional experiences in the field of opera, through participation in operatic performances or concerts which the judging panel consider artistically valuable.

The deadline for application requests (complete with a full-figure photograph, CV, and video recordings) is the 23rd November 2025. Students must complete and submit the application on:
https://fondazionepaolograssi.it/accademia-del-belcanto-rodolfo-celletti-modulo-d-iscrizione-eng/Printed applications, fax, or postal submissions will not be accepted.
The Fondazione Paolo Grassi declines all responsibility towards potential technical and/or web issues which may impede the correct submission of applications.

For the pre-selection test, candidates must submit a video recording of a piece of their choice from their repertoire (please note: audio recordings with no video will not be accepted).
The file of the video recording can be sent:
a) via the dedicated online application form (indicating, where available, the links to YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
OR
b) via WeTransfer to the following email address: accademia@fondazionepaolograssi.it
In the WeTransfer message the candidate must specify name and surname, and the wording “Preselezione Accademia Belcanto 2026”.Pre-selections do not require a participation fee.

Participation to the preliminary pre-selection does not guarantee the candidate’s access to the courses of the Accademia del Belcanto. Access to the courses is subject to successfully passing the audition, judged by the Board whose opinion is final.

Eligibility to take the audition will be communicated by e-mail on 30/11/2025.

Auditions for Academic year 2026 are planned in:

Martina Franca, December 12th-14th, 2025
Zurich, January 23rd-25th, 2026

Auditions for Academic year 2026 are open exclusively to candidates who have successfully passed the pre-selection test. Candidates will receive details of the call for the audition directly via e-mail at the address supplied in the application form.
Each candidate can sit the audition for Academic Year 2026 only once, in one of the two available dates, according to the chosen date indicated on the application form.

All candidates must prepare three arias by heart for the audition, complete with recitative and cabaletta (where available) in the original key. The arias must come from the Italian, French, German, or English repertoires.
At least one of the arias must come from the Italian repertoire of the 18th or 19th century (until 1840).
Candidates with experience in early music may also propose (but not as an alternative) a piece from a 17th-century opera.

The examining Board may choose to listen to all or part of the programme indicated in the application form. The Board may also require first-sight reading of a medium-difficulty score.

During the auditions, the candidates will have an assistant conductor on the piano available for them.
Participants may decide to be accompanied on the piano by his/her own assistant conductor, whose expenses they must provide for themselves.

Should the admin office require it, candidates may need to submit a copy of the score of the pieces selected for the audition at the following address: accademia@fondazionepaolograssi.it

In order to participate to the auditions, all candidates must pay a participation fee of € 50,00 into the account of the Fondazione Paolo Grassi, at BANCA DI CREDITO COOPERATIVO DI LOCOROTONDO – CASSA RURALE ED ARTIGIANA, at the following details:
• IBAN: IT 93 L 08607 78930 002 0005 11406
• BIC code: CCRTIT2TLND
• Reason: “Audizione Accademia Belcanto 2026”

All candidates must bring the receipt of the banker’s order on the day of the audition.
Candidates cannot sit the audition without having paid the enrolment fee.
The fee is non-refundable in case of no-show at the auditions.

The list of candidates admitted to the courses of the Accademia del Belcanto for academic year 2025 will be published on the website of the Fondazione Paolo Grassi at the end of all auditions
Participation to the courses is free for all admitted students. Attendance is mandatory for no less than 70% of the total planned hours of classes in at least 2 study sessions.
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.

Classes will take place at the Fondazione Paolo Grassi in Martina Franca.
The staff of the Fondazione Paolo Grassi and the Directors of the Accademia can provide information and support for accommodation at set prices.

At the end of the course, the Accademia del Belcanto will release a certificate to all attendees who have successfully completed their study programme.

In accordance with D.Lgs. 30th 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.