Our history

By the will of the Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Foundation, the Consortium for Training Services for Businesses (Consorzio Servizi Formativi alle Imprese COSEFI) of Confindustria Firenze and the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture (Camera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura CCIAA) of Florence, in May 2002 the Association of the Maggio Fiorentino Formation was established (later the Academy of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), having as institutional goals the formation of artistic and technical professionals of Opera Theater.

“Mimesis MaggioArte” was the first artistic training project initiated by the new Institution; funded by the Region of Tuscany with European Social Fund resources, it was aimed at young orchestral musicians, répétiteurs, opera singers and dancers.

The next project, “Palcoscenico”, was a veritable lyrical laboratory that allowed students to overcome the limits of traditional musical education. Active between 2004 and 2007, it led to the realization of high-profile vocational training courses, aimed at the principal artistic figures that contribute to the production of lyric-symphonic performances, such as the orchestral musician, the répétiteur, the opera soloist and the chorus singer.

In the years immediately following, various formative activities were realized, among which deserve to be remembered:

– the specialization course for scenographer, begun in 2008;

– the advanced training course for opera singers, realized in 2009;

The above courses were financed by the Province of Florence. At the end of the training courses, the students were involved in the production of the opera Il campanello by Gaetano Donizetti, with the stage direction by Jean Luois Grinda, conducted by Fabrizio Carminati, with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra. Raffaele Del Savio, who created the scenes was the teacher for the scenography course and provided an irreplaceable contribution to the training of the young participants.

In July 2010, thanks to the involvement of the ex-students and in collaboration with the Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, another opera was produced: The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini.

In the two-year period of 2010/2011 the project “Territorial Training Centers – (Centri Formative Territoriali – CFT)” was initiated, launching courses specifically dedicated to the sector. Promoted by the Province of Florence, the project saw the realization of the following training courses:

– Creating the sets for the opera house;

– Lighting techniques for theatrical performances;

– Management of the opera house;

– Digitizer techniques for archiving and digitizing sound documents;

– Medieval music: neume, gesture, sound – the vocality in medieval music;

– Baroque music: from recitar cantando (speaking in song) to mature baroque (2 editions).

In 2011 the project “InFArS” (Industry Formative Scenic Arts) was founded, financed by the Province of Florence. The project, created in collaboration with the Teatro Studio – Compagnia Krypton of Giancarlo Cauteruccio, had as its objective to provide a timely response to the needs of the sector and to the demand for modernization expressed by the young creatives and technicians of staging. This response resulted in the creation of three training courses characterized by a strong connection between the typical professionalism of the theatrical tradition and the innovative technologies related to the virtual environment. All of this is based on the will to lay the foundations for the creation of a training center dedicated to the performing arts: a permanent space for technical and artistic learning of international value.

The following lists the courses that were realized:

– Costume Designer;

– Make-up artist and theatrical hairdresser;

– Prop designer

In the spring of 2011 the “Opera Futura” project was started, funded by the Region of Tuscany, divided into training courses dedicated to all of the traditional and innovative professions necessary for the staging of opera and its audiovisual recording. Specifically, the courses activated were:

– Assembly, disassembly and movement of the sets in the opera house through the use of computerized systems;

– Amplification and recording of sound in opera, live performance and audio production;

– Audio-video direction for the opera house;

– Training course for opera singers: live performance, recording and audiovisual production;

– Costume production for the opera theater;

– Lighting design and photography in live opera performance and in video recording;

– Video recording techniques in the theater for products intended for montage or direct performances;

– Experimenting with video recording techniques for live opera aimed at a digital product;

– Creation and realization of scenes for live opera performances and for their video recording;

– Multimedia and computerized scenography for opera theater.

The most original element of this project was represented by the objective to form a basin of new, highly-specialized professionals in the realization of audiovisual works of opera, from which to draw on to create high quality products and implement new policies of commercialization of lyrical productions.

The project partners are: the Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Teatro Verdi in Pisa, the Goldoni Theater in Livorno, the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. The project led to a production of La Traviata, which saw the same course participants as the protagonists.

In collaboration with the Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and with the involvement of the students of the courses, in 2011 two more opera productions were realized: La serva padrona by Giovan Batttista Pergolesi and Il Cappello di paglia di Firenze by Nino Rota.

In the period 2012-2014 a second edition of the “Territorial Training Centers – (Centri Formative Territoriali – CFT)” project was realized, promoted by the Province of Florence. The courses activated were aimed at training specific professional figures in the theatrical field, having the cultural tools and technical skills of the sector suitable for an immediate and active collaboration in the realization of the operatic product. The training project contemplated the integration of the skills of a traditional figure with those related to the use of new technologies. The following is a list of the training courses offered:

– Piano techniques of preparation for the theatrical performance of singers and dancers;

– Training techniques of classical dance;

– Techniques for the realization of theatrical sets;

– Vocal technique and interpretation of the Baroque period: from the origins of Western cultured music;

– Instrumental techniques and practices in the Baroque era;

– Training activities for stage hairstyles;

– Training activities for stage make-up;

– Recording techniques and audio amplification;

– Training courses for the creation and production of theatrical costumes;

– Early music workshop.

2015 was the year of change. The founding members, the Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and COSEFI, constituting the current associative structure, decided to re-launch the Institution by changing its name, consolidating its operational structure and, in some aspects, radically changing the didactic approach of the courses: the Academy of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino was born.

Regarding the training program on offer, in this first phase of institutional relaunching the attention was primarily directed to the specialization of the professional figures of the opera singer and répétiteurs. The innovative elements introduced in the training courses are numerous and significant, both in the conditions for participation and in the course structure, including: 1) the methods for selecting young talents to be admitted to courses, now identified through an international public announcement; 2) the duration of the courses, which is extended to at least one full academic year; 3) the predisposition of highly personalized didactic plans, so to ensure the development of the singular characteristics of each student; 4) the offer of a permanent residence at the Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for the duration of the academic year, thanks to which the participants are given the precious opportunity to live the educational experience daily in a productive context of excellence, allowing the acquisition of art and the secrets of the trade through the “a bottega” learning methodology; 5) the establishment of scholarships for deserving participants; 6) the synergies implemented with the Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, now reinforced and more structured; 7) the functionality of the course activities to the productive activity, which allowed, after appropriate attribution and an accurate preparation of the roles, a rich participation of the young “academics” in the artistic production of the Theater and a gradual start of their careers.

Below are listed the specifications of the academic courses: – Specialization course for opera singers, aimed at beginning and consolidating the solo career. The educational contents have as their objective the improvement of musical, technical, stylistic, interpretative and scenic skills, and the acquisition of the cultural knowledge necessary for the practice of the profession.

First year of activity: academic year 2015-2016

Subsequent editions: 2016-2017 and 2017-2018

Length of classroom and laboratory training: 350 hours (excluding work experience)

Number of participants: 12

Advanced course for répétiteurs, aimed at the organic and structured formation of the répétiteur, in the various specializations: director of lighting, the hall, the stage, and prompter.

First year of activity: academic year 2015-2016

Subsequent editions: 2016-2017 and 2017-2018

Length of classroom and laboratory training: 350 hours (excluding work experience)

Number of participants: 4

With the aim to promote and disseminate musical culture among the new generations, once again in 2015 the Academy created the Children’s Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and, in 2017, started a specific Introductory course to the children’s choir.

The objectives are achieved through the study of singing and the valorization of the expressive and interpretative potentials of the young singers, who are given the opportunity to participate in performances of the Maggio Theater, both in choral groups and as soloists. Currently the Children’s Choir is composed of 65 members, aged between 7 and 15 years.

The Director of the Children’s Choir and the introductory course is Lorenzo Fratini, director of the Chorus of the Maggio Theater, assisted by Sara Matteucci.

First year of activity: 2015-2016 training year

Subsequent editions: 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 formative years Duration of classroom training: 100 hours of training per year (participation in artistic productions excluded)

Thanks to the collaboration of the Italian Embassy in Moscow, in 2016 the project “International exchanges of young musicians ITA-RUS (Scambi internazionali di giovani musicisti ITA-RUS)” was launched, allowing five young opera singers from the most prestigious Moscow institutions to have the opportunity to attend an intensive specialization course specifically on Italian lyric repertoire. The same number of Italian musicians appointed by the Academy are offered the opportunity to attend a parallel intensive course of specialization at the Moscow musical institutions.

First year of activity: 2016

Later editions: 2017 and 2018

Duration: 3 weeks

In the last three years the Academy has also realized:

a specialization course of Body and Face painting, workshop on the art of body and face painting and related techniques; duration: 16 hours (2015);
thirteen professional refresher courses for the staff of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theater Foundation (2016-2017). The courses are financed with inter-professional funds for the continuous training of Fondimpresa.

In 2016, the Academy launched the project “Regional Pole for the Arts and Crafts of the Theater: artistic, technical and managerial professions” (Polo regionale per le arti e i mestieri del Teatro: professioni artistiche, tecniche e manageriali); with the intention to create a territorial network of excellent educational and performance institutions that, with respect and valorization of the specificities of each individual partner, is able to create a highly qualified regional training system, able to combine the formative needs with those of production and to actively facilitate the inclusion of young people in the world of professional theater.

In 2017 the Region of Tuscany approves the project.

Listed below is an indication of the partner institutions:

– Association Academy of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

– Musical Academy Chigiana Foundation

– Music School of Fiesole Foundation

– PIN scrl – Didactic and Scientific Services for the University of Florence

-Irecoop Tuscany soc.coop.

– Theater of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Foundation

– Theater of Tuscany Foundation

– Cerratelli Foundation

– Metastasio Theater of Prato Foundation

– Theater Association Pistoia

The professional training courses for instrumentalists and theatrical technicians, as well as continuing education principally intended for staff of partner institutions, are in the process of being launched.