Conservatory of Vicenza

History

Founded in 1867, the conservatory of Vicenza originally began as the Music Institute "Francesco Canneti". In 1969 it was converted to a state conservatoire, initially as a branch of the Venice Conservatory. It subsequently became autonomous in 1979, and was named after the Vicenzan composer Arrigo Pedrollo. In the following years, it distinguished itself for pioneering experimental subjects, such as Early Music and Indian Music. Today, the institution has a staff of approx. 100 teachers for ca. 700 registered students. Notable activities organised by the conservatoire include four concert series, master classes, seminars and conferences. Its symphonic orchestra, choir and numerous other ensembles perform regularly in hundreds of concerts every year. Additionally, the conservatoire fosters research activities, coordinated by the institution itself.

Directors

Collaborations with other institutions

The conservatory of music "Arrigo Pedrollo" is a founding member of the Federation of Conservatories in the Veneto Region. In 2003, it established a collaboration with the Institute "Magnificat" in Jerusalem, which in 2012 was sanctioned by the relevant government department. As a result, diplomas obtained in the institute are considered to be of equal value to those obtained in the Vicenza conservatoire; a unique facility of this conservatoire in Italy. An affiliation with the university of music in Xuzhou, China was set up in 2013. This framework arrangement enables the exchange of students between the two institutions. Furthermore, the Vicenza conservatory collaborates with 41 private and public music schools in Italy, from Trentino to Puglia.

Location

The conservatory is located within the grounds of the San Domenico convent (13th century). It was renovated in 1998, and now offers many facilities in a self-enclosed modern structure, in which teaching activities and music performances take place throughout the academic year. The conservatoire boasts approx. 60 classrooms, a concert hall (200 seats) named after the singer Marcella Pobbe, a rehearsal hall, and an Auditorium within the small church of San Domenico (restored in 2010). The Auditorium "Canneti" (308 seats) is located in a nearby historical building and available to students of the conservatoire. Both auditoria are equipped with organs: in the church of San Domenico, the organ was built in 2010 by Andrea Zeni from Tesero (Trento) and was modelled on designs by Gottfried Silbermann. The one in the Auditorium “Canneti” is a large instrument with a mechanical action (2,535 pipes, 34 registers, three keyboards of 61 keys, a pedal board of 32 keys), and was built in 1989 by the company “V. Mascioni" from Curio (Varese).

Courses

Departments

Concert series

Library

The library of the conservatoire boasts a heritage of approx. 30,000 documents, deriving partly from the Philharmonic Institute "Canneti", and partly from the conservatoire's recent acquisitions, which are regularly expanding. Repertoire and reference works, thematic catalogues, collections of musical scores, and other recently published material are available in the library, as are books of musicology, theory, music pedagogy, organology, facsimile editions of musical treatises, and Italian and international magazines.

The musical section offers an ample choice of repertoire ranging from critical editions of scores, performing scores, and methods and teaching aids for instrumental practice. The collection of audio files has also been recently expanded thanks to the generous donation of Luciano Maggi's family. Of significance are the contributions of Maria Gabriella Marchi, Enrico Balboni, Romana Righetti, Saverio Cavaliere, Natalino Tacchetti, and Maria Giovanna Miggiani. The library provides to students and staff of the conservatoire as well as to external users, the following services free-of-charge: browsing and reading on-site, listening to audio files, loaning of books and materials, online search of library catalogues, and staff assistance. The documents of the “Canneti” collection and of the conservatoire have been catalogued as part of Veneto Region library framework, Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale; the main catalogue of the library is hosted in OPAC.