Our Partners
The Institutions collaborating at the ImproComp Project
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
for 10 active participants
PIANO IMPROVISATION IN THE 19TH CENTURY
October 17-19, 2024
Sapienza University of Rome
Accademia Filarmonica Romana
Application Deadline
June 20, 2024
THE WORKSHOP
The Sapienza University of Rome, in collaboration with the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, the University of Cassino and the University of Rome Tor Vergata, announces an international workshop on piano improvisation in the 19th century, following on from the seminar on improvisation in the 18th and early 19th centuries held in Perugia in April 2024.
The workshop is addressed to pianists, fortepianists, musicians, musicologists, students and researchers interested in historical keyboard improvisation, who are invited to experiment with new methods of learning improvisation based on improvised preludes and interludes in the Romantic repertoire.
PARTICIPATION
Participation as an auditor is free and open to all who wish to attend.
10 active participants will be selected to receive free accommodation in Rome during the days of the workshop.
HOW TO APPLY
To take part in the selection process as an active participant, candidates must complete the ONLINE APPLICATION by 20 June, 2024.
The following documents must be included with the ONLINE application:
A. Curriculum Vitae (a .PDF file only) indicating education (past and/or in progress) and any professional experience in the musical field, notably in improvisation. The CV must also contain all the necessary personal information and contact details and be accompanied by signed consent for the processing of personal data for the sole purpose of the workshop;
B. Personal statement (max. 2 typed pages . PDF only) including your motivation for applying.
C. 1 or 2 links to a streamed (or downloadable) audio / video clip of at least 2 tracks with your improvisation.
PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE
17 October, Thursday: 9.00-13.00; 15.00-19.00
18 October, Friday: 9.00-13.00; 15.00-19.00
19 October, Saturday: 9.00-13.00; 15.00-22.00
FACULTY
Costantino Mastroprimiano, Conservatorio Francesco Morlacchi, Perugia
John Mortensen, Cedarville University
Giorgio Sanguinetti, Università di Roma Tor Vergata
The workshop is part of a joint research project on historical improvisation involving the Universities of Pavia, Roma Sapienza, Roma Tor Vergata, Cassino, Macerata and the Conservatory Francesco Morlacchi in Perugia.
The lectures will be preceded by plenary sessions chaired by Susanna Pasticci, with the participation of other musicians and musicologists involved in the project.
The results of the workshop will also be presented and discussed in a session of the conference Performing Classics Today. The Role of the Performer in the Actualisation of Music, organised by the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena, 4-6 December 2024).
COSTANTINO MASTROPRIMIANO
Costantino Mastroprimiano is one of the leading experts in historical piano performance internationally. After his studies in piano and chamber music with Michele Marvulli, Guido Agosti and Riccardo Brengola, devoted himself to the Fortepiano (historical piano). His vast discography features compositions by Chopin, Alkan, Burgmüller, Staehle, Moscheles, Ries, Hummel, Beethoven, Kraus, and in particular the complete piano sonatas by Muzio Clementi and by Hummel for Brilliant Classics. He is currently recording all Beethoven piano sonatas for Aulics Classics. He is frequently invited to give concerts (Accademia Filarmonica Romana, I Concerti della Normale, Società del Quartetto di Milano, Accademia Cristofori di Firenze, Micat in Vertice, etc.) and abroad (Les Nuits de Septembre – Liège, Noites de Queluz, Mozarteum di Salzburg, Salle Cortot, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sans Souci, Haydn Geburtshaus Rohrau, la Grange aux Pianos, Ignaz Pleyel Zentrum, PBA Charleroi, etc.). He regularly teaches masterclasses in Italy, Europe, the US and Russia (APM Saluzzo, Ecole Normale de Paris, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag, Universität – Mozarteum Salzburg, Conservatorio di Stato P. I. Čajkovskij, CSM di Malaga, Sam Houston State University – Texas). He teaches Historical Keyboards and Chamber Music in the Conservatory of music in Perugia (Italy).
JOHN MORTENSEN
John Mortensen is a leader in the international revival of historic improvisation. Appearing frequently as concert artist and masterclass teacher at colleges and universities in America and Europe, he is noted for his ability to improvise entire concerts in historic styles. He is the author of The Pianist’s Guide to Historic Improvisation (Oxford University Press, 2020), the world’s best-selling book in the field of historic keyboard improvisation, now in use as a course text at many leading conservatories. Mortensen is a Steinway Artist and an Ohio Artist on Tour. In 2017 he was selected as a Fulbright Specialist by the U.S. Department of State to serve as an international artistic ambassador on behalf of the American people. In 2018 he toured Europe for three months, performing and teaching improvised music at conservatories across the continent. In 2019 the State Department named him a Fulbright Global Scholar in Historic Improvisation, leading to performances and teaching at the national conservatories of Lithuania, Latvia, The United Kingdom, Denmark, and Canada. He is the creator of Improv Planet, an online school of historic improvisation, where his students include concert artists and conservatory faculty from across the world. He serves as professor of piano at Cedarville University. In 2016 he was named Faculty Scholar of the Year, that institution’s highest award.
GIORGIO SANGUINETTI
Giorgio Sanguinetti is full professor of Music Theory and Analysis at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. He has been visiting professor at the McGill University in Montreal (Canada) at the University of North Texas (Denton) and the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki). He gave classes and seminars in several European and American institutions, such as the “Orpheus Institute” in Ghent (Belgium), the “Schola Cantorum Basilensis” (Switzerland), the “NUI” in Maynooth (Ireland), the “CUNY”, Northwestern University, Indiana University, Boston University (USA), the University of Leuven (Belgium). He has been member of the scientific board of the “Istituto Nazionale di Studi Verdiani” (Parma) and the “SIdM” (Società Italiana di Musicologia). He published several articles and essays on the history of Italian theory from 18th to 20th century, Schenkerian analysis, analysis and performance, form and Ottocento Italian opera. As a pianist he has performed as soloist and in chamber groups. In 2013 the Society for Music Theory conferred him the “Wallace Berry Award” for his book The Art of Partimento. History, Theory and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2012). In 2020 he published a book on Beethoven’s piano sonatas (LIM, Lucca) and he is currently working at his new book: The Craft of Partimenti: a Textbook, for Oxford University Press.