This post is also available in:
Italiano (Italian)
4 Creative workshops that connect learning with production
CHIGIANA OPERALAB
Chigiana OperaLab is an active component of the advanced summer courses in Orchestral Conducting and Singing. It is a laboratory dedicated to musical theater, aimed at young singers, conductors, directors, and set designers, allowing them to work with instrumental ensembles and established professionals in the field. The goal is to provide students with direct stage experience. Chigiana OperaLab offers an extraordinary work experience that combines training with public performances, within the framework of the Chigiana International Festival & Summer Academy.
After pilot projects from 2018 to 2020, which included productions of Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Paisiello’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, the Chigiana Academy officially launched Chigiana OperaLab in 2021 to develop opera production activities in a stable and structured manner.
Chigiana OperaLab has involved prominent professionals for the stage direction, including directors Lorenzo Mariani, Cesare Scarton, and Florentine Klepper; set designer William Orlandi; lighting designers Roberto Venturi, Fabio Barettin, and Marco Filibeck; young singers from the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; and interns from Accademia della Scala, Verona Opera Academy, and Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. The laboratory has also collaborated with the Italian Youth Orchestra and Orchestra Senzaspine of Bologna, both resident ensembles for the Orchestral Conducting course.
In 2021, Chigiana OperaLab produced the staged version of L’Occasione fa il Ladro, ovvero lo Scambio della Valigia by Gioachino Rossini. In the 2022 edition, it staged Il Signor Bruschino, ossia il Figlio per Azzardo by Gioachino Rossini, a playful farce in one act with a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, based on the comedy Le fils par hasard, ou Ruse et folie by Alissan de Chazet and Maurice Ourry. The production was later staged at Teatro Duse in Bologna.
In 2023, Chigiana OperaLab presented two staged productions: the first, Trilogia Verdiana, part of the Orchestral Conducting course, focused on works by Giuseppe Verdi (La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Falstaff, with performances at Teatro dei Rinnovati) under the direction of Lorenzo Mariani. The second, part of William Matteuzzi‘s course, featured performances of Claudio Monteverdi‘s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and Gaetano Donizetti‘s theatrical farce Il Campanello (July 29, Teatro dei Rozzi), directed by Cesare Scarton.
In 2024, Chigiana OperaLab produced two different stagings: Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti, as part of the Orchestral Conducting Course in collaboration with the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, directed by Lorenzo Mariani (July 22 and 24, Teatro dei Rinnovati), and The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten, featuring the Mozarteum Chamber Orchestra of Salzburg conducted by Kai Röhrig, with students from the Singing Course and directed by Florentine Klepper (August 9 and 10, Teatro dei Rozzi).
In 2025, Chigiana OperaLab will stage Il Prigioniero by Luigi Dallapiccola (marking the 50th anniversary of the composer’s passing) in a version for two pianos arranged by the Centro Studi Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence. Additionally, it will present the tragédie lyrique La Voix Humaine by Francis Poulenc in a new version for voice and piano.
Students from the Singing Course will take on the leading roles, joined by the Cathedral Choir of Siena “Guido Chigi Saracini” and pianists Luigi Pecchia and Francesco De Poli. The production will be conducted by Mario Ruffini, with stage direction by Davide Garattini and set design by Domenico Franchi.
BAROQUELAB
BaroqueLab is a laboratory dedicated to musical theater performed with period instruments, organized in collaboration with the Department of Early Music at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, as part of the Chigiana-Mozarteum Baroque Program.
The Chigiana-Mozarteum Baroque Program focuses on the study of the Baroque repertoire, the exploration of historically informed performance practices, and the technical aspects of playing on period instruments. It includes 10 courses: Baroque Singing, Harpsichord, Basso Continuo and Fortepiano, Composition for Period Instruments, Traverso Flute, Baroque Oboe, Performance Practice for Violin and Viola, Viola da Gamba and Consort of Viols, Baroque Violin, and Baroque Cello. The courses are taught by Lisandro Abadie, Florian Birsak, Alfredo Bernardini, Elisa Citterio, Simone Fontanelli, Marcello Gatti, Vittorio Ghielmi, Hiro Kurosaki, Sara Mingardo, and Marco Testori.
Chigiana BaroqueLab aims to broaden participation to include other areas such as stage direction, set and costume design, as well as various creative and technical roles (lighting designers, stage technicians, etc.). It engages the Department of Opera and Musical Theater at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg and guest professionals, in addition to the current faculty.
In 2022, BaroqueLab staged the baroque opera La Senna Festeggiante, a serenata for three voices and orchestra by Antonio Vivaldi. In 2023, it presented Dido & Aeneas by Henry Purcell alongside the contemporary opera Elissa by Henry Fourès, in co-production with the Mozarteum University of Salzburg.
For the 2024 edition, BaroqueLab organized the Baroque Night, featuring musicians from the Mozarteum University of Salzburg and the Royal College of Music in London.
In 2025, BaroqueLab will stage Alessandro Scarlatti‘s oratorio La Giuditta, conducted by Vittorio Ghielmi, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the composer’s death. The production will also feature the world premiere of a new stage work by French composer Yann Robin, conducted by Kai Röhrig. The direction of this double bill will be entrusted to Florentine Klepper.
COMPOSITION WORKSHOP
The Composition Laboratory is designed for students enrolled in the Composition course led by Salvatore Sciarrino. It benefits from the collaboration of artists-in-residence, including the MDI Ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, percussion), Matteo Cesari (flute / alto flute), and Paolo Ravaglia (clarinet / bass clarinet).
At the conclusion of the laboratory, selected original compositions by the young students are performed in concert as part of the Chigiana International Festival & Summer Academy and recorded according to the highest audiovisual standards.
LIVE ELECTRONICS WORKSHOP
The Creation Laboratory with Live Electronics, dedicated to new intermedia languages, is designed for students enrolled in the Live Electronics. Sound & Music Computing course, taught by Alvise Vidolin and Nicola Bernardini, in collaboration with the SaMPL Laboratory of the “Cesare Pollini” Conservatory of Music in Padua.
The laboratory is aimed at composers who wish to deepen their creative skills in producing concerts featuring live electronics. The objective is to create original compositions for solo instruments with live electronics: the electronic component is developed during lessons and performed by the students in concert, while the instrumental or vocal parts are performed by students from the summer courses of the Chigiana Academy.
In addition to performing the electronic parts, the laboratory addresses issues related to live sound capture, processing, and spatialization, with a focus on producing high-quality documentation in post-production.
The laboratory activities are complemented by public lectures from leading professionals in the field.