International Piano Academy Lake Como

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 History
2 Administration
3 Location and Facility
4 Notable graduates
5 External links

[edit] History

The International Piano Academy Lake Como is a music school. Seven pianists, chosen annually from a worldwide field of 400 applicants including many international prizewinners, have the opportunity of studying with a faculty whose core membership past and present includes such stellar artists as Dmitri Bashkirov, Boris Berman, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau,Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Graham Johnson, Stephen Kovacevich, Alicia de Larrocha, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Charles Rosen, Andreas Staier, Fou Ts'ong, Alexis Weissenberg as well as the late Karl Ulrich Schnabel and Rosalyn Tureck.

These distinguished artists come for approximately a week at a time and give daily private tuition and master classes to the fortunate seven students. The International Piano Academy Lake Como was founded in April 2002 in order to continue and strengthen the teaching tradition of the International Piano Foundation "Theo Lieven". Due to the extraordinary faculty invited to teach and the exceptional talents admitted to the school, the Lieven Foundation has imposed itself as one of the major piano academies in the world in its ten years of activity.

Despite the name, the atmosphere is more familial than that of an academy, and communal rather than competitive. The Academy is housed in a beautiful 17th century palazzo overlooking Lake Como. Away from the pressures of the outside world, students are able to learn and work in a relaxed, stimulating and contemplative environment. Here they receive inspiration, opportunities and guidance in every aspect of concert and artistic life, including chamber music, accompaniment, physiology (the treatment/prevention of occupational injuries) and piano technique.

Thanks to generous funding by Kawai Pianos and the Schnabel Music Foundation, among others, tuition lodging expenses and practice facilities are entirely free of charge.

[edit] Administration

President: Martha Argerich
Director: William Grant Naboré
Vice Presidents: Gisella Bergeri & Mi-Kyung Kim

[edit] Location and Facility

The majestic Palazzo del Vescovo (Palace of the Bishop) was erected by the family of the Marquis Cossoni in the 1600's. In 1854 the Bishop of Como, Carlo Romanò, acquired the building from the heirs of the family Cossoni.

In 1983 the Town of Dongo purchased the building, and with the financial help of the Comunità Montana Alto Lario Occidentale, the citizens of Dongo embarked on a complete restoration of the Palazzo.

Today the building, which still retains its former name, houses the Civic Institute of Music "Alto Lario" and, since December of 2003, the International Piano Academy Lake Como.