Description of the courses 2023

For a general description of the Volterra Project courses check the "courses" page  in the "All you need to know" section
NB:
​The ONLY official language of the Volterra Project is English
  • GUITAR
  • BUSINESS
  • PHYSIOLOGY
  • LUTHIERS
  • LECTURE
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Guitar masterclasses (each student will play in three individual masterclasses: two with Antigoni Goni and one with the guest artist)
The Master Classes aim to prepare not only accomplished and skilled musicians but also intelligent and insightful artists. The program offers master class instruction with:

Antigoni Goni
In her masterclasses Antigoni Goni will not only put her unmatched artistic skills and long pedagogic experience at the service of the Volterra Project participants, but also tackle many physiology-oriented issues. Antigoni Goni’s masterclasses will not only focus on technique, sound, interpretation, colors, dynamics, empathy, but also work on the management many physiology issues such as of muscular tension and fatigue, body awareness and posture, muscle use, breathing and relaxation.

Guest artist: Laura Snowden

Improvisation workshops

From the practice room to the stage
In a series of 5 workshops, Luca Isolani and Maarten Vandenbemden will explore how to apply structured and unstructured improvisation to daily practice in music.
The workshops will be closely intertwined with the other activities at the Volterra Project, and propose the various forms of improvisation as a complementary tool for interpretation, physical freedom in playing and stage presence.
Through a combination of exercises in large and small groups, we experience how improvisation can feed our individual musical expression.

Business seminars (two group lectures and one individual session)
Don Hlus:
Making music is a passion, but making a living from your music is an entirely different matter. Most classical guitarists have spent years studying music and invested hundreds of hours developing their craft. However, few learn how to build a music career and create a sustainable living doing what they love.
 
For many musicians, the concept of business is off-putting if not taboo. In the first seminar, we will delve into the relationship between art and commerce, and how the business side of your music career can not only be creative and fun, but also empowering. We will also examine how the music industry has changed and probe into some of the essential tools that a professional musician uses to build a purposeful and financially sustainable career. In the second seminar, we will consider the different roles you, as an independent musician, will initially need to play as you build and grow your music career. We will also consider sources of income available to professional musicians, as well as examine the part entrepreneurship plays in your professional career.
 
Individual coaching sessions during the week will provide you an opportunity to receive personal guidance on almost any aspect of the business side of your music career. The topic will be determined by the needs of the candidate and what stage you are at in your career.

Music physiology (one daily group lecture)
Enrique Castillo:
A musician is an athlete, your body is your first instrument.
 
Based on different somatic techniques, the course will give information on the general structure and function of the skeletal and muscular systems : muscular imbalances, stability and mobility,differences in tension, relaxation and efficiency.
Good breathing influences posture and relieves muscle tension. Greater breath control helps to free up musical movement, to play with less stress and more musicality.
The course will teach practical applications of information that can be incorporated into a daily practice, It will help you  to become more aware of the use of yourself.
Sinéad Rushe: (three group lectures)
The Acting Guitarist

  • Stage fright:
    what it is, why we (all) experience it, and how to manage it.

  • Developing the theatrical side of music:
    discover the many voices and characters within the music, the instrument, and yourself.

  • Charisma is not genetic:
    controlling the stage and projecting your presence is an acquired skill  that can be developed

  • The art of giving and receiving:
    building a bridge with your audience allows the communication to travel both ways 

  • It is a child’s play: 
    finding freedom, confidence, and bravery in performance will allow you to re-learn how to play with your playing.

Luthiers showcase
The Volterra Project will host a day of presentations from several of the most acclaimed Italian Luthiers, These will present their instruments, explain the process of guitar building, giving young guitarist an original perspective on their instruments and make them discover the importance of the synergy between luthiers and guitarists in the choice of the instrument.

Special lecture
Luigi Attademo
The "Antica Prattica" on the modern instrument.

The “ancient playing” is what we call performance practice, and we speak about it in the relation to the ancient music and the modern instrument.
The lecture will focus on the importance that the musicological approach has in the  interpretation of ancient music, considered as proximity to the musical context. The philological approach is a tool to better understand the context - not a purpose- and each interpretation is a fusion of two different historical horizons.
The second part will touch the History of interpretation with a focus on the guitar, dividing it in three moments: Romantic, Anti-romantic, Historically informed.
The last part is dedicated to the problems of the transcription, the original sources and the questions related to the writings, style,  ornaments, musical rhetoric, with example from Scarlatti and Bach works.

Participation to the final concert*

​TBA
NB: Acceptance to the Volterra Project does not automatically guarantee the participation to the closing concert