The Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito, better known in English as the Parma Conservatory, is a music conservatory in Parma, Italy. It was originally established as the Regia Scuola di Canto, a school for singing in 1819 by Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, and expanded into a conservatory of music in 1825. In 1840 instrumental music instruction began, followed by the addition of music composition, conducting, and other musical studies.
Initially a school open only to men, the Parma Conservatory became a co-education institution in 1855 known as the Regia Scuola di Musica. In 1888 the school moved from being a private school to a public institution operated by the Government of Italy. Its name was changed to its present title to honor the composer Arrigo Boito in 1919.
The city was without a music school until the Parma Conservatory was established with the financial backing and political will of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, the wife of Napoleon; also under the name Regia Scuola di Canto.[2][1] The school was originally housed at the Chiesa di San Ludovico and was initially established as another school for singing in 1819 with the purpose of providing trained choristers to sing at the Teatro Ducale and the Chiesa di San Ludovico.[2] In 1825 the school was expanded into a conservatory, but did not provide instruction in instrumental music until 1840.[2] Later additional studies in composition, conducting, and other music topics were added and by 1859 the full offering of the canon of studies in music was established.[2]
The Parma Conservatory was originally only open to men. A separate school of music for women was established in the city in 1833, and in 1855 that school merged with the Parma Conservatory to create a co-education institution known as the Regia Scuola di Musica.[2] Composer and conductor Giovanni Rossi was director of the conservatory from 1864 through 1874.[4] In 1888 the Parma Conservatory became a public institution operated by the Government of Italy; joining the three other state run music conservatories at that time: the Milan Conservatory, the Naples Conservatory and the Palermo Conservatory.[2]
The composer Arrigo Boito succeeded Giovanni Bottesini as director of the Parma Conservatory in 1889; serving in that post until 1897.[5] The conservatory's name was changed to the Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito in honor of the composer in 1919.[2]
The conservatory has housed the Premio Mario Zanfi, an international piano competition also known in English as the Franz Liszt Competition, since 1981.[6]
^"Previous Editions". Conservatorio di Musica "Arrigo Boito" – Parma. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
^Maria F. Rich (1976). "Mariella Adani". Who's who in Opera: An International Biographical Directory of Singers, Conductors, Directors, Designers, and Administrators, Also Including Profiles of 101 Opera Companies, Volume 1. Arno Press. p. 531.
^Comuzio, Ermanno (2004). "Campogalliani, Ettore". Musicisti per lo schermo: dizionario ragionato dei compositori cinematografici. Vol. 1. Ente dello spettacolo. p. 139. ISBN8885095232.
^Gaspare Nello Vetro (2011). "Negrini, Carlo". Dizionario della musica e dei musicisti del Ducato di Parma e Piacenza. Biblioteche del Comune di Parma.
^Enzo Giannelli (1990). "Gino Redi". In Gino Castaldo (ed.). Dizionario della canzone italiana. Curcio Editore. pp. 1442–3.
^Boretti, Gianfranco (1994). A Life for Violin Making / Una Vita Per La Liuteria (in Italian and English). Italy: TURRIS - CREMONA. p. 13. ISBN88-7929-058-4.
^Annunziato Pugliese, Giorgio Feroleto, ed. (2001). Alessandro Longo: l'uomo, il suo tempo, la sua opera : atti del convegno internazionale di studi, Amantea-Arcavacata di Rende, 9-12 dicembre 1995. Istituto di bibliografia musicale calabrese. p. 420.
^J.R. Jimenez, Ugoletti, Paolo, in Dizionario Enciclopedico della Musica e dei Musicisti DEUMM, Unione Tipografico - Editrice Torinese UTET, 1988, ISBN978-88-02-04396-8
Bibliography
Arnaldo Furlotti (1942). Il conservatorio "Arrigo Boito" di Parma. Florence: F. Le Monnier.