OUR HISTORY
The PUCCINIANA Academy
was established in 1995 with the primary objective of training talented young opera singers, with particular reference to the Puccini repertoire, through the first Advanced Training Course for opera singers.
Over the years, opera stars and scholars of Puccini’s repertoire have taken on the role of teachers. To name but a few, we recall the invaluable teaching of Mirella Freni, Renata Scotto, Magda Olivero, Katia Ricciarelli, Fiorenza Cossotto, Rolando Panerai, Antonietta Stella, Ruggero Raimondi, Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armiliato, Fiorenza Cedolins, Lucetta Bizzi, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Maria Pia Ionata, Luigi Roni, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Franco Fussi and Michele Girardi.
Over the years, training activities have become increasingly important, attracting young people from all over the world and becoming one of the main activities of the Fondazione Festival Pucciniano, together, of course, with the summer festival, now in its 71st edition.
Students from the singing course, accompanying musicians and the children’s choir have participated over time in opera productions dedicated to them and have also played leading roles in the operas featured in the Summer Festival programme. In addition, our students have performed in numerous concerts abroad and in Italy.
Over time, the Academy’s educational offering has expanded to include a course for assistant conductors and preparatory music lessons with the children’s choir, broadening the range of teaching to include lessons in orchestral training, musicology, theatre direction, posturology, theatre marketing and mindfulness.
In the wake of the success achieved in recent years by training and advanced courses, and in a completely new development compared to previous editions, the Fondazione Festival Pucciniano has decided to establish advanced training courses for 2026, not only for opera singers, accompanists and children’s choirs, but also for the many professionals who are indispensable in the staging of theatrical works, including stagehands, costume designers, lighting designers, directors, set designers and dancers.
