International
INTERNATIONAL, TEACHING AND INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH
Networks, international research, artistic mobility, and cultural diplomacy at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Florence
The Internationalization Office of the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence develops relationships, agreements, artistic residencies, concerts, masterclasses, and research projects with musical, university, and cultural institutions in Europe and around the world.
Internationalization is not just about student and faculty mobility, but also about building a stable network for exchange, discussion, cultural production, and international research. Through interdisciplinary projects, agreements, and programs, the Conservatory strengthens its role as a place of education, artistic creation, dialogue between cultures, and the relationship between art and science.
This page summarizes the Internationalization Office’s main areas of work: institutional agreements, international artistic projects, artistic and scientific research, cultural diplomacy, events, residencies, and collaborations developed in connection with the local community, Europe, and non-European networks.
International Strategy and Research
“For a Conservatory, internationalization cannot be reduced to the mere circulation of students and faculty. It is a cultural, educational, and research function: it builds relationships, brings different musical systems into dialogue, and offers students the opportunity to understand their own language within a broader context.
The “Luigi Cherubini” Conservatory has a deep tradition, rooted in the history of Italian music and the city of Florence. Precisely for this reason, it is duty-bound to engage with the present: with technological transformations, new languages, international research, and the cultures that are redefining the way we study, create, and listen to music today.
In the mandate for internationalization and international research, these aspects are increasingly inseparable. The most advanced dimension of this work today concerns the relationship between art and science: a complex field in which music dialogues with technology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, data, the visual arts, perception, the body, and new performance environments. It’s not about adding external elements to musical education, but about recognizing that artistic research can become a production of knowledge, a method of investigation, and a space for collaboration with universities, scientific laboratories, and international networks.
Our strategy is multifaceted: agreements with foreign institutions, mobility projects and artistic residencies, interdisciplinary research programs, collaborations with universities, scientific centers, cultural institutions, and international partners. The goal is not to multiply isolated events, but to build a recognizable network capable of generating concrete opportunities for students, faculty, and the entire Conservatory community.
The projects developed in recent years point to a clear direction: music as a tool for cultural encounters, as a space for memory and civic responsibility, as a language capable of engaging with technology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and the visual arts. From this perspective, internationalization also becomes international research: not just representation abroad, but the production of knowledge, experimentation, and the construction of new artistic and educational models.
Our task is to open the Conservatory to the world without losing its connection to its identity. Florence must not be just a place from which one departs or towards which one arrives: it must be a meeting point, an international cultural laboratory, a space where tradition, research, art, and science can work together.
Prof. Giorgio Albiani
Delegate for Internationalization, Teaching and International Research
Lines of action
- Institutional agreements and networks:collaborations with conservatories, universities, foundations, cultural institutes, and international partners.
- Artistic and educational mobility:residencies, masterclasses, meetings, concerts, and exchanges aimed at students and teachers.
- International research: projects connecting music, technology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, visual arts, data, performance, and the relationship between art and science.
- Cultural diplomacy:events that use music as a tool for memory, intercultural dialogue, and civic responsibility.
- Enhancement of the Conservatory:building an international presence consistent with Cherubini’s artistic and educational identity.
International agreements and networks
| Area | Partners / institutions | Scope |
| Australia / United Kingdom / Korea | University of Queensland,Hope University,Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education | Meetings, agreements, artistic events |
| China | Beijing Central Conservatory/ Beijing Conservatory of Music /Shanghai Conservatory of Music/East Normal University/Consulate General of the PRC/Confucius Institute | Music & AI, cooperation agreements, The Voice of Harmony. |
| South Korea | Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education – GMOE | Cooperation Agreement |
| Finland | Rogatchi Foundation | MAM, Memory |
| France | Michel Petrucciani Conservatory of Istres / Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis/Scenes & Cinemas | Sounds from the World, NeuroRhapsody, performative research, art-science relationship. |
| Germany | Saar University of Music/Association for the Promotion of Minimal Music Kassel | MAM, Sounds from the World, memory, European orchestra. |
| Japan | Expo Osaka 2025 / Italian Pavilion | Presentation of the AFAM Tuscan projects, MAM and La Comedìa. |
| Kazakhstan | DEGDAR Humanitarian Foundation/Kurmangazy Conservatory of Almaty | Towards the East, masterclass, volume On the Art of Electronic Music. |
| Polytechnic University of Florence | ISIA Design | M.A.M., Expo Osaka 2025, NeuroRhapsody |
| Serbia | Research Associate Institute of Musicology SASA in Belgrade | European Project “EMMF” European Minimal Music Festival |
| Tunisia | Italian Cultural Institute of Tunis/El Jem Festival | 2023 Activities “Music and Drama”. |
| UNIFI | Dipartimento European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy/ ‘Nsight | Scientific research, NeuroRhapsody, art-science relationship |
Events and projects
| Title | Geographic area | Description | Article link / source |
| Towards the East | Kazakhstan / China | From Kazakhstan to China, a collaborative axis dedicated to electronic music, musical artificial intelligence, and the dialogue between tradition and the future. | https://www.consfi.it/verso-oriente-e-larte-della-musica-elettronica-in-kazakistan/ |
| Sounds from the World | Italy / Germany / France | A European artistic residency project born from the Florence-Kassel twinning and developed with German and French partners. | https://www.consfi.it/suoni-dal-mondo-4/ |
| MAM – Music, Art and Memory | Italy / Germany / Finland / Japan | An international journey through youth, memory, music, and the visual arts, born in the sites of the Nazi-Fascist massacres of 1944 and also presented at Expo Osaka 2025. | https://www.consfi.it/eufonica-2025-il-progetto-di-internazionalizzazione-del-conservatorio-cherubini-m-a-m-musica-arte-e-memoria-con-unorchestra-europea-tra-giovani-cultura-e-futuro/
https://www.consfi.it/arte-genio-e-futuro-le-eccellenze-afam-toscane-allexpo-di-osaka-2025/ |
| NeuroRhapsody / Inter-Section | France / Italy | A performative research project combining music, neuroscience, physiological data, generative visuality, visual arts, and international art-science collaboration. | https://www.consfi.it/neurorhapsody/ |
| The Voice of Harmony | China / Italy | Concert at the Niccolini Theater on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and the 55th anniversary of China-Italy diplomatic relations. | https://www.consfi.it/la-voce-dellarmonia/ |
ARCHIVE
This section collects the international activities developed and documented by the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory: concerts, conferences, masterclasses, artistic residencies, memorial projects, meetings with foreign institutions, and artistic research programs. The archive highlights the continuity of a strategy that connects Europe, the Mediterranean, the East, and networks beyond Europe, keeping students, artistic production, and international research at its core.
2026
TOWARDS THE EAST AND THE ART OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC IN KAZAKHSTAN
April 29, 2026
Presentation of the volumeOn the Art of Electronic Music
Forte Trio Concert
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The Future Alliance / Music & AI
May 12, 2026
Professor Li Xiaobing delivers a lecture and signs a cooperation agreement with the Beijing Central Conservatory.
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SOUNDS FROM THE WORLD
Istres 14 > 18 May 2026
Artistic Residency Italy-Germany-France
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Chronological archive
2025
January 27, 2025
Holocaust Remembrance Day 2025
Ceremony with the University of Florence, presentation of the Medals of Honor, screening of MAM 2.0, and Concert of Remembrance with students from the Conservatory and high schools.
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May 10 – 11, 2025
Eufonica 2025: MAM – Music, Art and Memory
Presentation of the international MAM project at BolognaFiere: European orchestra, historical memory, art, music, and territorial regeneration.
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June 24, 2025
Acoustic Textures. Soundscapes between Tradition and Innovation
A double-header event at the Museo Novecento in Florence. To be included as an activity combining sound, landscape, tradition, innovation, and the city’s cultural institutions.
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June 28, 2025
Conference: Auditory Perception and Musical Cognition, Inclusive Technologies
Lecture by Patrick Vogel, professor of Music and Digital Technologies at the Istres Conservatory, therapist, and sound engineer.
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2024
January 26 – 27, 2024
Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024 – MAM Project
Screening of the documentary film on Simon Wiesenthal, discussion with students, Medal of Honor ceremony, and Holocaust Remembrance Day concert.
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March 22, 2024
Diplomatic String Quartet with Giorgio Albiani
Concert of the MAM Music, Art and Memory project between Italy, Germany and Finland, with the support of the German Embassy in Rome.
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June 27 – 29, 2024
MAM concert for the 80th anniversary of the 1944 massacres
Concerts and commemorations in Florence, Civitella in Val di Chiana, and San Pancrazio, with Italian, German, and Finnish partners and institutional support.
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October 22 – 27, 2024
Sounds from the World – Kassel
Second stage of the project: fourteen Cherubini students gathered in the Ensemble Ricercare in residence in Kassel with German and French partners.
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2023
January 27, 2023
Holocaust Remembrance Day – Music and Memory between Italy and Germany
Young Italian and German musicians at the Cherubini Conservatory for the project “Music and Memory between Italy and Germany.”
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February 28, 2023
International Meetings I: From Sound to Sound
Meeting and masterclass with Robert Davidson, in connection with the University of Queensland, Australia.
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March 13, 2023
International Meetings II: Composition and Teaching from the United Kingdom
A conversation with Stephen Davismoon, Hope University of Liverpool, about composition, teaching, and contemporary artistic practices.
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June 5 – 6, 2023
Towards the East – Electronic Music Masterclass in Kazakhstan
Masterclass in Astana/Nur-Sultan with Damiano Meacci and Giorgio Albiani, students selected by the DEGDAR Foundation, and final live electronics performance.
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July 15, 2023
Music and Drama: Opera Gala in Tunisia
Concert “Music and Drama – A Tribute to Maria Callas and Enrico Caruso” at the Roman Amphitheater of El Jem, in collaboration with the Tunisian Ministry of Culture and the Italian Cultural Institute in Tunis.
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October 22 – 28, 2023
Sounds from the World – Florence
First stage of the “Sounds from the World” project: artistic residency and concert at the Sala del Buonumore with Ensemble Ricercare, DIMA and the Zentrum für Interkulturelle Musik of Kassel.
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2022
March 12, 2022
Musical Dialogues to the East – Forte Trio
Meeting and concert of the Forte Trio, State Trio of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the Hall of Good Mood.
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April 27, 2022
Musical Dialogues to the East – Persian Dance and Music
Concert and meeting with Persian music and dance, in collaboration with CICE, Academy Chang and the Kurdish dance group Midia Seir Kuzhin.
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May 4, 2022
In All Seasons from Vivaldi to Piazzolla – Strings and Souls Duo
Concerto of the Duo Cordes et âmes with Sara Chenal, violin, and Olivier Pelmoine, guitar.
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Contacts
Prof.Giorgio Albiani Delegate for Internationalization, Teaching and International Research
Anna Maria Emanuele International Projects Coordinator
Piazza Delle Belle Arti, 2 – Florence
Tel.: +39 055.2889331
Mail: international@consfi.it