Altalena Summer Academy
Musical Retreat for Young Professionals - Discovery, Growth, and Collaboration
16th - 21st August 2025
Colle di Val d'Elsa, Tuscany
Altalena Summer Academy provides top-level music education in a welcoming, openminded environment. Curated by the musicians and visionaries of Altalena’s core team, the Summer Academy’s world-renowned professors and artists work intensively with the talented participants in two age categories, 18 and under, and 18 to 35 years old.
The academy is dedicated to shaping the next generation of musicians through a holistic approach to their artistry. In addition to exceptional specialised education, we engage students in the importance of well-being, providing vital tools for sustaining good health. We believe that lasting success on-stage is built upon a healthy, balanced foundation off-stage.
István Varga
Josephine Knight
MUNEKO OTANI
Christopher Elton
Our commitment to musical well-being
Our program is designed to offer top-level music education while emphasizing the importance of holistic well-being as the foundation of artistic development. We believe that true excellence in performance is built on deep, focused practice, the mental and psychological readiness, and physical well-being of the artist, not merely by playing and performing repeatedly.
While we offer opportunities for performances, the goal of the festival is to give musicians the tools for deep practice and personal growth. We aim to guide you through processes that involve significant off-stage work, where the focus is on mental conditioning, physical preparation, and psychological balance.
Our course provides an environment where students engage in holistic well-being practices, including wellness seminars, yoga, sports, and tools for long-term musical development and learn about mental and physical sustainability of a musical career from working professionals.
Active participation
SOLOISTS and CHAMBER GROUPS
What we offer:
For your musical development:
- Four 60-Minute Lessons – One-on-one for soloists and chamber music coaching for pre-formed ensembles.
- Performance Opportunities – Participate in our evening concert series
- Opportunity to practice up to 3 hours per day
- Seminar on University Applications – Insights on applying to EU & US music programs
- Certificate of Attendance for the XII. Altalena Summer Academy & Music Festival
For your mind, body and soul:
- Optimising Practice & Performance Through Science – Seminar with pianist Julien Gaudiniére
- Health & Well-being for Musicians – Tools for a sustainable career that doesn’t break your body
- !SHARE! Community Sessions – A space for open dialogue on artistic and personal challenges
- On-Site Massage Therapy – Affordable Swedish massage sessions
- Morning Yoga with Barbara – Music-informed sessions tailed to practicing musicians
- Sports & Physical Activities – Group movement sessions to support mind-body connection
- Cultural Excursions – Visits to:
- Diborrato Waterfall (bring swimwear!)
- San Gimignano – Breathtaking scenery and world-champion gelato
Eligibility:
The Altalena Summer Academy is primarily designed for young professional musicians aged 18–35, providing intensive training to refine their artistry, deep practice techniques and performance skills.
For talented younger musicians aged 14–17, the Altalena Junior Academy offers the same artistic and educational experience with additional supervision requirements. Participants under 18 must have parental consent and appropriate supervision. Those under 14 may only attend if accompanied by a parent or guardian and must meet the required skill level.
Package option for students and chamber groups
INFORMATION
What we offer:
- All above mentioned
- Stay at the Convento (centre of the masterclass) in very simple, student-home-like rooms (2-4 people/room), or at host families nearby
The academy reserves the right to allocate students according to availability
- Transfers to/from Poggibonsi/San Gimignano station
Timetable of transfers will be set by the academy on the 15th (arrival date) and on the 22nd (leaving date) of August
IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP
Course lecturers:
Stefania Scapin
Angelo Petraglia
The improvisation workshop is aimed at classical musicians with a solid technical and expressive knowledge of their instrument. The lessons, which will be collective, will take the form of a research space on performance practice in the area of improvisation. Students will be provided with a method for learning to listen to and recognize the musical material that will be part of the extemporaneous compositional process, with the aim of building and directing the creative process in a nonidiomatic way, that is, without pre-existing musical models and styles.
The workshop aims to provide the student with effective tools to develop conscious listening – of oneself and others – in order to build a musical action in balance and dialogue with the thematic figures and expressions proposed by the group (from duo to small ensemble). Particular attention will in fact be paid to the musical interaction of the group in the improvised musical dialogue, which will lay its syntactic and morphological foundations on a precise technical-expressive grammar.
The workshop will take place over about 12 hours, divided into four days of lessons and a final performance by the entire group of students, together with the teachers, during the evening concerts of the Altalena Academy.
Cost of the course
95 euros per person
Application deadlines
1st April – Early bird applications
15th June – Regular applications
15th July – Late applications
Full amount of the course fee is due on your selected date above.
Get in touch: barbara@altalena.eu
PRICES
Active participation
Soloists
Early bird: 720 EUR / 1st March – 1st April
Regular: 800 EUR / 2nd April – 15th June
Late: 850 EUR / 16th June – 15th July
Registration fee: 100 EUR — to be paid when submitting the application form
Package option for Soloists
Early bird: 900 EUR / 10th February – 10th May
Regular: 1000 EUR / 11th May – 15th June
Late: 1100 EUR / 16th June – 15th July
Registration fee / discounted: 70 EUR — to be paid when submitting the application form.
Chamber groups
Duo participation: 1000 EUR — with package deal 1400 EUR.
Trio participation: 1400 EUR — with package deal 2000 EUR.
Quartet participation: 1600 EUR — with package deal 2400 EUR.
Registration fee: 100 EUR.
Our package options including accommodation are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. After receiving your application, we will inform you of the available options. However, we recommend checking with us in advance for the most up-to-date availability. (barbara@altalena.eu)
Optional scholarship funds will be available after the application deadline, and we will make every effort to support your participation. To be considered, please include a video link and your CV with your application.
Passive participation:
220 EUR / person
Be part of all activities offered by the summer academy’
- Listen to masterclasses
- Come to our concerts
- Join our classes and seminars
BANK DETAILS
Please transfer your registration fee together with your application to the following bank account:
Name of Bank:
MKB BANK Zrt.
Name of Organization:
MusicAli Nonprofit Kft
IBAN:
HU70 1030 0002 1065 7878 4882 0019
Payment reference: name and instrument, + ‘Altalena course donation’
If you request an invoice, please write to: barbara@altalena.eu
Regarding the course fee and payment due dates, please refer to application deadlines.
Accomodation For Participants
If you are not registering with the package option, you are responsible to book your own accommodation.
Colle di Val d’Elsa is built on a hill, with the Summer Academy activities taking place in Colle Alta, the upper part of the town.
If you are arranging your own accommodation, please ensure it is in a manageable location so you won’t be too exhausted from walking uphill in the heat.
If you apply with our package option, we will assist in arranging your accommodation.
Our recommendation:
EXTRAS for active AND passive participants
Music
- Extra instrumental solo lesson with Altalena Summer Academy professors: 120 EUR / person / 60’
- Improvisation classes (4) with Stefania Scapin and Angelo Petraglia 95 EUR / person.
- Extra instrumental solo lesson with Altalena Artists Collective musicians: 60 EUR /person / 60’
- Extra chamber music coaching with Altalena Summer Academy professors: 120 EUR / chamber group
Wellbeing
- Affordable massage – more information coming soon
Learning
- English or German language course: 150 EUR / 4 classes
- Both languages: 250 EUR / 3 classes in each language (6 all together)
Logistics
- Siena train station transfer single/return: 40-60 EUR / person
- Florence airport transfer single/return: 50-70 EUR / person
- Pisa airport transfer single/return: 70-90 EUR / person
The transfer schedule is determined by the Summer Academy and will likely
be arranged through a carpooling system.
General Provisions
Photographs and Media Usage: By participating in our courses, both active and passive participants consent to the use of photographs for social media and our homepage, in compliance with applicable data protection and privacy laws.
- Fees: The registration fee is separate from the participation fee and must be paid in addition
- Liability: Participation in our courses is at the participant’s own risk
- Cancellations & Refunds: The registration fee is non-refundable in cases of non-participation. If the course is canceled or a participant is not admitted before June 25th, the course fee will be fully refunded. After June 25th, only 50% of the course fee can be refunded. In the event of force majeure, such as illness or other unforeseen circumstances beyond the participant’s control, please contact us, and we will make every effort to issue a full refund
- Travel Expenses: We do not reimburse travel or cancellation costs
- Changes to Terms: We reserve the right to modify the registration conditions and will inform participants of any changes on time