Discovering the Conservatory of Milan

The Conservatory of Milan is also known as the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali. Founded in 1807, it was named after the great composer Giuseppe Verdi. The birth and growth of this institution can be traced back to the conquest of northern Italy by Napoleon, who founded the Cisalpine Republic. The handover between the Austrians and the French made the atmosphere very different. This made the arts flourish in all its expressions and provided the necessary substratum for the birth of the conservatory, which was in fact founded during the Italian Republic. It became the Kingdom of Italy with the coronation of Napoleon and since the beginning of its foundation, this school represents an important pole for the learning of music.

The fourteen teachers, in fact, created courses in singing, solfeggio, composition, clarinet, horn, harp, bassoon, viola, violin and many other instruments. These subjects, however, were reserved for male students, while women were “destined” to become opera singers.

Over the course of time the conservatory has evolved a lot. It has always maintained a very high standard in the delivery of courses, which can be very interesting because not everyone implies enrolment and attendance to the master classes. It is therefore interesting to know what this conservatory offers to all those who intend to enrol, so that they can have excellent opportunities for a musical career if they are prepared to use any instrument.

The educational offer of the Conservatory of Milan

One cannot but think that the Conservatory of Milan represents an important student centre, because the educational offer is very articulated, able to make one’s experience with music education unforgettable. It is therefore important to get a fairly clear idea of the courses that this institution is able to offer.

As stated above, the conservatory is able to guarantee a large number of courses that belong to or can be added to the main course, i.e. preparatory courses, single courses and free courses.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE COURSES

Here are the courses that the Conservatory of Milan offers to the students:

• Preparatory courses: these are important because they allow students to enrol in the Diploma course of the first year without having any training debts.
• Pre-academic courses: these are divided according to their difficulty, from the basic to the advanced one, and allow after having participated and passed the final exam, to obtain a certificate of acquired knowledge. To support all types of students, the conservatory offers various possibilities, from single lessons to workshops, thus meeting all needs.
• Single courses: they are designed to integrate the knowledge already acquired and improve one’s own average. Also in this case you can have the certification, but you must first pass the exam to get it.
• Free courses: they are very interesting because they allow you to follow individual singing or instrument courses. They are divided into packages of five, ten or twenty lessons, with or without piano accompaniment. These are the variables that significantly affect the price, making it rise or fall depending on what you choose.
• Popular evening music courses: this is a proposal that does much honor to the Conservatory of Milan. This shows how even high level institutions can succeed in creating interesting situations for the cultural growth of the whole community. Evening music courses, but above all free, can be a valid way to bring this beautiful art to those who, even if they love it, cannot afford to study at the conservatory. The institute provides these courses through the CPSM, popular evening music courses, a non-profit association that deals with bringing music at very low prices or for free, managing to create an excellent relationship with society.

How to get into the conservatory in Milan?

There are two ways to enter the conservatory: as a student or as a private citizen. To enter the Conservatory of Milan you need to do some very important operations. First of all, in order to enrol in the first level academic diploma you must have a high school diploma or equivalent. There are no other requirements, but in rare cases, if the student has demonstrated outstanding musical skills, it will be possible to obtain enrolment on condition that the diploma is obtained before completing the course at the conservatory.

ADMISSION PROCEDURE

The admission procedure consists of four stages:

• Enrolment in the admission exams.
• Carrying out the examinations.
• Enrolment and registration of the admitted candidates.
• Tests to ascertain basic knowledge and assignment of any debts.
• Once you have passed through the process that has just been described, the time has come to pay the registration fee. This varies according to the information that the students have given to the secretary at the time of the application. It is important to keep in mind that depending on the choices you make and the Isee model you present, the cost changes. In fact, based on this information, the tuition fee may increase or decrease quite substantially.