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Welcome to our web site.
My name is Michael Summers and I am the Founder of the
GAETA ACADEMY.
I am a musician and worked at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and the USA where I enjoyed many wonderful experiences of making music with other young musicians from many different countries.
In 2000, when the late Gian Carlo Menotti invited me to be his Music Consultant at the Festival in Spoleto, I jumped at the opportunity, not only because I would be in contact with wonderful young musicians but because it would give me the necessary administrative and artistic experience to found and direct the GAETA ACADEMY.
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The GAETA ACADEMY is an Institute for Orchestral Studies based in the lovely port of Gaeta situated halfway between Rome and Naples. Our primary objective is the study and performance of that great monument of Western civilisation - the symphonic repertoire from the 18th century to the present day.
Our students will be young graduate students from the best music schools worldwide who will be selected by audition and will receive a full scholarship. We welcome especially those students from countries where Classical Western music is studied but is not an integral part of their culture.
I refer to Japan and Korea whose music students have been studying in the West for decades but above all to China where there is a great yearning to study Western Classical music. A recent article from the New York Times estimated that there are 30 million students studying piano alone in China thanks to the superstar status of two young keyboard virtuosos, Lang Lang and Yundi Li who are enjoying global fame! And not many less are studying orchestral instruments.
The technical level of these students is phenomenal but all feel a need to come to Europe to experience at first hand where this culture arose. Even those students from countries with a Western culture such as the USA, Australia, and the Latin American countries yearn to have a close contact with Italy, the country which, more than any other, has made the greatest contribution to Western art and culture.
In return for their scholarship and the exciting experience of making music together and experiencing the cultural life of Italy they will form the Gaeta Symphony Orchestra and give concerts for the local community.
The teachers will be conductors and instrumentalists from the best European and American orchestras who will come to Gaeta for periods of 2-4 weeks. They will teach and perform alongside the students.
The technical and musical quality of their performances will bring vibrant musical and cultural activity to Gaeta and bring credit to the countries of origin.
The academic year will terminate in an international Festival which aims to incorporate other artists from different disciplines such as painters, choreographers, filmmakers etc.
The Gaeta Festival 2007, which will take place from 1st-9th September has a 3-fold purpose
• to publicize and promote the Academy
• to make a contribution to the cultural life of the city
• to create a space for young and enthusiastic musicians in which to make music.
Such a bold and innovative project is an expensive undertaking, especially as one of our aims as laid down in the Statutes of the GAETA ACADEMY is to raise funds for the repair and maintenance of some of the historic buildings that are in a dilapidated state and risk ruin.
Once repaired they can serve as venues for artistic events and thus be restored to the public.
In order to launch the Festival I have invited several colleagues and friends of the highest calibre to perform at the Festival in order to guarantee the quality that I want. But I am very keen to promote young artists so I have invited several young students who have graduated brilliantly from different conservatories in Italy. I hope to obtain funds in the near future to be able to invite some young music students from abroad in order to create a truly international environment where these young musicians can overcome linguistic and cultural barriers through their music-making.
In brief the Gaeta project
• Builds a space where young artistic talent from all over the world can widen their cultural horizons
• Creates a vibrant musical and artistic activity in Gaeta and surrounding areas
• Brings lustre to Gaeta which will result in increased tourism, especially in the low season
• Places these young artists and musicians in direct contact with the rich culture of Italy and the roots of Western civilisation
• Contributes to the repair and restoration of ancient architectural treasures at present dilapidated and their future use as educational and artistic venues.
Gaeta has all the potential to become a city internationally renowned for the quality of its artistic events through its Festival acclaimed for the excellence of its Academy.
The City of Gaeta and the Province of Latina have bestowed their patronage on the project.
I believe that such an important cultural centre will attract financial support and become an important showcase for sponsors.
I urge you to become involved with me in promoting and sponsoring such a worthy enterprise which will give young musicians wonderful and unforgettable experiences. It will also allow me to give back something to this wonderful country which has given me so many of those experiences and much more besides.
I hope I have inspired you with some of the enthusiasm that this project arouses in me.
Thank you.
Michael Summers
President and Founder of GAETA ACADEMY
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GAETA FESTIVAL 2007
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DATE |
1 - 7 September 2007 |
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PLACE |
Church of Sorresca Church of Santa Lucia Church of Annunziata |
GUEST
ARTIST |
Nicoletta Brancale
Piano
Gaetano Simone – Violoncello
Giovanna Tricarico – Clavicembalo
Nicoletta Brancale
Piano
Maurizio Zaccaria
Piano
“Le Parrucche di Hoffman” Opera teatrale di Alessandro Zignani
Quintetto Limes
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With
Patronage of: |
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The city of Gaeta |
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The Province of
Latina |
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