History
From 1914 to the present day
Historically, Foggia musical tradition is strongly connected to the local folk traditions linked to farms, as well as to religious rites and social gatherings of the upper classes.
The large opera audience, which defined social life in Foggia, as well as, in all the rest of Italy, during the XVIII and XIX centuries, and the strong wind ensemble tradition which grew in the second half of the XIX century, had a moment of mutual support caused by the need to create a proper music school.
Fundamental Steps for this Institutions:
Umberto Giordano
The Conservatory, since its birth, is dedicated to the famous composer Umberto Giordano, born in Foggia in 1867
1914
At the beginning of the century, the ambition of many organizations to become formal educational institutions, led to the foundation of the School of Strings “Umberto Giordano”, renamed, right after WWI School of Music “Umberto Giordano and later on Music High School.
In 1938 The Music High School “U. Giordano” was made legally equivalent to State Conservatories, and kept its institutional and didactic growth until 1943, when the bombing destroyed almost the entire city of Foggia, home of a very important train station in the south of Italy, and in particular the bombing destroyed the Convent of San Gaetano, which was hosting this music school.
1945
Starting from 1945 the institution was rebuilt, recruiting restarted, new instruments were bought, and thanks also to private donations, the bibliographic patrimony was established once again. The Liceo grew constantly in prestige throughout the years until in 1970 started the procedures to obtained the official recognition by the Italian State. Such recognition arrived in 1977 with the law decree n. 663.
1980
The State Conservatory “U. Giordano”, kept growing until establishing in 1980 a second residency in Rody Garganico, and today is a vibrant institution, extremely up-to-date both in musical education and performance standards and activities.
In particular, in the last few years, the Conservatory started a large number of collaborations with other Conservatories, as well as with public and private institutions on local, national and international level.
2007
The buildings hosting the Conservatories have been upgraded, and both the patrimony of instruments and of the library constantly expanded. The library in fact, besides supporting any kind of scientific research for students and faculty, is a central reference institution for musicologists and university students in the province. Such modernization brought multiple benefits, among which, in 2007, a new building with four different floors (with an average of 20 rooms per floor) and a new auditorium for the residency of Rodi Garganico.
In addition to the realization of master class and seminars in all disciplines, the establishment of the Bachelor in Music Therapy in collaboration with ISMEZ, has been particularly relevant.
2010
The educational offer has been enlarged in the last decade with series of master class financially supported by the Puglia Region, such as the master class in Conducting with artists like Donato Renzetti, Piero Bellugi, Jorma Panula, Bruno Bartoletti, Lu Jia, Lior Shambadal, and in Vocal Tecnique and Interpretation of Art Songs with Mirella Freni and Renato Bruson.
The “Giordano” Conservatory collaborates both for performance and scientific research with a number of prestigious National and International institutions such as: Università degli Studi di Foggia, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Archivi di Etnomusicologia, Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli, Vatican Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, Sungshin Women’s University Seoul. Starting from 2010 the Conservatory has an Erasmus Program which allowed the school to enter the International Mobility Circuits both for learning and placement purposes, and since 2012 is an active member of AEC, Associations of European Conservatories, important organization which allows exchanges and collaborations among European Musical Institutions.
2013
The “Giordano” Conservatory organizes concerts series and other events in collaboration with different private and public institutions. The most important events in this very intense activity are “Musica nelle Corti di Capitanata”, which is now in its XXIII season and the “Rodi Jazz fest” in its IX season.
In addition to those activities, the conservatory organizes during the year a large number of events with its Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Young, the Junior Orchestra and the wind ensemble and sax ensemble of the residencies of Foggia and Rodi Garganico, with the Choro-orchestra. The institution also provides a vast amount of chamber music concerts and solo recitals.
In 2013 the Conservatory has bought a building in Via San Domenico, in order to meet the growing needs for more spaces for lessons and classes.