The Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini, better known in English as the Florence Conservatory is a

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger i ...

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

. It is the only music conservatory in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

with the status of a national conservatory, and is operated by the

government of Italy The government of Italy is that of a democratic republic, established by the Italian constitution in 1948. It consists of Legislature, legislative, Executive (government), executive, and Judiciary, judicial subdivisions, as well as of a head of ...

. The school's premises are located in the Piazzale delle Belle Arti with its main entrance located at the address 2 Via degli Alfani. Originally called the Istituto Musicale when it was founded in 1849, it was later renamed the Istituto Musicale Luigi Cherubini in 1910, and then the Regio Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini di Firenze in 1923. Its present name was adopted after the dissolution of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

in 1946.

History

The Florence Conservatory was founded as the Istituto Musicale (English: Musical Institute) in 1849. It was established on 6 August 1849 by a decree from

Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II, , English: ''Leopold John Joseph Francis Ferdinand Charles''. (3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1824 to 1859. He married twice; first to Maria Anna of Saxony, and after her death in 1832, to Mari ...

with

Giovanni Pacini Giovanni Pacini (11 February 17966 December 1867) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas. The fam ...

appointed the school's first director. The conservatory was originally created as a companion music school to the pre-existing

Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze () is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy. It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. Michelangelo, Benvenuto Cellini and ...

with which it was initially affiliated. It became its own independent school in 1860. It was made so by royal decree from

Victor Emmanuel II Victor Emmanuel II (; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia (also informally known as Piedmont–Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 until 17 March ...

on 15 March 1860. In 1862 a new charter for the school was finalized at which point

Luigi Ferdinando Casamorata Luigi Ferdinando Casamorata (15 May 1807 – 24 September 1881) was an Italian composer and music critic. Life Before 1849 Born in Würzburg in the Grand Duchy of Würzburg (now Bavaria), Casamorata was the son of the Grand Duke's inspector Luigi ...

succeeded Pacini as the school's second director. In 1910 the Florence Conservatory was re-named the Istituto Musicale Luigi Cherubini (English: Musical Institute Luigi Cherubini) after the Florentine composer

Luigi Cherubini Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethov ...

(1760–1842). When the conservatory was given national status as a royal conservatory in 1923, it was re-named yet again to the Regio Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini di Firenze (English: Royal Conservatory of Music Luigi Cherubini of Florence). The royal title of the conservatory was dropped upon the dissolution of the

in 1946. The conservatory occupies part of a former nunnery which was closed in the 18th century by the future Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, then the

Grand Duke of Tuscany Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), se ...

(not to be confused with the earlier mentioned Leopold II).

Directors

(1849-1862) *

(1862–1881) * (1881–1917) *

Ildebrando Pizzetti Ildebrando Pizzetti (20 September 1880 – 13 February 1968) was an Italian composer of classical music, as well as a musicologist and a music critic. Biography Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation of 1880" alon ...

(1917–1923) * (1923-1925, interim director) * (1925) *

Alberto Franchetti Alberto Franchetti (18 September 1860 – 4 August 1942) was an Italian composer and racing driver, best known for the 1902 opera ''Germania''. Biography Alberto Franchetti was born in Turin, a Jewish nobleman of independent means. He studied ...

(1926–1928) *

Guido Guerrini Guido Guerrini (born 12 January 1976 in Arezzo, Italy) is an Italian Rallying, rally driver and co-driver with Russia, Russian citizenship. In 2016 and 2017, he won the FIA Alternative Energies Cup in the co-drivers' category. He also collected ...

(1928-1947) *

Vito Frazzi Vito Frazzi (1 August 1888 – 7 July 1975) was an Italian neo-romantic composer. He was born in San Secondo Parmense, and studied at the Parma Conservatory, where he learnt composition from Guido Alberto Fano. From 1912 to 1958 he taught pian ...

(1947, interim director) * Adriano Lualdi (1947–1956) *

Antonio Veretti Antonio Veretti (Verona, February 20, 1900 - Rome, July 13, 1978) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer. Biography He studied at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini, Conservatory Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna, where ...

(1956–1970) * Guido Turchi (1970–1972) * Amleto Manetti (1972–1974) *

Valentino Bucchi Valentino Bucchi (29 November 1916 – 8 May 1976) was an Italian composer. Biography Bucchi was born in Florence, Italy, the son of musicians. He studied at Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence. He died in Rome, Italy. Works T ...

(1974–1976) * (1977—1982) * Giuseppe Giglio (1982–1999) * Giovanni Cicconi (1999–2003) * Mario Pazzaglia (2003—2006) * Paolo Biordi (2006—2012) * Flora Gagliardi (2012-2015) * Paolo Zampini (2015—2021) * Giovanni Pucciarmati (2021-present)

Alumni

Francesco Attesti Francesco Attesti (born 6 June 1975, in Cortona) is an Italian classical pianist. Biography He began practicing the piano at the age of 6 and gave his first concert at 11. In 1998, studying with Maestro Luigi Tanganelli at the Luigi Cherubini ...

, pianist *

Emőke Baráth Emőke Baráth (born November 21, 1985) is a Hungarian soprano. She began her musical studies in Gödöllő, majoring in piano and cello, and then continued harp and vocal studies at thKing St. Stephen's Secondary School of Music in Budapest She ...

, soprano *

Stefano Bollani Stefano Bollani (born 5 December 1972) is an Italian composer, pianist and singer, also active as a writer and a television presenter. He has worked with such musicians as Gato Barbieri, Chick Corea, Bill Frisell, Sol Gabetta, Richard Gallia ...

, jazz pianist *

Sylvano Bussotti Sylvano Bussotti (1 October 1931 – 19 September 2021) was an Italian composer of contemporary classical music, also a painter, set and costume designer, opera director and manager, writer and academic teacher. His compositions employ graphic n ...

, composer * Matilde Capuis, composer, pianist, and organist *

Luigi Dallapiccola Luigi Dallapiccola (3 February 1904 – 19 February 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d'Istria (at the time part of Austria-Hungary, current Pazin, Croati ...

, composer, pianist, and writer on music *

Francesco Filidei Francesco Filidei (born 1973) is an Italian concert organist and composer. A student of Salvatore Sciarrino, he has performed internationally. As a composer, he has collaborated with singer-songwriter Claire Diterzi and written operas premiered i ...

, composer and organist *

Benedetto Ghiglia Benedetto Ghiglia (27 December 1921 – 4 July 2012) was an Italian composer, conductor and pianist. Life and career Born in Fiesole, Ghiglia graduated in composition and piano from the Florence Conservatory.Enzo Giannelli. "Benedetto G ...

, composer, conductor, and pianist *

Sergio Maltagliati Sergio Maltagliati (born 1960 in Pescia, Italy) is an Italians, Italian Internet-based artist, composer, and visual-digital artist. His first musical experience with the Gialdino Gialdini Musical Band was in the early 70s. Biography On 04/10/ ...

, composer * Albert Mayr, composer *

Eva Mei Eva Mei (born March 3, 1967) is an Italian coloratura soprano. Life and career Eva Mei was born on March 3, 1967 in Fabriano, Italy. She graduated from the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence in 1989. In 1990, at the Mozart Competition in ...

, soprano * , music critic and music historian *

Nino Pirrotta Nino Pirrotta (13 June 1908 in Palermo – 22 January 1998 in Palermo) was an Italian musicologist, pianist, music critic, and academic. As a musicologist, he achieved international renown for his scholarship of Italian music from the late med ...

, musicologist, pianist, and music critic *

Andrea Portera Andrea Portera is an Italian composer of contemporary music. Biography Andrea Portera studied at Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence, following the composition course with Salvatore Sciarrino at the same time. He studied at School of musi ...

, composer *

Susanna Rigacci Susanna Rigacci (born May 16, 1960) is a Swedish-born Italian soprano. Early life Susanna Rigacci was born in 1960 in Stockholm, Sweden, the daughter of composer and conductor M.° Bruno Rigacci. She is a graduate of the Florence Conservator ...

, soprano * , composer and music administrator

Faculty

maestro di cappella ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

and later director of the conservatory *

, professor of piano *

, professor of piano, harmony, counterpoint and composition *

Pietro Grossi Pietro Grossi (15 April 1917, in Venice – 21 February 2002, in Florence) was an Italian composer pioneer of computer music, Visual arts, visual artist and hacker ahead of his time. He began experimenting with electronic techniques in Italy in t ...

, professor of cello and founder and director of

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a Music genre, genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of Acoustics, acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated a ...

studio * Riccardo Gandolfi, music librarian * Roberto Lupi, professor of music composition * , professor of music history

Musical instruments museum

The conservatory acquired a notable collection of musical instruments, mainly dating from the time of the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

. They are displayed to the public as the Museo degli strumenti musicali, accessed via the

Galleria dell'Accademia The Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze () is an art museum in Florence, Italy. It is best known as the home of Michelangelo's sculpture ''David''. It also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a large collection of paintings by Florentine a ...

, which is best known as the home of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

's ''David''. The instruments include: * instruments by

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloqui ...

from a set by this

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

which belonged to the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

court ** Medici cello (1690) ** Medici tenor viola (1690) *6 controviolino by

Valentino De Zorzi Valentino may refer to People * Valentino (surname), including a list of people with the name * Valentino (given name), including a list of people with the name Mononymous persons * Valentino (fashion designer) (born Valentino Clemente Ludovic ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

Igino Sderci Igino (Iginius) Sderci (1884 - 1983, born in Gaiole in Chianti, Italy) was a violin maker who studied under master maker Leandro Bisiach. Making more than 700 instruments including many large violas, he won gold medals at the prestigious Stradi ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and a viola by Luciano Sderci *a

doublebass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

Bartolomeo Cristofori Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano. Life The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death recor ...

keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers that are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos ...

, the inventor of the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, who was employed by the Medici to look after their instruments

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Music schools in Italy Buildings and structures in Florence Education in Florence Florence Conservatory