Music association

The Association was founded in 1999 on the initiative of the University of Turin and the Regional Authority for the Right to Education. It promotes the dissemination of musical culture in universities, as well as the growth and musical education of students, teachers and university staff. At the same time, the Association aims to represent a new and additional source of musical offerings for the city and the region.

The Association consists of two sections: University Choir and Chamber Groups.

If you are interested in playing with others in a chamber ensemble, or as a soloist, or singing in the University Choir, please send an email to [email protected].

President
Cristina Prandi, Rettrice dell'Università degli Studi di Torino

Secretariat
Sabrina Doria

Executive board
Paolo Gallarati (deputy chair)
Alessandro Ciatti
Diego Elia
Andrea Malvano 
Alberto Oddenino
Michele Rosboch
 

Artistic directors
M° Paolo Zaltron (University Choir)
M° Ugo Piovano (Chamber groups)

Artistic Director: Ugo Piovano

The Association for Musical Activities of University Students in Piedmont has launched a chamber music section with the aim of promoting its dissemination within the University.

Firstly, it aims to encourage the practice of chamber music by forming chamber groups among students and university staff, without restrictions on instrumentation or repertoire. To this end, regular auditions will be held to recruit available musicians and form groups based on their characteristics and artistic aptitudes. The Association will provide suitable premises for the periodic performance of the various activities and, where requested by the various groups, the musical expertise necessary to follow them. Secondly, it aims to promote knowledge of chamber music by organising concerts, conferences, lecture-concerts and guided listening sessions with internal groups and with the contribution of renowned external musicologists and musicians. To this end, the Association has launched the “Accademica” series. These encounters with music should become increasingly regular and stable over time and provide an important opportunity to approach chamber music as a significant socio-cultural phenomenon.

The University Choir was founded in Turin in 1954 on the initiative of a group of university students from the Faculty of Law with the aim of performing and spreading polyphonic music in all social environments.
It is one of the most original and accomplished artistic expressions of the city's cultural and musical life, as well as an important reference point for university students wishing to learn about vocal polyphony.
Since 1997, it has been conducted by Maestro Paolo Zaltron, who follows - in reverse chronological order - the maestros Dario Tabbia, Giovanni Acciai and the founder Roberto Goitre.

The choir's repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to contemporary composers. In fact, it can boast world and modern premieres by Vivaldi, Sinigaglia, Martin, Kubelik, Pavese and Piacentini.

Among its recordings, the most significant are Ars Flamandi, Dutch polyphonic schools from the 15th to the 17th century (2004), Beata es Virgo Maria, dedicated to Marian devotion in the Renaissance, Sacred Polyphony in the Spanish Renaissance, and Orazio Vecchi's Amphiparnaso.

The choir has participated in important festivals (‘Settembre Musica’ in Turin, ‘Semana Coral Internacional de Alava’ in Spain, FIMU in France, ‘Festival di Cori Universitari’ in Florence, Festival di Musica Antica ‘Nello stile Italiano’ in Genoa Genoa), celebratory events (centenaries of Dante, Palestrina and Monteverdi) and competitions (Arezzo, Quartiano, Stresa, Lugano, LLangollen in 2006).
The choir has also undertaken numerous tours in Italy and abroad and has promoted three International University Choir Festivals (2004, 1991, 1989).

The choir organises study seminars and concert-lectures for students, choir directors and choristers belonging to other musical groups in the city, as well as its own members (most recently, in April 2006, an in-depth seminar on the sacred music of Gesualdo da Venosa under the guidance of Maestro Paolo da Col, director of the Odhecaton vocal ensemble).

In 2004, the choir celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, marking a balance between tradition enriched by experience and modernity, increasingly open to the European dimension of the University of Turin, aware that the true strength of this choir lies in the hundreds of singers who have succeeded one another over the years, communicating their passion for music.

Membership of the Association for the Musical Activities of University Students of Piedmont and, therefore, recognition by the University of Turin is the crowning achievement of the choir's founders, but above all a starting point for every new activity, aware of the commitment that such membership entails.

If you are interested in playing with others in a symphony orchestra or chamber ensemble, or as a soloist, or singing in the University Choir, please send an email to  [email protected].