An academic partnership with the "Reina Sofía" School of Music in Madrid
The Stauffer Academy partnered with the “Reina Sofía” School of Music and the International Chamber Music Institute in Madrid on an exchange programme focused on the advanced training of string quartets.
The project began in 2024 with a residency of the Stauffer Academy in Madrid. On that occasion, the Quartetto Rilke and the Quartetto Goldberg, students of the Academy’s String Quartet course, were invited to participate in a week of masterclasses led by Günter Pichler, former first violin of the legendary Alban Berg Quartet and now director of the Madrid-based institute. The programme culminated in two concerts at the Sony Auditorium, presented as part of the School’s chamber music season, and streamed online. The initiative also involved the collaboration of Le Dimore del Quartetto and the “Antonio Stradivari” Consortium of Violinmakers, which complemented the musical activities in Madrid with an exhibition of instruments crafted in Cremonese workshops, along with lectures dedicated to the history and tradition of violin making. The collaboration continued in 2025 with a series of artistic residencies in Madrid involving additional ensembles from the Stauffer Academy – the Quartetto Doré, the Quartetto Thumós, the Quartetto di Genova and the New Era Quartet – all invited by Günter Pichler to take part in his course through periods of intensive study and concerts. The exchange between the two institutions also extended to Cremona, where Günter Pichler was hosted at the Stauffer Academy to work with students of the String Quartet course.
