The Stauffer Academy represents the principal activity of the Stauffer Foundation.
It was established in Cremona in 1985 by two outstanding personalities: Andrea Mosconi, former artistic director of the Monteverdi Festival and curator of Cremona’s civic collection of string instruments, and Salvatore Accardo, one of the greatest Italian violinists of all time, the first Italian winner of the Paganini Prize, a tireless musician and teacher.
At the heart of the project lies the need to preserve and promote the tradition of the Italian school of string instruments, and the desire to give maximum support to the artistic growth and professional training of young musical talents from Italy and all over the world. Maestro Accardo thus brought together the leading exponents of Italian music in Cremona, founding a class dedicated to each of the string instruments: Accardo, teacher of the violin course, was joined by Maestros Bruno Giuranna (viola and chamber music), Rocco Filippini (cello) and Franco Petracchi (double bass).
Within a short period of time, the Stauffer Academy’s courses became a point of reference for the most promising string instrumentalists, who, from this very experience took their first steps toward international careers.
Over almost 40 years of activity, the Stauffer Academy has trained many winners of international competitions, renowned soloists and orchestral professors, including many Principals. Furthermore, a great number of chamber ensembles trained at the Academy are now sought-after by festivals and concert institutions. Since 2010, in order to provide further support to chamber music,
the Stauffer Academy has opened a string quartet course, taught by the Quartetto di Cremona (Cristiano Gualco, Paolo Andreoli, Simone Gramaglia and Giovanni Scaglione).
Since 2015, the cello class has been led by Maestro Antonio Meneses.
Since its origins, the Stauffer Academy has guaranteed tuition-free access to all courses, a further support to the artistic growth of young musicians.
In 2021, the Foundation inaugurated its new headquarters at Palazzo Stauffer, a space of over 2000 square meters that was completely renovated to be functional to music education. Thanks to the new location, the Stauffer Academy expanded its educational offer, introducing a new annual course: the Concertmaster Artist Programme, devoted to the preparation of the orchestra Leader and taught by the Concertmasters from major European orchestras (including the Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia National Academy, the Orchestras of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Concertgebouw, the London Symphony Orchestra, and many others). The Academy also launched a programme of instrumental Masterclasses, featuring some of the most prominent musicians on the international scene; artistic residencies, for artistic and educational exchanges with some of the world’s most prestigious academies and universities (including Royal College of Music, Juilliard School, Yale School of Music); Stauffer Labs, creative departments for musicological research, composition, lutherie, musical production and innovation, artistic management.
