The reconstruction project of the new music-centered school (and Conservatory campus) is underway
An integrated project system: after the Sarnano high school with a musical curricula, and after the Muccia pre-school and elementary school, the Andrea Bocelli Foundation is concentrating its efforts on Camerino, a picturesque town in the Marche region that was one of the places most affected by the 2016 earthquake, in order to build a new music-centered school, operating within an agreement with the Conservatory of Fermo.
The SMS Solidarity Campaign will be dedicated to this new exciting project and will be active from July 24 until August 3, 2019. By dialing 45580 from Italian phones lines you can donate 2 euro (cell phones) or 5 euro (from landline). Alternatively you can make a donation via wire transfer at: IT 34 H 05232 71030 000000016610
Camerino is a hilltop town in the province of Macerata, an artistic and cultural center of particular importance, with a wealth of academic tradition that has seen it have an active university for almost 700 years.
The town essentially lost its Music Hall during the tragic earthquake, which was severely damaged and, moreover, is located in the heart of the old town center, which, as of today, is still inaccessible.
Before the earthquake, the Hall played a key role in music production and education activities, benefiting the community and the nearby towns, often putting on events that were of national interest.
The Camerino music association “Adesso Music” was at the helm of this brilliant educational and cultural center and was the star of the musical life of the area through its two sections: on the one hand, there was the “Nelio Biondi” Musical Institute operating under an agreement with the “G.B. Pergolesi” Conservatory in Fermo on many projects and the promoter of prestigious competitions and artistic productions. On the other, there was the “Città di Camerino” Band/Orchestra of Fiati, a fundamentally important musical institution tout court, not to mention socially and educationally significant, as it involved 70 collaborators, with a full concert schedule. In 2018 alone, for example it held 32 concerts in Camerino and 9 in other towns, despite the logistical precariousness and the “makeshift” spaces for rehearsals.
The new ABF project looks to give Camerino back its Music Hall, to the benefit of over 160 students. Thanks to the collaboration in agreement with the Conservatory of Fermo, the new building will be able to hold not only the lessons for enrolled students, but will also act as a Conservatory campus, taking on an even more important role within the area.
This will see the Municipality of Camerino, local associations, the University, music-centered high schools and the Conservatory of Fermo all involved, with the latter – as already noted – exceptionally granting a long-term agreement.
As with the “Leopardi” school in Sarnano and the “De Amicis” school in Muccia, ABF will not only construct the building, but – together with the institutions mentioned above – it will embark on a path to bolster and make the music-centered building self-sustainable, establishing it within a network with the other local and national experiences organized and managed by ABF.
The new building will be built using modern, anti-seismic construction techniques. It will house themed classrooms, common spaces and an auditorium.
The land that the Municipality has made available to the new building is right in front of the new university campus. After all, as Camerino is a city of art and a city of culture, the university and music have always been its beating heart and the focal points around which the community came to life and organized itself.
The earthquakes put both of these outstanding pair to the test, as the Dean’s Office, the Law School and the Computer Science Department, as well as some science labs and classrooms, were severely damaged.
Starting again with these two areas to give the entire community new points of reference means giving Camerino not only hope, but also an identity that, in the two years following the earthquake, it has steadfastly tried to preserve and that today is in need of tangible symbols.
