The history of the Arturo Toscanini Conservatory-ISSM of Ribera

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The Arturo Toscanini Conservatory was founded in 1991 by the former Regional Province of Agrigento as a Provincial Music Institute to meet the consistent demand and the right to musical study in the territory, until then lacking, of a specific public training center of quality and professional musical instruction; 35 years later, the demand has grown considerably with a much larger number of users who now come from all over Sicily, from other regions and from foreign countries (CHINA, MALTA, VENEZUELA, GERMANY, EGYPT); this is thanks to the renewal and expansion of the educational offer (which today has 32 degree courses of the Classical, Jazz and Pop Rock Departments) to technological innovation, computerization as well as to the quality of the services and training and production activities provided. The equalization of the State Conservatories of Music, obtained in 2003 with the Decree of the President of the Sicilian Region, and the accreditation in the national AFAM system, conferred in 2009 by the Ministry of University and Research following strict checks on the quality targets achieved, commits the Institute to carry out European didactic courses under Law 508/99, which provides to the reform of the sector under the supervision of the AFAM Department to the previously mentioned Ministry. Although since 2009, by Ministerial approval of the Statute of Autonomy, the Institute has been transformed “ope legis” into the Superior Institute of Musical Studies – ISSM, a Public Institution of University level able to issue First and Second Level Academic Diplomas in Musical Disciplines, and despite also the Academic Diplomas in Musical Disciplines of the old system have been equated to the Degrees by Law 268/02 for the purposes of access to public competitions, the Institute obtained the promotion to become State Conservatoire with Ministerial Decree n. 1178 on 14 October 2022 after a complicated process and a severe evaluation of an inter-ministerial commission, brilliantly overcome.

The new system is in line with the Lisbon Treaty and the Bologna Process and is identical to university courses, therefore structured with the European system of training credits (transferable to EU countries with the ETCS system) for the mutual recognition of studies carried out, to allow international student mobility through special programs such as the Lifelong Learning Programme – Erasmus EU and Non-EU which, as confirmed by the official MUR statistical data, has significantly increased in recent years.

From 2016 onwards, with the establishment of the new Governance, the Conservatory has achieved important and tangible results through a strategy of great revival which, albeit in the most difficult and critical years of its history, has led it to achieve the most important objectives in terms of: a new appropriate and definitive location, a complete Offer with First and Second Level University Courses, an increase of enrolled students in Academic Courses of about 700%, high visibility with national and international events, and, within A.A.2021/22, the most awaited goal: the confirm of the Nationalization. Since then, in fact, despite the very serious economic criticality caused by the default of the Founding Body of the former Reg Province of Agrigento, which began in 2014 and was definitively overcome with the Nationalization and thanks to the involvement of all the Bodies involved (State, Region; Province and Municipality), the Institute has proven to be a virtuous and reactive institution from an economic point of view, innovative and competitive in terms of the quality and variety of the training offered on offer, and has successfully relaunched its teaching, production and internationalization activities, thus becoming increasingly attractive. The expansion of the educational offer, the great professionalism and the high artistic profile of the teachers, combined with the great commitment of all the staff, have made the educational courses attractive and worthy of attention also for students from other European and NON-EU countries from which requests for incoming Erasmus study mobility and enrolment continue to arrive. In order to strengthen and complement the professional training of young musicians, in recent years it has been considerably increased the activities of Production, Internationalization, Research, Third Mission with an average of 60-70 events per year of national and international importance thanks to Strategic agreements and memoranda of understanding signed with important institutional partners, Opera-Symphonic Theaters, International Festivals and Academies, EU and non-EU Conservatories, important Associations and Ministerial (MUR, MIC, SIAE) and European (Next Generation EU and the Representation in Italy of the European Commission) funds that the Conservatory has been able to intercept with special projects that have won prestigious national calls.

This strategy and overall vision of action has been successful and has allowed the Conservatory to deserve the most coveted and awaited goal, which is the promotion to the rank of State Conservatory, attributed as of 1 January 2023 by Decree of the Minister of University and Research no. 1178/2022, in addition to the prestigious Awards, Awards and achievements obtained nationally and internationally

THE DIRECTOR

Prof. Mariangela Longo