MSQ Rome 2024

There is perhaps no better way to understand the concept of ‘genius’ than to consider the lives and works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni.

Fountains of creativity, both artists produced works that have ennobled our civilization and to this day provide us each with the sublime awe we perceive at the perfection of a mere turn of a phrase or the shape of a line.

Michelangelo had a profound impact on the culture of Italy during the High Renaissance and, in the time he spent in Italy during his early years, Mozart was deeply influenced by Italian music and art.  We can only imagine his reaction to the Sistine Chapel when he received a medal there from Pope Clement XIV in 1770!

We feel so fortunate to be able to devote our time to the study of these great masters.

We look forward to expanding both our appreciation and understanding and hope you will be able to join us.

MSQ —

Mozart’s Quartet

Our primary artistic focus will be our study of Mozart’s Quartet in E flat , K428 from 1783. The 3rd of his six Quartets dedicated to his great contemporary, Franz Joseph Haydn, Mozart’s homage is filled with adventurous harmonies and subtle pranks clearly in pointed praise of his treasured mentor. Oh, to have been there at their first reading!

Applicants are accepted either as individual players who will be placed into quartets on a daily basis or as formed quartets. All will receive coaching by the members of the Manhattan String Quartet and our colleague, Dr. David Clampitt in five morning sessions.

David Clampitt – Lecture

David Clampitt

Dr. David Clampitt, our prized resident theorist, will guide us through the secrets of form and harmony in Mozart’s fascinating Quartet. Mr. Clampitt puts us in the composer’s mind and offers vitally important insight towards our understanding of how great works of art are constructed.

David’s unique gift is to make analysis applicable to the performer, using demonstrations by the Manhattan Quartet!

Jan Swafford – Lecture

Jan Swafford: composer & author

It is our distinct pleasure to have Jan Swafford with us in Rome!
Mr. Swafford is a renowned author and composer whose most recent publication is his brilliant biography of Mozart, The Reign of Love.
Jan will deliver his unique perspective in our opening lecture and speak to us about Mozart’s formative years spent in Italy. We will learn how the traditions of Italian opera contributed to his sense of melody and style and helped shape his mature voice.

MICHELANGELO

Michelangelo di Ludovico Buonarroti Simoni was certainly one of the most important and influential artists of our civilization. His eminence as sculptor, painter and architect has only increased over the five centuries since the High Renaissance.

Rome is blessed with many of Michelangelo’s masterworks in each of his genres. These include his magnificent frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, both on the ceiling and the altar wall, located in the Vatican Museums. Just next door in St. Peter’s Basilica is his sublime sculpture, The Madonna della Pieta, or simply ‘the Pieta’ which he completed at age 23. And his design of the Dome of St. Peter’s presides over all of Vatican City with its timeless elegance.

We will devote a full day to a private, guided visit to encounter these masterpieces.

Daniella Hunt – Lecture

Daniella Hunt

In preparation our resident Rome scholar and guide par excellence, Daniella Hunt, will whet our artistic appetites with an afternoon talk about the life and works of this great master.

MANHATTAN STRING QUARTET – Concert

American Academy of Rome

The Manhattan Quartet’s concert will be held on Friday evening at the elegant American Academy of Rome. We are honored that this august institution will host our concert. The Academy is at the pinnacle of scholarly and artistic research in Rome and is the residence for winners of the Rome Prize. The American Academy’s alumni in music are a veritable who’s who of 20th and 21st century American composers.

The Villa Aurelia on the American Academy’s campus is located on Janiculum Hill, a short walk from our hotel.

Critically acclaimed as one of America’s leading ensembles, the MANHATTAN STRING QUARTET is celebrating its 50th season this year. Hailed by Michael Steinberg of the Boston Globe as “a national treasure,” the Manhattan Quartet has appeared throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, Mexico and South America. Notable among its many recordings is the complete cycle of fifteen Shostakovich string quartets which TIME Magazine called “One of the most important musical events of 1991”.

The group has been Quartet-in-Residence at Colgate University since 1988 and has also held similar posts at the Manhattan School of Music, Cornell University, Grinnell College, Western Connecticut State University, the Chamber Music Institute in Racine, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Interlochen National Music Camp (for 21 summers). In 2011, in collaboration with the Sarajevo Academy of Music, the Manhattan Quartet established the Sarajevo Chamber Music Festival.

Since 1989 the Manhattan String Quartet has hosted annual teaching and performing conferences in the United States and Europe for pre-professional quartets and amateur players.

“The players come to the music with circumspection and unflagging intensity.”
-THE NEW YORK TIMES

“A national treasure”
-THE BOSTON GLOBE

DAVID CLAMPITT is a music theorist and violinist, Professor-Emeritus at Ohio State University, where he taught from 2008 to 2023, having been previously on the faculty of Yale University, 1997-2008. The author of many articles and book chapters, he is a recipient of the Emerging Scholar and Outstanding Publication Awards from the national Society for Music Theory. A founding member of the Algonquin String Quartet during his years as a violinist in New York City, he has been a regular member and occasional soloist with Orchestra New England in New Haven and has appeared as a recitalist at Yale. He continues playing chamber music as well as doing music theory research. Since 2003, on every one of the Manhattan String Quartet’s European musical adventures, he has given—together with the Quartet—his popular lecture/demonstrations.

Jan Swafford is an American composer and author. He earned his bachelor of arts magna cum laude from Harvard College and his DMA in composition from the Yale School of Music. His music has been widely played by ensembles, including the symphonies of St. Louis, Indianapolis and the Dutch Radio.

He is the author of biographies of Ives, Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart. His many honors include an NEA Composer Grant and the Deems Taylor Award. He is a longtime program writer and preconcert lecturer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and has written notes and essays for the orchestras of Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit and Toronto. Among his liner notes for  recordings are those for Deutsche Grammophon’s anniversary release of Beethoven’s nine symphonies by the Vienna Philharmonic.

Participating Musicians:
Single Room — USD $ 3,800
Double Room — USD $ 3,400

Non-playing Guests and Spouses:
Single Room — USD $ 3,100
Double Room — USD $ 2,800

FEES INCLUDE: 7 nights lodging at the Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli, Rome, Italy; daily breakfast and lunch, welcome reception and dinner; farewell dinner and all conference activities.

A non-refundable deposit of $500 per participant and $300 per guest or spouse is required and must be included with your application form. In the case of applicants whom we are not able to accept, deposits will be returned. Prices do not include transportation to Rome, Italy.

The Conference begins with dinner on Sunday evening, January 14 and ends with breakfast the following Sunday, January 21. All additional tour activities, including pre- and post-conference tours and guest and spouse tours, will require additional payments.

Cello rentals are available. Contact Manhattan String Quartet for rental fees and other details.

The Manhattan Quartet is aware of the recent rise in COVID infections and we are monitoring the situation, both here in the USA and in Rome, as closely as possible. Please know the health and protection of our participants is our primary concern. To this end we may be compelled to require all of the usual safeguards including testing, proof of vaccination and the wearing of masks.

Application and Deposit Deadline: October 16, 2023

Final Acceptance Notification: October 23, 2023

Full Payment Due: November 6, 2023

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The faculty welcomes pre-formed quartets as well as individual musicians. Acceptance will depend upon the number of applicants and the need for balanced instrumentation in assembling the participants into full quartets. We will accept 40 playing participants and an unlimited number of guests and spouses.

Non-playing guests and spouses are required to fill out a separate application form. Just select the guest option for the application type when filling out the application form. There is no limit for Guests and Spouses.

Acceptance will depend upon the number of applicants and the need for balanced instrumentation in assembling the participants into full quartets.

Pre-formed quartets will be immediately accepted.

We have transitioned to an online application/registration process and no longer offer paper forms for download. If you need help registering, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Payment in full is due by November 6, 2023.
No refunds after November 6, 2023, except for those we are not able to accept.

We strongly recommend personal travel insurance to cover the possibility of your unexpected cancellation.

Neither Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli nor MSQ Enterprises, Inc. is responsible for personal property or personal injury.
REGISTER EARLY AS ENROLLMENT IS LIMITED!

Here is the schedule of the Post and Pre Conference Tours for Rome to help you make your travel plans. As always, these will be memorable guided tours and will entail separate fees and extra hotel nights.