Origin and motivation

We have all experienced that sort of barrier which, while listening to a classical piece, does not let us fully live and embracing it, and keeps us away from truly enjoying the music; we feel an uneasy sensation of not being able to follow its complexity, of not getting the point of it, which often translates into boredom or mind absence. It is not a secret that an unusually large part of the audience of classical music concerts is made of people who are musicians themselves, while non-musician music lovers occupy a sadly low portion of the world of classical music.
But why does this happen?

Professional musicians acquire a whole lot of knowledge about music through many years of training, which is necessary to shape a competent performer. It is for sure practical and technical, but also interpretative and overall cultural.
In order to become good musicians, we need to learn every aspect of the subject: this pool of information is taught to build up and enhance performance, and a significant part of it revolves around building up a deep understanding of music in general and detail, because the player’s task is to convey musical ideas to the audience, and there cannot be communication without understanding.
This knowledge is the reason why musicians become also good listeners, and are able to enjoy music much more than the average person.

What pushed me to start teaching Classical Music Quality Listening is the conviction that this interpretative and cultural knowledge can be acquired by anyone, and does not necessarily need to be part of a broader (and technical) musical training. In other words, it is possible to teach how to listen to classical music with the awareness, understanding and enjoyment of an actual musician, without being able to play an instrument.
The formation of sharp-minded, active listeners of classical music is the aim of my courses. It is my aid to all those who have always wanted to overcome that barrier which keeps them away from this wonderful art, and my contribution to a world which dramatically needs more good listeners, rather than more good performers.