Theresia Academy, a training scheme for professional development skills

By Emilia Campagna - November 21, 2023

Ready for the Theresia Academy? Our capacity building programme, a series of seminars implemented as part of the EU funded EMPOWER project, is off to its second run and we are looking forward to it.
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Ready for the Theresia Academy? Our capacity building programme, a series of seminars implemented as part of the EU funded EMPOWER project, is off to its second run and we are looking forward to it.

In today’s music industry, and especially in the freelance-heavy HIP world, musicians face numerous challenges. In response, we launched this comprehensive training initiative in 2022 with the aim of enhancing our ability to foster the development of the young talents who join our orchestra. We strongly believe that for emerging musicians to flourish, progress, and acquire the indispensable skills needed for a successful professional career, it is imperative to not only provide valuable opportunities for studying and performing music in both orchestral and chamber settings but also to provide training in communication, well-being, and management.

A glimpse into the new catalogue unveils a wealth of offerings, incorporating 14 seminars that cover excellence in artistic performance, organizational proficiency, economic and managerial acumen, digital and technological expertise, personal growth and well-being, and a special focus on ecological transition.

Participants provided positive feedback after the inaugural year of implementing this training scheme, which is led by experts associated with ICONS, the foundation overseeing and supporting Theresia. We have leveraged all the feedback received in order to improve our offerings and now present a series of courses designed for both online and in-person engagement, featuring practical tutorials and opportunities for meaningful dialogue with teachers. The improved training modules now include additional learning aids to better suit the different learning styles or our students. We provide full support to the learning experience through interviews and coaching, accompanying our students in building a complete professional profile and choosing choosing the courses that align best with their individual needs.

In short, we tried to put ourselves as much as possible in the shoes of a young musician at the start of their career, and this is what we have in store for them: a digital learning environment that allows musicians to learn at their own pace, with individual learning paths designed in response to individual needs, and there’s lots of room for one-to-ones with tutors during dedicated sessions within small groups.

Musical knowledge

The lectures focusing on musical competence and knowledge span from deepening “Specific aspects of organology of the classical period” and “How to read the ancient literary musical sources” to an in-depth analysis of Traetta’s Rex Salomon, and the influence of the Neapolitan opera on the Classical Instrumental Style. The teachers in this module are musicologists Simone Laghi, Vanni Moretto and Guido Olivieri.

Organizational, economic and managerial skills

These modules will focus on developing organizational, economic and managerial skills and includes personalised coaching on musical business ideas: for example, how to develop a creative project, or how to go about setting up your own ensemble. find performing opportunities and develop your artistic ideas. Creating a budget can be daunting: this economic management module will get you on your way with the help of Business Strategist Claudia Crippa.

Digital skills and communication

Communicating about what we do is essential to find new performance opportunities, to network and to widen our collaborations: how can you differentiate your online presence in a way that is true to yourself and your style? The communication workshops offer hands-on tips and tricks, whether you want to improve on the management of your social media presence, increase your follower and fan-base, or share your experiences in a visual or narrative form on a blog. Communication experts Charlotte Michi, Oyku Dogan and journalist Emilia Campagna can get you going.

Well-being

What about physical and mental wellness? It is often neglected in favour of multiple commitments, but only with a fit body and mind the challenges of a demanding career in terms of physical commitment, travel, and tension can be met. Training is provided in postural techniques and Gyrokinesis© classes specifically designed for musicians. There’s also a class exploring the relation between emotional intelligence and individual performance, which can evolve into a personalized coaching track if desired. Human Resources specialist and professional coach Alessandra Calzarossa and soprano and Gyrokinesis trainer Laura Catrani are teaching in the well-being module.

Ecological transition

Speaking of travel, this can be an issue in terms of carbon footprint: in our times we need to ask ourselves how we can adopt behaviours that are as sustainable as possible, but might not well know how to bring these into a professional context. With ICONS’ Corporate and Social Responsibility Manager Veronica Meneghello, we have developed a module specifically designed to explore environmental awareness and encourage behavioural change.

In short, we tried to put ourselves as much as possible in the shoes of a young musician embarking on their career, and the Theresia Academy is our dedicated answer tailored to their professional development

With this wealth of content, we are confident to empower our musicians with the skills and tools necessary for a freelance musician of today by leaving a positive impact on the shaping of their careers. Ready to get started? Follow us on our channels for more news or head over to the training section on our website.

How to empower the youth: getting to the heart of the Ambassadorship Project

By Emilia Campagna - August 11, 2022

Not only scores and music: Theresia is much more than that, especially for musicians involved in our “Ambassador Project”.
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Not only scores and music: Theresia is much more than that, especially for musicians involved in our Ambassadorship Project.

What is the Ambassadorship Project?

Music needs people studying and playing it, but also people able to divulge, communicate and promote it. And not necessarily they have to be different people. Actually, gaining soft skills in the field of communication can empower young musicians and help them build solid careers. That’s at the core of our EU-funded project EMPOWER, an important part of which is trying to engage new audiences, especially the youth, and this is where the Ambassadorship Project catches on. To do so, over the course of three years, a total of nine young musicians, representing nine different European countries, will be Ambassadors and Ambassadresses, embodying and transmitting the core values of classical music and its importance to their countries.

First to be Ambassadresses are Anna Krzyżak from Poland, Léna Ruisz from Hungary, and Irina Fârtat from Romania, with the task of promoting HIP in their own countries and engaging new audiences through their own and/or Theresia’s activity.

Getting to the heart of the Ambassadorship Project: the workshop

Our job with the Ambassadresses started with an intense four-day co-creation workshop: initially, ICONS’ experts (Social media manager Oyku Dogan, Journalist & Blogger Emilia Campagna, Videomaker Luca Meneghel, and Graphic designer Orazio Di Maria) gave them information and explanations about various types of communication: graphic, multimedia, and written materials, included in a Handbook made available to the participants. From the golden rules in writing a blog post to how to organize graphically information, from managing the process of filming to navigating the over-crowded world of social media: the points experts dealt with in the Handbook were multiple and all of them were sharing a priority: how to define our audience and target, establish our tone of voice and then lay out the hierarchy of information we want to convey.

Particularly, we devoted the first day to jointly discussing the new target audiences, the key messages, and the channels and formats that may better reach a new audience. All three Ambassadresses decided to target different groups of young people: children for Irina, who wants to promote a music atelier; young talented musicians for Anna, who wants to reach the talented young people of the Polish Children’s Fund, a foundation that organizes courses and insights for children (up to 18 years); young musicians studying in the conservatory or university for Léna, who plans to produce in-depth materials on HIP.

Speaking of materials, Ambassadresses were invited right away to put into action what they were learning: during the workshop, they produced videos, leaflets and blog posts. Specifically, they created leaflets to illustrate and promote their own teaching activity or explain to the audience what HIP (historically informed performance) means; videos were even more creative, with tutorials about how to change gut strings and how to put on make-up before a concert. Coming to blog posts… well, you will have the chance to read them because we are going to publish them and keep a special place for Ambassadress’s contributions.

It goes without saying that the experience was extremely positive: Léna enjoyed “the friendly atmosphere and the collegiality. I learnt that I am not one for marketing on social media. I am super happy to have a platform (on Theresia’s website) where I have the chance to post in-depth and also lighter articles about early music.” Anna appreciated particularly the first day of the co-creation workshop: “That is because we worked on keywords, and we all got to know what the Ambassador Program is actually about. It was amazing to see how creative everyone was. We inspired each other, and we eventually came up with some nice and catchy sentences. It was a real brainstorm, and it somehow pushed me into creating my own idea of what I want to do as an Ambassador.” Irina was happy that “Every day we did something different, from brainstorming together to learning how to edit video and create materials to attract new audiences. It was a great experience and I love that I get to be still in contact with the creators of the workshop, so I am motivated, and my brain is constantly on fire, trying to come up with new ideas.”

And regarding expectations and possible developments of their careers thanks to things they have learnt, Irina is aware that “in a world that is constantly evolving and changing, if we want classical music to survive, we have to find new ways to bring it closer to the people, and to attract new audiences. This workshop gave me the tools to make myself heard, and to promote culture and classical music, whilst stimulating my creativity and imagination.” Léna reckons that now she has “a better overview of the marketing options thanks to the very well-together-put Handbook by you guys” whereas Anna thinks that “all the things that I learned during the workshop were hugely interesting, and I find them very useful for my musical path. The one that I find the most valuable is that I will learn how to communicate with foundations, institutions etc. Of course, it is a process that will be developed during the years, but I think that this is a very good beginning.”