Piano
The keyboard as orchestra.
- Technique & repertoire6 h / wk
- Collaborative piano2 h / wk
- Harmony & analysis3 h / wk
- Studio recitaleach term
Ages 8 to adult · Audition required
Allegro con brio · est. 1921
Every life, set to music.
Aria & Forte is a conservatory in the old sense: daily practice, close listening, and teachers who sit beside you rather than in front of you. A hundred and five years of musicians. Four departments. No shortcuts.
Winter recital — Dec 12 · The Cadence Hall · Doors 19:00
Programmes of study
Four programmes, printed like the evenings they prepare you for.
Each course of study is a concert programme in miniature — a fixed order of work, week by week, from first sight-reading to final bow.
Strings
Violin, viola, cello, double bass.
- Private study4 h / wk
- Chamber ensembles3 h / wk
- Orchestra sectionals2 h / wk
- Masterclass seriesmonthly
Ages 6 to adult · Audition required
Voice
From art song to opera scenes.
- Voice studio3 h / wk
- Diction & languages2 h / wk
- Choral atelier3 h / wk
- Opera workshopspring
Ages 14 to adult · Audition required
Composition
Write it down. Hear it played.
- Composition seminar3 h / wk
- Counterpoint2 h / wk
- Orchestration2 h / wk
- Reading sessionseach term
Ages 12 to adult · Portfolio required
Faculty
The First Chairs.
Thirty-eight resident faculty. Four lead the departments — performers first, teachers by conviction.
Elena Marchetti
First Chair · Piano
Former soloist with the Meridian Philharmonic. Teaches tone before speed.
Tobias Lindqvist
First Chair · Strings
Concertmaster for twelve seasons. Insists that scales are music too.
Amara Solane
First Chair · Voice
Mezzo-soprano. Grew the diction studio from three languages to seven.
Henrik Vaughan
First Chair · Composition
Writes for film and concert hall. Grades in pencil, praises in ink.
Admissions
The rehearsal schedule.
Admission runs like a rehearsal: four measures, in strict time, then the downbeat of your first term.
Measure 1
Application
Sept 1 – Oct 15
A short form and a programme of two contrasting pieces of your choosing.
Measure 2
Recording round
by Nov 1
Unedited video, one take per piece. We listen to every submission, twice.
Measure 3
Live audition
Nov 22 – Dec 6
Fifteen minutes with the faculty panel, on stage in the Cadence Hall.
Measure 4
Offers & seating
Dec 19
Results by letter. Studio placement follows within the week.
Fine
Term begins Jan 12.0Years of instruction
0Resident faculty
0Practice rooms
0Student musicians
The recital hall
The Cadence Hall.
A 214-seat recital hall tuned for unamplified sound — lime plaster, oak floors, and a stage that has held every senior recital since 1931.
- Reverberation, occupied1.6 s
- Stage instruments2 grands
- Public recitals per year40+
The chart shows the stalls. Choose an open seat to hold it for the Winter Recital — gold seats are already spoken for.
No seat held — select any open seat.
Visiting
Open rehearsals, quietly.
The best way to know a conservatory is to hear it working. Slip in, sit at the back, leave when you like.
- Chamber Strings — Thursdays18:00
- Choral Atelier — Tuesdays17:30
- Composition Readings — first Friday19:00
No tickets. The side door on Cadence Row, ten minutes before.