06/07/2026
Some words from our Director Flavio Villani - Pianist
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A few moments from some of my students last week at our mid-year gala at L'Accademia - Music School.
One of the biggest myths in music education is that musicality can't be taught.
I don't believe that for a second.
Technique matters enormously. We spend countless hours understanding how the body moves, how tension is released, how different gestures create different sounds. But technique is only half of the conversation.
The other half is learning to listen.
To imagine a sound before producing it. To hear phrases, colours, direction, harmony and character with the inner ear, and then gradually discover how the body can bring those sounds into the world.
My goal is never to have students reproduce my interpretation. It is to help them develop the tools to make informed musical choices of their own.
The notes on the page are not the music itself. They are an approximation – a way of capturing musical ideas that first existed in the composer's imagination. A score is not a set of instructions to obey mechanically, but a map to be understood.
A quaver or a crotchet does not carry the same weight simply because of its written value. Its meaning changes according to where they sit within the meter, the harmonic journey, the phrase, etc: every note exists within a living musical context, not in isolation.
Learning to play musically means learning to hear those relationships, to understand why a phrase breathes the way it does, and then discovering how the body can bring that imagined sound into reality.
The performances below aren't musical because I told them where every crescendo should go or how every phrase should breathe. They're musical because these young musicians are learning to hear, to question, to experiment, and to trust their ears.
No, they aren't perfect — and they don't need to be. What fills me with pride is hearing how profoundly each of them has grown since their very first lesson with me — and how they have overcome many technical challenges they first came to me with. The difference isn't simply that they play more notes correctly; it's that they now have a voice, and they are beginning to understand how to shape it.
To me, talent isn't a mysterious gift bestowed on a lucky few. It's the willingness to listen deeply, to remain curious, and to return to the craft again and again with patience and intention.
Watching students discover their own musical voice is one of the greatest privileges of teaching."
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These are excerpts from three of our performers last week. More to follow.
Featuring: Chopin Waltz in B minor, Beethoven Sonata Op.27 n.1 and Ginastera 3 Danzas Argentinas.
