2026

17 May: A special ESTA Italia event for the Association's 50th Anniversary, hosted within EUFONICA – The Music and Professions Trade Fair at Bologna Fiere. A day of concerts, workshops, and meetings celebrated the association's fifty years of activity through performances by the STRINGSforever orchestra, the Youth Orchestra of Piacenza, and the Mauro Catalano Orchestra. These were complemented by contributions from Diane Daly on Dalcroze eurhythmics, Raquel Castro on the Feldenkrais Method applied to string instruments, Markku Kaikkonen on music education as a right, and a testimony from Valentina Irlando, offering a look at the past, present, and future of string instrument pedagogy.

April: Meetings on Stage with venues in Milan, Bologna, Cava de' Tirreni (Sa), Novara and Lucca.

29 MarchPlayDay in Valeggio sul Mincio (Vr), at the splendid setting of Palazzo Guarienti.

14-15 February: ESTA Italy Refresher Course – “Neuromotor Skills and Musical Interpretation in String Instrument Teaching”. Two days of online training led by Dr. Cristina Bellu, dedicated to adapting teaching to the student's neuromotor profile and developing musical interpretation from the very first steps of instrumental study.

2025

8-9 November: ESTA Italia Training Course – “Colourstrings”. The Pasquinelli Foundation in Milan hosted two days of training held by Maestro Géza Szilvay, founder of the Colourstrings method, dedicated to deepening his innovative pedagogical approach for teaching string instruments to young children, alternating theoretical lessons, demonstrations, and practical activities.

28 September: ESTA Italia and Cremona Musica 2025 Event – “The Musician’s Sensory World: Neuroscience, Perception, Motor Control, and Aids in Bowed Instrument Pedagogy”. A seminar held by Prof. Anthony Mangiacotti, dedicated to the application of neuroscience and motor control to the pedagogy of bowed instruments, with a focus on the role of sensory perception and postural aids in musical learning.

April: Meetings on Stage with venues in Milan, Bologna, Cava de' Tirreni (Sa), Novara and Lucca.

23 MarchPlayDay in Casatenovo (Lecco), at the beautiful Villa Mariani, in collaboration with the Antonio Guarnieri School of Music.

15 and 16 February: Online Webinar - 'Developing musicality through improvisation' with Christian Howes, internationally renowned jazz violinist and top educator, former lecturer at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

2024

2 and 3 November: ESTA Italy in collaboration with ESTA Switzerland organises a refresher course entitled 'Music in Motion: The Dalcroze Method Applied to String Instruments'. Speakers:

Eugénia Arús, pianist and composer, professor of music pedagogy at the University of Barcelona.

Tina Strinning, former professor of violin and viola at the Lausanne Conservatory.

Ava Loiacono, Director of the Centro Studi Officine Dalcroze in Italy.

29 September: ESTA Italy and Cremona World Music 2024 event - "Notes of Tension: Psychological and Cerebral Impacts of Stress on Musical Performance". Interpreted and explained by Dr. Anthony Mangiacotti, researcher at Middlesex University in London and collaborator of the University of Padua. On stage, cellist Giacomo Cardelli, first cello of the 'La Fenice' Theatre Orchestra in Venice, accompanied on piano by Maestro Leonardo Bartelloni.

April: Meetings on Stage.

24 MarchPlayDay in Casatenovo (Lecco), at the beautiful Villa Mariani, in collaboration with the Antonio Guarnieri School of Music.

3 and 4 FebruaryWEBINAR in English with simultaneous translation into Italian "Simultaneous Learning" with Paul Harris. Course recognised by MIUR.

2023

26 and 27 September: Body Mapping seminar, music in movement by Jennifer Johnson and Claire Stefani with the collaboration of Prof. Anna Modesti.

24 September: Sunday at the Cremonamusica fair, Body Mapping, playing and feeling better through anatomical awareness.

April/May: Meetings on Stage.

February: Update courses recognised by the MIUR (online):

Prof. Anna Modesti, 'Neuroscience and Music': The nervous system and its involvement in musical activities.

2022

September: Simon Fisher, 'Principles of Sound Production in String Instruments'.

April/May: Meetings on Stage with venues in Milan, Bologna, Cava de' Tirreni (Sa), Comacchio (Fe), Castelfranco Veneto (Tv) and Pontedera (Pi)

February: Update courses recognised by the MIUR (online):

Prof. Dr. phil. Nicolai Petrat, 'Motivating to Play. Neurodidactic perspectives and pathways to improve musical performance'.

2021

October: MIUR-recognised online refresher course:

Geza Silvay: Colourstrings.

April/May: Palconline (with some performers in Cremona).

February: MIUR-recognised online refresher course:

Anna Modesti: From the first reading to the concert hall.

2020

22-26 June: Cremona String Quartet Camp (suspended for Covid-19).

May: Review of young instrumentalists (suspended for Covid-19).

19 April: PlayDay Cremona with the participation of the Helsinki Spring Orchestra (postponed to a date to be announced for Covid-19).

April: Italian report on Sevcik (Drasarova) at the Porto 2020 International Congress (postponed to September).

March April: Meetings on Stage (suspended for Covid-19).

2019

OctoberESTA-Italy National Congress Torchiara (SA).

June 2: PlayDay Verdi for string orchestra at the Verdi Theatre in Busseto.

May: Review of young instrumentalists.

April 26 / May 1: ESTA International Congress in Cremona.

March April: Meetings on Stage Milan, Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì, Capua.

2018

OctoberESTA-Italy National Congress Torchiara (SA).

September: MondoMusica Cremona.

Presentation of the ESTA 2019 international congress in Cremona.

(Interview with ESTA International President M. Bruno Giuranna by Luca Sanzò).

(Concert by the Accelerando Quartet of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana).

May: Review of young instrumentalists.

March 18: PlayDay Cremona.

March April: Incontri in Palcoscenico Milan, Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì.