Travel
Ischia is an island in the Bay of Naples. There are direct international flights into the Naples airport (NAP). There is inexpensive bus service from the airport to the ferry terminals at the harbor.
Since there are more flights available through Rome, some participants choose to use those airports, then taking the one-hour train ride to Naples.
From Naples to Ischia you must use a ferry service, which have schedules listed here.
By Auto Ferry:
CAREMAR and MEDMAR: provide year-round service from Naples (1h and 15 min.) and Pozzuoli (50 min.) to Ischia. These Ferries can take vehicles to the island and reservations for vehicles are required. Passengers do not need reservations. For information please visit http://www.caremar.it or call (0039) 081-580-5111, or www.medmargroup.it or call (0039) 081-333-4411
By Hi-Speed Ferry:
A state-of-the-art High Speed Catamaran and the high-speed ferries provide year-round service from Naples to Ischia . The ferries depart from the Molo Beverello Pier in Naples and docks in Ischia Pier in under 50 minutes. Please visit www.caremar.it or call (0039) 081-580-5111, or www.medmargroup.it or call (0039) 081-333-4411 for schedules and more information.
Participants flying to Rome
There are hourly high speed trains from Roma’s Termine central station to Naple’s central station. The trains can be booked here www.trenitalia.com.
From Naples train central station, use the Metro, or city bus lines to get to the Molo Beverello Pier for the ferry to Ischia. Google maps has an accurate description of the options.
Note: traffic in central Naples can significantly delay taxis, so your should include that in our travel plans.
Besides your instrument, you should bring comfortable clothes appropriate to the mediterrean climate. Some people enjoy wearing nice clothes for dinner in the evening. However, we encourage casual attire for the workshops during the day. There is 10 minute walk from the festival site and the hotel and local restaurants, so bring comfortable walking shoes
Accommodations
This year’s workshop will be held at the Residence La Rosa, near the town of Forio. Daily coached sessions will be at the hotel for your convenience. You have the option of single, double, triple, or four-person rooms. After you are registered, someone will work with you to choose the room you want.
Note: The workshop has special prices for the workshop, different from the ones on the hotel’s web site. The prices include breakfast and dinner, with 1/2 bottle of water and 1/4 liter of wine.
Costs
Key Largo Association Membership (Only for players participants) : € 600,00
10% discount for pre-formed groups.
10% discount for registering and paying before 9 January 2023.
Lodging and board costs:
Single room € 684,00 (plus €16 tourist tax)
Double room € 524,00 per person (plus €16 tourist tax per person)
Triple room € 424,00 per person (plus €16 tourist tax per person)
Quadruple room € 384,00 per person (plus €16 tourist tax per person)
The costs include breakfast and dinner, a bottle of water and of wine per person.
Participation in the workshop is included in the annual membership in the Key Largo club.
Key Largo Membership Benefits
Member subscription are entitled to all events sponsored by Key Largo Association and its partners, including:
- Participation in the Ischia Chamber Music workshop with coaches
- Free entrance to public concerts
- Special rates at the workshop resort
- Short workshop and master classes with experts
- Discounts other activities including tours
- Discounts on other Chamber Music workshops sponsored by Key Largo Association and its partners.
Please check the calendar to see the full list of Key Largo Association events.
Yes, thanks to the generosity of our partners, there are limited number of scholarships for the workshop. These are intended to support bringing in younger, experienced players who can contribute to learning across the groups. Qualifications for the scholarship include:
- Amateur musicians between 18 and 26 years of age;
- At least five years of experience playing chamber music;
- Interest in and willingness to help other musicians;
- Currently working with a teacher.
To be considered for the scholarship, please fill out this form.
Applications will be fully accepted after workshop payment is received.
We accept payment via International Bank Wire transfers with funds deposited in Euros. The information you will need for the transfer is:
To: ASSOCIAZIONE KEY LARGO
Bank: BPER BANCA S.P.A.
POZZUOLI PIAZZA DELLA REPUBBLICA
IBAN IT07Q0538740101000042980020
BIC BPMOIT22XXX
Please, in the Reason for Payment box to write:”Associazione Culturale Key Largo Membership fee”.
After you are registered, our staff will work with you to arrange payment for accommodations by credit card, either through us or directly with the hotel.
Participants
The festival welcomes young and adult musicians at all levels and all classical music instruments. We usually have a good mix of very experienced and new players. We match groups based on their experience and interests and the difficulty of the pieces.
And we have players from all over the world, so you will hear many languages spoken. We generally use English or Italian to communicate in group settings, since those two languages are most commonly understood by all players. So you should have a basic understanding of musical terms in one of those two languages.
Most of our past participants enjoy making new friends from these diverse backgrounds. You will get the most for your Ischia experience if you are open to people of different backgrounds.
Yes, we welcome all instruments.
Yes, we welcome pre-formed groups.
Yes, we can provide quality string instruments at a modest additional cost. If you want to rent an instrument, please check that box on the registration form. We will contact you about the details.
Coaches
Keith Bowen, clarinet, has qualified in musicology since retiring from his scientific career, obtaining an MA in Music (with Distinction) at the Open University (UK) and a PhD at the Royal College of Music, London. He specialized in classical-period performance practice and in the history and acoustics of the bass clarinet, winning a University prize and two international awards for his research. He is an active chamber music and orchestral performer on clarinet, basset horn and bass clarinet, currently with the British Clarinet Ensemble. Keith is also Vice-President of Kammermusik Workshops based in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, which runs woodwind chamber music workshops for amateur adult players in Santa Fe and Oxford, England, in which he frequently coaches and directs the large woodwind ensembles, often with his own arrangements. He has studied clarinet with Lesley Schatzberger (UK), Lori Lovato (New Mexico Symphony), and Forest Aten (Dallas Opera) and bass clarinet with Sarah Watts (soloist, UK) and Michael Harris (Royal College of Music).
Was born in Ukraine. At the age of 17 moved to study at the Saint – Petersburg Conservatory.Already at the of 20 was a Principal Bassoonist and soloist in State Chamber Orchestra. In 1989 Mr. Fine immigrated to Israel where continued Solo and orchestra duties.
All his life, Alexander teaching music on different instruments: Bassoon, Baroque Bassoon and Oboe, Chamber and Orchestra music.
Graduated in cello at the age of 19 at the State Conservatory of Music of Salerno, he immediately joined the Italian Youth Orchestra at the Fiesole Music School where he also attended chamber music courses held by Amedeo Baldovino , Maureen Jones, Milan Skampa. He studied for many years with Arturo Bonucci, obtaining a diploma of advanced studies at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, with Giacinto Caramia, Andrea Noferini and Luigi Piovano at the Music Academy of Pescara. From 1996 to 1998 he was Arturo Bonucci’s assistant at the international specialization courses in Riva del Garda. From 1999 to 2007 he held the role of first cello at the lyric-symphonic orchestra of the Teatro di tradition G. di Stefano in Trapani and has had professional positions with various cultural institutions including the Music Conservatories of Messina, Palermo and the INDA of Syracuse. During this time he has worked with internationally renowned soloists and conductors. He was also hired as first cello at the Vittorio Emanuele Theater of Messina, the Orchestra of the Taormina Opera Festival, the Vincenzo Bellini Symphonic Orchestra of Catania, the City of Ravello Orchestra. He has an intense concert activity to his credit which has seen him the winner of numerous national and international competitions both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles.
Ms. Niglio got her violin diploma in 1993 at the Conservatory of Bolzano with Christian Anziger. In 2004 she got her viola diploma. Giuseppina performs internationally in several orchestras and chamber music groups.
Her experiences range from classical to pop music.
Pina had many masterclass with great chamber music players like
Alain Meunier, Cristiano Rossi, Danilo Rossi, Miriam Dal Don and Gabriele Pierannunzi.
Ms. Niglio is the founder of the “Scuola d’Archi Salernitana”, promoting masterclass for young students held by great teachers like Stefano Pagliani, Christian Anzinger, Alessandro Perpic, Ulriche Hofmann. Pina is a violin teacher at music high school De Filippis-Galdi in Cava de’ Tirreni, Italy.
Ms, Squitieri, has performs piano concerts since childhood both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles, including winning awards in national and international competitions. Among her various activities, she has was accompanist for distinguished musicians such as Tamiati, Fabrizi, Fuchs and others.
Born and raised in Italy, Aldo de Vero studied piano at the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatory, at the Accademia Chigiana, and with renowned pianist Bruno Canino. He is a dedicated advocate of contemporary music and in particular of American Composers. He has performed many works by American composers in his solo recitals and with the Appalachian Ensemble including music by John Cage, George Crumb, Morton Feldman, Henry Cowell, Ernest Bloch, Samuel Barber and a rewarding first performance in Italy of “Three Quarter Tone Pieces” by Charles Ives for the 1994 G7 summit in Naples. His performances often include informative commentary on the composers, their pieces, and their places in musical history.
As director and conductor of the Coro Polifonico “S.Leonardo” di Procida, he has released a compact disc recording entitled “Fenesta che lucive” (PoloSud) of his own transcriptions of Neapolitan classic songs sung by the choir accompanied by non-traditional instruments.
Although focusing on his career as a pianist and chamber musician with worldwide performances, Aldo de Vero is also founding member of Key Largo (www.associazionekeylargo.it), an organization that produces musical events and chamber music workshops such as the engaging Ischia Chamber Music Festival (www.ischiachambermusic.org).
You can enjoy an example of Aldo playing a Ravel piece for four hands here.
Music
There is a video of the 2022 workshop which will give you a feeling of the experience.
Yes. We hope all workshop participants will play in the evening concert on Sunday May 15 in the wonderful Abbey of Cava dei Tirreni, on the Amalfi Coast. We will provide clean and affordable lodging and transportation from Hotel La Rosa in Ischia to the Amalfi Coast. This year also Galdi-de Filippis Music High School students
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There are three coached sessions per day, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. There is a long lunch break where you can enjoy the gardens and pool. An orchestra rehearsal is usually scheduled for around 5p.
Each session has a distinct group players with an assigned piece to work every other day. Then new groups and pieces are assigned.
There are concerts and practice time following dinner.
You can see a complete description of the ACMP self rating here.
No, it is fine if you prefer to end your participation at the workshops. The concerts are extras, intended to add to your playing experience in front of audiences.
The festival works on pieces from the standard western classical music repertoire, from Baroque through Contemporary composers. We select pieces based on players abilities and interests. And the groups range from duets to nonets. We include at least one orchestral piece for all players.
Health and Safety
Fast antigen tests are available at most pharmacies in Italy, including some near the hotel. This includes self-tests and proctored.
This web site will email you a list of test centers in Italy.
COVID PCR test in Italy – Find testing sites and book online
Note: you must schedule the test at least 24 hours in advance.
The islands of Ischia, Procida, and Capri have been declared by the Prime Minister of Italy, as Covid-19 free, as of 30 May 2021. This is the result of concerted vaccination program by the Italian government.
To keep all participants safer, we require that all participants be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 at least two weeks before you arrive in Ischia. This is currently the best way of reducing everyone’s risk of infection.
We are asking that all participants to honor the requests of other participants to feel safe, including social distancing and wearing masks if asked.
As the situation in Ischia evolves, we may change the rules to meet current government rules. We can modify our workshop rules as a group once we gather, as long everyone feels comfortable with those changes.