Franciacorta, Italy
At the threshold of an artistic voice.
A six-day private mentorship for four pianists with Alexander Romanovsky.
Four pianists. Six days. One continuous dialogue.
The programme
Four pianists will be selected to spend six days working in close dialogue with Alexander Romanovsky at a private villa in Franciacorta, near Brescia.
Studio IV is conceived neither as a conventional masterclass nor as a succession of individual lessons. It is a period of concentrated work in which repertoire, listening, conversation and daily life become part of the same artistic process.
Through sustained engagement with each pianist’s repertoire and individual questions, the programme creates the conditions to examine interpretative choices, challenge established habits and develop a more conscious and independent musical voice.
selected pianists
days together
continuous artistic dialogue
The setting
The villa is not simply the setting for Studio IV. It is part of its method.
The piano, the collection of paintings, the gardens, the medieval tower, the swimming pool and the shared spaces create an environment in which study, rest, observation and conversation can coexist naturally.
The limited number of participants allows the programme to remain personal and flexible. Work can continue beyond the formal sessions: at the piano, over dinner, during a walk or through a question revisited the following day.
For all selected participants, all costs — including participation, accommodation, meals and programme activities — will be fully covered by the Studio IV scholarship.
How Studio IV works
Time to work alone. Time to return to the piano after a conversation. Time to ask Alexander a question privately. Time to listen to the others, play for one another, compare ideas and change your mind.
Not every question needs an immediate answer. Some need to stay open for a while.
Over six days, individual work, shared sessions, private conversations and independent practice become part of the same process.
Individual work, with time to return.
Each pianist works individually with Alexander on the repertoire they bring to Studio IV. There is time to explore an idea, practise it alone, come back to it and see whether it still feels right. The work does not end when the session ends.
Some questions are easier to ask privately.
During the six days there will be time to speak with Alexander one to one — about interpretation, technique, performance, artistic choices or simply something that has been on your mind. Not everything needs to happen in front of the group.
Four pianists listening, playing and thinking alongside one another.
There will be time to play for one another, listen, exchange thoughts and follow how each person’s work develops during the week. It is not about comparison. It is about learning from questions other than your own.
Practice, conversation, and the space in which ideas change.
There will also be time with no lesson attached to it: to practise, think, continue a conversation over lunch, ask another pianist what they heard, or return to something later. Sometimes the most important part of the work happens after the lesson. At Studio IV, that time matters too.
The work continues
A musical question can remain open, be tested at the piano, reconsidered after listening to others and approached differently the following day.
The programme opens out
Studio IV is planned to include an encounter with the artists in residence at Palazzo Monti and a concluding public concert in Brescia.
The encounter at Palazzo Monti will bring the four pianists into dialogue with artists working in other disciplines, opening questions about process, form, material and artistic identity beyond music.
The final concert will mark the moment in which the private work of the six days meets an audience. It is not conceived as a demonstration of finished results, but as an act of artistic responsibility: the passage from exploration to public presence.
Alexander Romanovsky
Alexander Romanovsky is an international concert pianist whose work as an interpreter and teacher has long been shaped by sustained dialogue with younger musicians.
He approaches mentorship not as the transmission of a fixed method, but as a relationship built through attention, trust, intellectual honesty and time.
Studio IV grew from his conviction that artistic development requires more than occasional lessons. A pianist needs the freedom to question established habits, listen closely, test ideas and recognise the difference between an interpretation that is merely effective and one that is truly their own.
Here, repertoire becomes the starting point for a broader conversation about imagination, responsibility, discipline and a life in music.
“Growth begins when an artist has enough time and trust to ask the difficult questions.”
Who should apply
Studio IV is intended for emerging pianists with a solid technical and musical foundation, a serious relationship with their repertoire and a distinct sense of artistic curiosity.
We are looking for musicians willing to question established habits, listen attentively to others and contribute generously to six days of shared work.
Technical command matters. So do imagination, intellectual openness, independence of thought and the desire to understand what makes an interpretation personally necessary.
Studio IV is not intended for musicians seeking only additional lessons, professional contacts or another line for their curriculum vitae. It is for pianists prepared to bring a real artistic question into the room.
Application
Applications are reviewed on the basis of musical preparation, artistic personality, intellectual curiosity and potential for development.
Particular attention will be given to the relationship between the applicant’s performance, artistic intentions and stated reasons for wishing to take part in Studio IV.
Applications are not currently open.
Dates and application details will be published here once confirmed.
