Prato della Valle by night
TACONIC MUSIC INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
Padua, Italy, August 4–14, 2025
Joana Genova, Elisa Kohanski and Gergana Boycheva, directors
Open to intermediate to advanced instrumentalists—violin, viola, cello and piano (ages 18 and up, adult amateurs, college students, semi-professional musicians)—who are interested in playing chamber music in a non-competitive setting and would like to explore the culture and history of Italy.
The daily schedule consists of coachings and rehearsals, and visiting famous sights in Padua. Students will participate as an ensemble in a faculty concert and have their own performance.
Coachings and rehearsals take place at Scuola Diocesana di Musica per la Liturgia: Via Sant Andrea 6, 35139 Padova
Accommodations in the City Center: 2- or 3-bedroom apartments with a kitchen, Wi-Fi, AC and laundry. Walking distance to the music school.
Two day trips by train: Venice (30 minutes away) and Florence (2 hours away)
Tuition: $3,000
Tuition covers all musical activities, housing, transportation to and from the airport, local train tickets, entrance to scheduled museum visits and 3 group dinners. Students are responsible for their airfare and meals (food in Padua is relatively cheap—there are plenty of supermarkets, open air markets and affordable restaurants).
Enrollment is limited to 14 students:
6 violinists
4 violists
3 cellists
1 pianist
Application deadline: April 1, 2025
Requirements: application form (available December 1), a short audition video and a $20 application fee.
50% tuition due upon acceptance. Remaining balance due June 1.
For more information contact Joana Genova at taconicinternational@gmail.com
ITALIAN STUDENTS aged 16 and up, can participate in the chamber music program for an adjusted rate, which does not include lodging, meals or tourist attractions. Intermediate to advanced English is preferable.
For information contact Gergana Boycheva at gheri.boycheva@gmail.com
PER PARTECIPANTI ITALIANI:
Nel programma di musica da camera sono benvenuti anche degli allievi italiani (violini, viole e violoncelli), età minima 16 anni.
Quota di partecipazione dedicata, la quale non include vitto, alloggio e attrazioni turistiche.
Per informazioni contattare Gergana Boycheva, mail: gheri.boycheva@gmail.com
2025 FACULTY:
Joana Genova, violin
Artistic Director, Taconic Music; Artist Associate, Williams College; Adjunct Professor, Montclair State University; Violin Instructor, Bennington College; Second violin, The Indianapolis Quartet
Alessandro Fagiuoli, violin
First violin, Paul Klee Quartet; Faculty, Liceo Musicale di Padova; Artistic Director, Musica in Serra (Ancona); Artistic Director, "I concerti d’Autunno” (Rubano-Padova); Artistic Director, “Prospettive Musicali” Music Competition
Basil Vendryes, viola
Principal Viola, Colorado Symphony; Adjunct Professor, University of Denver, Lamont School of Music
Elisa Kohanski, cello
Adjunct professor, Grove City College, Washington & Jefferson College; Manager and cellist, IonSound Project; Principal cello, Wheeling Symphony and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater; Cello section, Pittsburgh Symphony and Pittsburgh Opera
Gergana Boycheva, piano
Pianist and organist at Catholic Parish Church, Legnaro, Italy
Antonina Gerassimova, piano
Community Music School at Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri; private studio.
2025 Sample Schedule
August 4: Arrivals, orientation and welcome dinner
August 5: Coachings and rehearsals
August 6: Coachings and sightseeing: BAPTISERY & PALAZZO DELLA RAGIONE
August 7: VENICE
August 8: Coachings and Opening Concert in Legnaro
August 9: Coachings and sightseeing: SCROVEGNI CHAPEL
August 10: FLORENCE
August 11: Coachings and rehearsals
August 12: Coachings and Participant’s Concert in Padua.
August 13: Sightseeing and Faculty Concert in Padua
August 14: Departures
A LOOK BACK TO SUMMER 2024…..
The second Taconic Music International Festival, co-directed by violinist Joana Genova, pianist Gergana Boycheva, and cellist Elisa Kohanski, took place in Italy, August 7–17. Violist Basil Vendryes and Italian violinist Alessandro Fagiuoli joined the faculty, while special guests were Bulgarian flutist Penka Treneva and pianist Antonina Gerassimova.
Ten violin, viola, cello, and piano participants, ages 17–79, music and non-music majors, high school and college students, professionals and adult amateurs from California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Vermont, traveled to Padua to play chamber music together. The festival was filled with rehearsals and coachings, dinners, drinks and gelato, day trips to Venice and Cremona and visits to famous sights in Padua (Palazzo della Ragione, Baptistery, Il Santo Basilica and Scrovegni Chapel).
The standing-room-only opening concert was held in the historic Corte Benedettina—a former monastery in Legnaro, dating back to 1400 and recently converted to University of Padua use. The participants’ and final faculty concerts took place in Padua's Scuola della Carità (with its gorgeous frescoes dating back to the 1500s) in the center of the historic city. Returning audience members from 2023 brought along friends, while tourists and locals saw the poster outside and came in, and the concerts were hugely successful despite the sweltering weather.
