Structural reform and institutional difference: practice as research in Italy

Seventeen years on from the reform of Italian higher education in the arts, the music sector finds itself in a particularly complex situation. More specifically – regarding research – there are four structural issues that require special attention. First, the adoption of the concept of artistic research towards innovation; second, an updated comparison between the teaching of musicology in university and conservatoires; third, the establishment of the 3rd cycle within artistic higher education; and, last, the peculiar question of Italian music libraries. Italy’s rich cultural history provides a particularly important context for the development of research in music – from its musical archives and musical traditions to the strength of musicology as a discipline, in particular its close links with practice. In the spirit of fostering broader European harmonization and cultural sharing, the primary aim of this collective study is to articulate an overview of the present situation of higher education in music in Italy, from various perspectives, in order that the national issues it explores might illuminate international issues too.