The Georg Solti Accademia was founded in 2004 in memory of the legendary Hungarian conductor by Valerie Solti, Candice Wood, and Jonathan Papp. Its aim is to bridge the gap between study and the profession offering the best young talent training and opportunities. Throughout his life Solti never forgot those who helped him and was always willing to assist young musicians at the start of their careers, including Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Leo Nucci and Renee Fleming. Before his sudden passing in 1997, Solti often dreamed of running a summer school for young opera singers in Italy near his family’s summer home in Castiglione della Pescaia. He felt it was his duty to pass on to the next generation what his mentors had passed on to him. Solti believed that the combination of immersion in opera and Italian life and culture could have an extremely powerful and positive effect on the development of young musicians as they transition from being students to being professionals with a responsibility to their colleagues and their audience. It was this idea that became central to the founding of the Accademia and remains central to its work still today.

The Accademia began with its bel canto course for singers - a three-week long opportunity for opera singers at the beginning stages of their careers to focus on developing their voice and musicianship through the study of the Italian opera repertoire. Following the success of the bel canto course, the Accademia in 2009 established its répétiteur course, aimed at creating innovative training opportunities for young opera répétiteurs to hone the many skills required of them when working on opera productions. Solti, himself a répétiteur, knew how integral this role is in the lives of opera singers and in the opera industry in general. This course is based at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, Italy. Each year, some of the best répétiteurs in the world are invited to teach the course and help the next generation to expand its skills and knowledge.

The promotion of arts and culture has always been an important objective for the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation (NaEPF). Supporting cultural projects is not just an investment in creativity and beauty; it’s a powerful means to foster social cohesion, education, and personal development within communities. One of the early cultural projects funded by the NaEPF was the Georg Solti Accademia in 2005, which led to establish the so-called “Solti-Peretti Répetitéurs course” in 2008. The course, that continues today, every year involves 6 répétiteurs to take part in a masterclasses that offer an intense period of study with some of the finest répétiteurs of nowadays as is the only course worldwide offering a tailor-made programme for répétiteurs. By giving each student individual attention from some of the best opera conductors, coaches, and répétiteurs in the world, the students are given both an incredible educational experience and the ability to create a professional network to help them as they launch their own careers. The course has developed a reputation for excellence in the classical music world. For the years 2022-2024 the Accademia selected 18 young répétiteurs (six per year) to train on the masterclass by some of the best conductors, vocal coaches, and pianists in the opera industry.