Study weeks

During the academic year PIAMS promotes a series of study weeks in order to advance the liturgical-musical culture and the thinking on Ambrosian rite and chant. Each Week is thought for a limited number of students, with an amount reserved for foreigners. Sessions take place from Monday afternoon up to Friday morning (10-13; 14.30-17.30). Lessons are offered in Italian with the possibility of a linguistic support for foreign hosts in the previous week. More information on the planning will be communicated on this website.

» Ambrosian liturgy

The week of study intends to deal with the central points and the specific celebration methods typical of the Milanese Church through a methodological way. The objective is to sum up the present state of the research on the Ambrosian rite and liturgy, as well as the acquisitions obtained, and to identify the unexplored ways and the trails to go.

» Organ engineering

The week is specifically thought for the specialization and the professional updating of the skilled workers, who are in the fields of the organ design, building and renovation, as well as of the figures in charge of the conservation and the increase in value of this important element of the musical heritage. A third public is the figures interested in the design of the respective technical places. The lessons are divided into two different sections: the first has a theoretic cross-disciplinary nature, while the second is practical.

» Medicine for the musicians

The musician’s perfection is obtained through great efforts and a long learning period; not infrequently it causes specific health problems, sometimes with disabling consequences, which lead to the abandon of the profession. The week intends to foster the diffusion among the doctors, teachers and artists of the most accurate and careful knowledge in the biomechanical, physiological, psychological and cognitive fields related to the musicians’ health. Prevention and answer ways (therapy and rehabilitation) to specific problems related to the artistic practice are suggested.

» Liturgical Ambrosian manuscripts

The knowledge of old books belonging to the different liturgical families isn’t just a cultural enrichment: their study constitutes the improvement of the methods, which the old Christian communities, as well as the modern ones, have been celebrating the same mysterion through.

» Translation techniques for the liturgy

Among the different tasks, which lead to the liturgical renewal, there is the translation of texts for the celebration. The preparation and the translation are, in fact, a tool to foster the celebration of the Christian mystery. For this reason, it has been asked for taking care of the authentic liturgy, also through liturgical translations. It has to be adapted to the particular situations of different populations with pastoral wisdom, for the sole purpose of a complete, conscious and active participation of the faithful in the liturgical action. This Week wants to focalise the experiences already done and methods adopted up to now, and, in the same time, to face new problems and troubles that have arisen in the last years.