Guiding principles for the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte Montepulciano

The Cantiere is based on the following principles:

1) At the centre of all activities should be communication and the attempt to develop and experiment with new ways of artistic communication. Montepulciano is a workshop for young artists (singers, actors, instrumentalists, directors, conductors, composers, set designers, costume designers, etc.) that offers all collaborators ideal opportunities to study and rehearse classical and modern scores and to find old and new ways of making music. Old and new ways will have to be found to offer audiences opportunities to better hearing, understanding and appreciating music and the arts.

2) Therefore, all concerts and all musical and theatrical works are to be considered as entertainment and recreation for the inhabitants of Montepulciano and those from neighbour towns, as well as for tourists and music lovers from all over the world. With their works, the young artists should inspire and first and foremost encourage the younger generation of Montepulciano residents to get involved in the things of art. Wherever possible, we therefore try to involve talented people from Montepulciano in the artistic process. Each workshop participant is invited to collaborate in these community ideas not only through artistic activity, but also through their personal attitudes and initiatives: here we are all teachers and students at the same time.

3) Each workshop participant is a guest of the municipality of Montepulciano, which covers travel and accommodation expenses. In an excellent mensa, under the guidance of local chefs, excellent Tuscan dishes are prepared twice a day. In order to correspond to the character of the workshop and school, but also to guarantee the equality we intend to implement between all participants, which should strengthen the spirit of friendship and cooperation, no participant receives any fees. The artistic and moral success of each Cantiere is due precisely to this principle.

Those who have decided to work in Montepulciano must take this system into account.
They must know that Montepulciano is not a commercial festival, but that it is, instead, a socio-political and cultural animation.

Montepulciano, October 1989

HANS WERNER HENZE