By spending more time inside communities in faraway cities, I built real connections and started to understand the unmet needs of music students. And so I developed an experience that can provide a turning point in young musicians’ lives, heightening their abilities, their perception of the international classical music scene, and the inspiration which drives their choices in future years.
Filippo Gorini
This Artist Encore project grew directly out of another, Filippo Gorini’s Sonata for 7 Cities residency project, which is supported by BBT’s 2023 Franco Buitoni Award. A key element of each residency is the teaching that Filippo undertakes with talented young musicians from the host city or region, and he was particularly moved by his time working with two of the students that he met in Cape Town in Autumn 2025. Reflecting on the financial and geographical challenges faced by many young musicians in South Africa, Filippo has created a pilot scholarship programme built around a two month visit for these students, which will offer them a bespoke programme of mentorship in leading music schools and opportunities to listen to concerts by world-class artists performing in some of Europe’s finest concert halls in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna. Filippo’s ultimate aim is to create a simple model that can be efficiently replicated for other students into the future, potentially linking with future Sonata for 7 Cities residencies.