In 2003, the great newspaper wrote about the transcendental mission that the Miami International Piano Festival was undertaking in the US cultural scene.
The Academy was born out of that same conviction and still runs on it: presenting the musicians who deserve to be heard, and trusting the audience to follow.
The Academy accompanies pianists during the years in which a career is decided — after the conservatory, before the concert circuit — with something that circuit does not offer: sustained, direct contact with several working artists at once.
The mission has three parts and has not changed since 2015: to discover musicians who deserve to be heard, to give them the conditions to develop, and to put them in front of an audience while they do it.
Every encounter is built around that: nine days in Miami Beach in January, three weeks in the Italian Dolomites in summer, and a faculty that teaches in the morning and performs at night.
Most academies assign each student to a teacher. The MIPFA does the opposite: everyone takes private lessons and masterclasses with the whole faculty, and every class is open to everyone else.
Hearing several musicians disagree about the same page is the point: it replaces obedience with judgement, and competition between students with a camaraderie that tends to outlive the program.
In January the Academy takes over the Cadet Hotel, in the Art Deco district of Miami Beach, for nine days. In summer it moves to Dobbiaco, also known as Toblach, a picturesque town in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy, embraced by the breathtaking Dolomite mountains. Its cultural significance lies in its connection to classical music, notably through the influential composer Gustav Mahler. Mahler spent several summers in Dobbiaco during the early 20th century, drawing inspiration from the town's serene landscapes, and it is known that he wrote there his 9th Symphony, as well as the first movements of his unfinished 10th Symphony.
Every evening of the program a member of the faculty gives a recital, and each encounter closes with the participants performing. Those performances are professionally recorded, and part of that archive is published in our video library and photo galleries.
The journey started in 1998 with the Miami International Piano Festival. In 1999 it presented three concerts; two decades later it was presenting twenty-six a year, and it had brought to Florida audiences artists such as Ingrid Fliter and Piotr Anderszewski before the rest of the circuit caught up with them.
In 2015 the Festival opened the Academy, so that the artists performing on its stages would also teach. Since then more than 400 musicians from over thirty countries have been through its encounters: at Villa Medici Giulini, near Milan, in 2022 and 2023; in Dobbiaco since 2024; and every January in Miami Beach.
The Academy accompanies pianists during the years in which a career is decided — after the conservatory, before the concert circuit — with something that circuit does not offer: sustained, direct contact with several working artists at once.
The Miami International Piano Festival Academy is the natural offspring of the Miami International Piano Festival. MIPFA’s intensive program is designed to explore the Art of Piano Playing by emphasizing personal, artistic, and technical development with innovative concepts for artists pursuing a concert career.
After successfully presenting the Piano Academy since 2015 we are excited to see our intense and highly successful programs travel throughout some of the most astonishing set ups of the world, both in the US and Europe. These magical settings provide participants with an invaluable and inspirational experience.
Through the MIPFA intensive encounters, musicians have the opportunity to take part in intensive private and group activities with great artists and pedagogues. They have the opportunity to participate in technique clinics, discussions with the faculty, explore the world of different composers, the challenges of performing and looking for a renewed sense of direction and inspiration. to strengthen their skills as performers.
Providing performance opportunities to our participants is at the core of our philosophy, giving them opportunities for musical development in a collaborative environment that will allow immersion with the wealth of piano literature. The Academy’s open class policy enables students to observe and learn from the insights of each artist of our faculty and to participate fully in life-changing experiences.
In the Winter 2008 edition of Piano Today Magazine, Stuart Isacoff writes: “Brodsky is an astonishing figure in the music world …. She seems to have a knack for discovering great talent…Ingrid Fliter and Piotr Aderszewski before they each won the Gilmore Award – and taking rare risks to present them to Florida audiences.”
Twenty-three years ago she envisioned an organization designed to discover, present and support exceptional talent and offer fresh and exciting programs to South Florida audiences.
The Miami International Piano Festival Academy is supported by both institutions and individuals that love music above all. Help us continue our mission by donating to our platform and ease access to high quality music education to the next generation of great artists.
Support the mipfaWe Invite you to share the mission of MIPFA with a generous donation.
You will partake in the dreams and aspirations of extraordinary talented and hard-working musicians. Nothing is more rewarding than to see them on the great concert stages of the world, and to know that you are an integral part of that success.
All donations received are addressed to reduce our student's tuitions fees. Be part of MIPFA!
