From Singing to Instrument: Music Happens Together

Workshop with Dina Alexander (USA)

July 8–11, 2026

Coeli Aula – Montespertoli (Florence), Italy

A 24-Hour Intensive Residential Workshop

Join us for an immersive four-day experience led by Dina Alexander, one of the leading international voices in instrumental pedagogy grounded in audiation.

This workshop explores how music can be internalized, embodied, and understood before it is read or performed — placing listening, movement, and musical comprehension at the center of ensemble teaching.

Topics

• Listening, movement, audiation, and musical understanding

• Music before notation

• Repertoire analysis through listening

• Teaching ensemble: cohesion, mutual listening, and autonomy

• Designing rehearsals and long-term learning paths

• Ensemble repertoire: beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels

• Arranging as a pedagogical tool

• Improvisation as an outcome of musical understanding

• Polyphonic vocal repertoire as a foundation for instrumental learning

• Body, breath, and movement in music learning processes

• Audiation-based instrumental teaching within Italian school contexts

What You Will Experience

Participants will explore strategies for teaching instrumental and vocal ensemble repertoire through experiences rooted in listening and embodied musical engagement, developing competencies that are both repeatable and transferable across educational settings.

You are encouraged to bring:

• Your primary instrument

• Your voice

• An additional instrument with which you have limited experience

Faculty

Dina Alexander

Professor at Roberts Wesleyan University (New York, USA), Dina Alexander is internationally recognized for her work in audiation-based instrumental pedagogy. She developed and disseminated an ensemble approach that places musically understood and internalized sound before notation and technical execution.

With more than 30 years of experience in American school contexts, her student big bands are well known throughout New York State and have received numerous regional and state recognitions.

You may also learn more about Dina’s work through her YouTube channel:
https://m.youtube.com/@dinaalex12

Silvia Biferale

Breath and voice therapist, Audiation Institute trainer.
Explores breath, movement, and voice as foundations of embodied musical experience.

Arnolfo Borsacchi

Musician and Audiation Institute trainer.
Focuses on repertoire learned through singing and movement as a basis for instrumental and ensemble development.

Monica Martini

Musician, Audiation Institute trainer, and lower secondary school music teacher.
Addresses audiation-based instrumental teaching within real educational environments.

Schedule

Wednesday, July 8
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Thursday, July 9
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
3:30 pm – 7:45 pm

Friday, July 10
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
3:30 pm – 7:45 pm

Saturday, July 11
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
(followed by a closing lunch)