The Pianists of Sarfatti

IN THE ATRIUM OF THE LIONS SITS A PIANO WHICH HAS BEEN GRACED BY STUDENTS, PROFESSORS AND MUSICIANS. BUT WHY A PIANO? AND WHY INSIDE AN UNIVERSITY?

Since about a year and a half a grand piano sits in the atrium of Sarfatti 25. Many people stop to play: those who used to play in their hometown but haven’t got a piano here in Milan, those who would like to take a musical break after a study session, those who graduated from the conservatory and cannot resist the call of a piano and those who simply stop for the pleasure of listening.

"The piano is the result of the attention that the Bocconi community has given to art, and music in particular, since many years", explains Paola Dubini, director of the Economics and Management for Arts, Culture and Communication (CLEACC) undergraduate program and president of Bocconi Arts Campus. During the last 30 years, Bocconi University in collaboration with ISU and Furcht, has hosted many concerts performed by young and renowned artists. "The idea of the piano was born from the desire to combine young age with excellence", she continues. So, on occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the collaboration with Furcht a piano was placed inside the university with the aim of drawing young people closer to music. The piano is in fact available to the whole Bocconi community.

In particular, the choice fell upon the Sarfatti atrium because of the steady stream of students. "The piano is meant as a musical invitation addressed to everyone, from amateurs to conservatory graduates – who are about a hundred at Bocconi to true professionals", explains Dubini. "And last but not least the invitation is addressed to listeners: behind the piano there is an important project to educate young people to listen to music". The atrium has in fact been, from the arrival of the piano, site of several musical events, such as the appointment with Piano City, the lesson-concert held by the Bocconi Professor and pianist Paolo Alderighi with four other jazz musicians and the series of concerts organized by BSMA (Bocconi Students Music Association) to tell the history of music.

You can discover who are (some of) the "pianists of Sarfatti" in this Facebook photogallery. 

by Benedetta Ciotto