De Agostini

Rome's Santa Cecilia National Academy is one of the world's oldest musical institutions. It was officially founded by Pope Gregory XIII in 1585. 
In 1624, Urban VIII issued the first Confirmatory Brief that enabled the Cecilian Congregation to control all the printed music published in Rome and oversee all the music schools. These privileges were revoked two years later as a result of rivalry between it and the choir of the Julian Chapel, but were eventually renewed in a third Confirmatory Brief issued by Innocent XI in 1684

From 1840 onwards, the Congregation began to handle its institutional duties of supervising music teaching and caring for needy artists in a modern fashion. A charity organisation was set up at the Rome Cassa di Risparmio and work began on the creation of a musical lycée. The first steps were also taken towards what would become the formation of a permanent orchestra.

Law 800 of 18 August 1967 assigned the Academy a special status in the propagation and diffusion of musical culture in every form (concerts, conferences, publications).

The Academy's orchestra was the first in Italy to devote itself entirely to symphonies. It has given 14,000 concerts under the baton of leading Italian and foreign conductors.

In 2003 the permanent home of the orchestra and choir was transferred to the auditorium Parco della Musica designed by Renzo Piano. Lottomatica has been a founding member of the Academy since the 2000-2001 concert season.

Information: www.santacecilia.it