On November 22, 2017, an inter-university agreement on the Erasmus+ program was concluded between the Petrozavodsk State Glazunov Conservatoire and the Higher Institute of Music Studies named after A. Toscanini in Ribera (Italy) that enabled the exchange of students and faculty members of the partner universities within the next two years.
Within the framework of the international project, on November 4 - 7, 2018, master classes by the teachers of the Higher Institute of Music Studies named after A. Toscanini in Ribera, professors Gianfranco Gioia (saxophone) and professor Roberto Basile (trombone) for students of the Brass, Woodwind and Percussion Department of the Petrozavodsk State Glazunov Conservatoire were held.
Italian professors worked with the ensemble of wind instruments to study the music piece by the composer Gianfranco Gioia. The ensemble constisted of the students of the Petrozavodsk Conservatoire and included: 3 trumpets, 2 French horn, 3 tenor saxes, 1 trombone, 1 tuba and percussions. After the successful performance at the final creative meeting, the idea of the ensemble's participation in the 9th “Silver Sounds” International Festival for Winds, Brass and Percussion in March, 2019 came up. At the festival, the ensemble, which will include not only Russian students, but also exchange students from Italy, plans to perform works by the Italian composer Gianfranco Gioia.
In the spring of 2019, two students of the Petrozavodsk Conservatoire will become participants of the Erasmus + academic mobility program at the partner university, and in June 2019, in order to continue the creative collaboration with the Higher Institute of Music Studies named after A. Toscanini in Ribera, a group of Russian staff members plans a reciprocal visit to the city of Ribera (Italy) to participate in the concert of the wind instruments ensemble together with Russian and Italian students.