Music Conservatory Benedetto Marcello
Posted On 27-10-2022
International students who want to study in Italy have certainly heard about the Marco Polo Turandot programme. Today we have invited Chen Junjie to share his experience, a Chinese student who joined the Music Conservatory Benedetto Marcello in Venice thanks to this well-known programme.
Hi Chen Junjie, could you please introduce yourself in a few words?
Hello everyone, I'm Chen Junjie, I come from China and three years ago I arrived in Italy thanks to the Marco Polo Turandot programme. Now I am a third year student of the trombone first level course at the Benedetto Marcello.
Can you please shortly explain the Turandot programme and how you found out about it when you were still in China?
At first, the foreign language school of Zhejiang University called me for admission and there I got to know the Turandot programme after a conference. The programme is an opportunity for Chinese students to move to Italy and study arts or music in Italian institutions.
How was the admission test to the Music Conservatory Benedetto Marcello? Did you meet many candidates?
Compared to the professional trombone test, I found the tests of music theory, solfeggio and Italian language more difficult, at least in my case. Besides me, there were three students who took the tests in the same day.
How long did you study Italian before coming to Italy? Was it hard to get used to a new country and a new culture?
I had been studying Italian in a language course for about three months before moving to Venice. I arrived in Italy with other Chinese friends, all of us in the framework of the Turandot programme. We used to live and study together and we also had an Italian teacher who could speak some Chinese, our teacher accompanied us on this path and helped us a lot. In this way I quickly adapted to the Italian way of life.
According to you, what is the most important thing you learned at the Conservatory?
My trombone maestro is a professional with a very long and rich experience, and thanks to his mentoring and tips my professional level has improved a great deal, furthermore, I have also had many opportunities to perform in public. Last June we organized a concert in my campus and all the trombone students performed in the show. I invited many friends to see it: it was the biggest concert held by our school since the pandemic.
Do you have any suggestions for those students who want to study at the Music Conservatory Benedetto Marcello in Venice?
First of all, do practice with your instrument as much as you can, and also invest your time and energies in learning Italian and study theory. You can always consult the Music Conservatory official website and contact the teachers for some advice that will be very useful for the entry test. I sincerely hope that whoever reads my interview will be able to fulfill his/her desire to enter the school or university he/she aspires to!