Fortissimo – Emozioni tra Musica e Parole is a project created by Le Dimore del Quartetto in collaboration with Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, which establishes an educational path that combines music and storytelling, with the aim of countering educational and relational poverty among adolescents, while promoting personal growth, inclusion, and well-being.
The project was born out of the desire to strengthen the school as a place of dialogue and discovery, building on a collaboration already successfully tested in the project ABITO.
Fortissimo involves 300 students from three technical and vocational schools in Milan and the Metropolitan City, with the goal of increasing young people’s awareness of their own expressive, relational, and emotional abilities, while at the same time stimulating sensitivity towards the role of art and culture as tools for inner and collective exploration.
The technical and vocational schools participating in the project are IIS Falcone-Righi (Corsico), ITSOS Marie Curie (Cernusco sul Naviglio), and IIS Giovanni Giorgi (Milano).
NARRATIVE STRETCHING WORKSHOPS
The narrative stretching workshops provide an initial approach to writing in a playful and expressive way. After a short introduction to the principles of storytelling, students create their own biographical profile—an exercise that allows them to immediately put the acquired skills into practice and overcome initial resistance. The activity concludes with a shared reading, a moment of growth and collective exchange.
CONCERT-CONVERSATIONS WITH STRING QUARTETS
Students experience an immersive encounter by listening live to string quartets, seated in a circle to closely observe gestures, glances, and the musicians’ interplay. Pieces from the chamber music repertoire intertwine with a direct dialogue that conveys stories of composers and universal emotions. Listening becomes participatory: reflections and personal notes collected on cards are transformed into creative material for the following writing workshops.
EXPRESSIVE WRITING SESSIONS
In the expressive writing workshops, the emotions gathered during the encounters with the musicians become the starting point for short stories, poems, and narrative texts. Guided by the trainer, students transform their impressions into words, experimenting with creative freedom and active participation. The activity concludes with collective readings, creating a moment of exchange and sharing that highlights each individual’s voice.
FINAL PRESENTATION
The program concludes with a final event open to students, families, and the public. Here, music and words intertwine: a string quartet performs live pieces while students read the texts created during the workshops, giving life to a creative and emotional dialogue. All works are also collected in both print and digital volumes, accompanied by thematic playlists that extend the experience beyond school.
OCTOBER 2, 2025 | Le Dimore del Quartetto, together with the Arnoldo and Alberto Mondadori Foundation, the Fondazione di Comunità Milano, and the EOS Foundation, present the project to schools, musicians, partners, and interested parties during a meeting held at Le Dimore del Quartetto’s Milan venue.
OCTOBER 22, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
OCTOBER 23, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
OCTOBER 23, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
OCTOBER 24, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
OCTOBER 27, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
OCTOBER 29, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
OCTOBER 29, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
NOVEMBER 4, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
NOVEMBER 4, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
NOVEMBER 6, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
NOVEMBER 10, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
NOVEMBER 12, 2025 | Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Milano
JANUARY 12, 2026 | Space of Le Dimore del Quartetto, Milan
JANUARY 27, 2026 | IIS Falcone-Righi, Corsico (Milan)
FEBRUARY 17, 2026 | ITSOS Marie Curie, Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan)
FEBRUARY 25, 2026 | WAO – We Are Open (Romolo), Milan
JANUARY 30, 2026 | IIS Falcone Righi, Corsico (Milan)
FEBRUARY 11, 2026 | IIS Falcone Righi, Corsico (Milan)
FEBRUARY 24, 2026 | IIS Falcone Righi, Corsico (Milan)
FEBRUARY 26, 2026 | IIS Giorgi, Milan
FEBRUARY 27, 2026 | IIS Falcone Righi, Corsico (Milan)
FEBRUARY 27, 2026 | ITSOS Marie Curie, Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan)
MARCH 2, 2026 | IIS Giorgi, Milan
MARCH 4, 2026 | ITSOS Marie Curie, Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan)
MARCH 6, 2026 | IIS Giorgi, Milan
MARCH 10, 2026 | ITSOS Marie Curie, Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan)
MARCH 11, 2026 | ITSOS Marie Curie, Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan)
MARCH 17, 2026 | IIS Giorgi, Milan
MAY 26, 2026 | Conservatorio di musica G. Verdi, Milan
The playlists of Fortissimo accompany and extend the project experience over time, intertwining music and words through listening experiences accessible via QR codes. For each emotion explored, two complementary playlists were created: one dedicated to the classical music pieces encountered throughout the journey, and another curated by the students, featuring contemporary music connected to their imagination and sensibilities. Together, the playlists create a dialogue between classical repertoire and contemporary listening, offering different perspectives through which to explore emotions, experiences, and memories.
The project is supported by a network of collaborations that enrich and expand opportunities for students. Alongside Le Dimore del Quartetto and Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, also take part WAO Romolo, a multifunctional space dedicated to the youth community and a place for meeting and sharing, that will host the concert-conversations of IIS Giovanni Giorgi.
Fortissimo aims to create a replicable method and a lasting network of collaboration among educational institutions, musicians, literary experts, and local stakeholders. The goal is to counter educational poverty by enhancing the role of the arts in the individual and collective growth of young people, generating synergies capable of producing sustainable impact and activities that can be replicated over time.
Fortissimo | Emozioni tra Musica e Parole, one of the winners of Bando 57, is carried out by Le Dimore del Quartetto in collaboration with Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, with the support of Fondazione di Comunità Milano and Fondazione EOS Edison Orizzonte Sociale. The participating schools are IIS Falcone-Righi (Corsico), ITSOS Marie Curie (Cernusco sul Naviglio), and IIS Giovanni Giorgi (Milano).
Le Dimore del Quartetto is a creative cultural enterprise that since 2015 has been supporting young international string quartets and chamber music ensembles in launching their careers and enhancing the European cultural heritage in a circular economy. With a well-established network in the field of music and cultural heritage, it is involved in projects through the organisation of festivals and travel itineraries, masterclasses, masterclasses and training courses for musicians, educational projects for schools and universities, training and team-building activities for companies, artistic residencies and concerts in historical residences and other places of cultural interest.
Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori (FAAM) was founded in 1979 with the aim of preserving and enhancing the memory of Italian publishing in the twentieth century and its leading figures, starting with the two publishers and the publishing houses they established, Mondadori and il Saggiatore.
Over more than forty years, FAAM has expanded its activities. Beginning with the preservation and promotion of its heritage, it also fosters publishing production, along with training and educational initiatives—such as the Master in Editoria, in collaboration with the Università degli Studi di Milano and AIE, Mimaster Illustrazione, projects for schools, as well as reading and writing workshops. FAAM also takes part in the Fondazione BookCity Milano, of which it is among the founding members.
It promotes meetings, events, and exhibitions dedicated to spreading Italian culture worldwide, with projects that contributed to Milan’s designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature. FAAM operates through its main headquarters in the Villapizzone district of Milan, and since 2015 also through the Laboratorio FAAM, located in the heart of Brera, where courses, conferences, readings, and events are organized in connection with the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Literature.
Fondazione di Comunità Milano è un ente filantropico indipendente che sostiene, con risorse private, interventi solidali “a chilometro zero”, cioè ideati e gestiti da centinaia di realtà non profit che operano a Milano e nell’area metropolitana. Costituita nel 2018 da Fondazione Cariplo e presieduta dal notaio Carlo Marchetti, Fondazione di Comunità Milano ha sostenuto, in soli 7 anni di attività, oltre 800 progetti stanziando oltre 60 milioni di euro.
Fondazione di Comunità Milano non è “solo” un ente erogatore, ma raccoglie risorse economiche a favore del territorio in cui opera. Lo strumento principale per realizzare questo obiettivo sono i fondi solidali. Ad oggi sono 35 i fondi solidali attivi, costituiti da famiglie, imprese private, organizzazioni con finalità diverse che spaziano dalla lotta alla povertà educativa alla rigenerazione urbana.
Il modello operativo della Fondazione si basa sull’ascolto e sull’azione. Ciò significa che temi e bisogni cui dare priorità sono frutto di interlocuzione continua con le istituzioni locali, le organizzazioni del Terzo Settore e la società civile. È così che nascono i “Progetti Speciali”, interventi che vedono la Fondazione impegnata in veste operativa e di coordinamento filantropico aggregando risorse economiche e competenze per rispondere alle necessità dell’area milanese e monitorare i risultati raggiunti con trasparenza.
Fondazione di Comunità Milano fa parte del network di 16 Fondazioni territoriali che operano in tutte le province della Lombardia e nelle province piemontesi di Novara e Verbania-Cusio-Ossola, promosse da Fondazione Cariplo.
Fondazione EOS – Edison Orizzonte Sociale ETS was established in 2021 by Edison Spa with the aim of strengthening the social dimension of its sustainable development strategy. Its mission is to generate social impact and innovation together with the communities and organizations it engages with, placing younger generations at the center.
Fondazione EOS operates through three-year programs and focuses on supporting the growth of young people by providing them with spaces for listening, action, expression, and concrete opportunities. It does so through cultural and sports projects, by supporting third-sector organizations, and by guiding them along a path towards greater long-term sustainability.
The goal is to make these organizations reliable and safe places for young people to gather, experiment, and learn—spaces that are recognized by and within their local communities. At the same time, the Foundation seeks to strengthen their role as hubs in territorial ecosystems that bring together institutions, research bodies, and both public and private entities in the design of long-term pathways.
This approach is shared and promoted by EOS within the broader foundation community, with the purpose of building valuable alliances capable of driving innovation in how joint social impact initiatives are supported.
WAO – We Are Open is a network of coworking, coliving, and event spaces: regenerated urban environments designed to connect people, businesses, and the local community, open to the neighborhood and the city.
Born within OneDay Group (which already includes ScuolaZoo, WeRoad, and Brum), WAO currently has two locations: WAO Isola and WAO Romolo C30-C32, where digital startups, traditional companies, freelancers, and young creatives work side by side.
The spaces, flexible and versatile, foster the daily exchange of ideas and the creation of new collaborations aimed at building a better future.
WAO is growing, with two new openings scheduled for 2026: WAO Bassi (January 2026) and WAO Certosa (September 2026).
WAO – We Are Open is a place to work, live, and enjoy being together.
Beyond spaces, connecting people.
