Giorgio Ciompi Papers

Giorgio Ciompi, violinist and professor of music at Duke University, was appointed artistic director of the first summer session in Siena, Italy, later known as the International Music Program (IMP), upon the sudden death of North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) president Vittorio Giannini. As early as September 1966 Giannini had received support from the Italian government and Foreign Minister Amintore Fanfani to create and underwrite a summer program with the Accademia Musical Chigiana in Siena. Dr. James and Mary Duke Biddle Semans assisted with the initial plans of the summer session and oversaw the drafting of the contribution and curriculum by Minister Fanfani. Upon Giannini’s death, Ciompi was chosen as artistic director; a native of Florence, Italy, Ciompi had had some previous dealings with the Italian government while with the Cleveland Conservatory. Ciompi, along with his wife Adriana, the Semans, and Julia Mueller, chair of Duke University Department of Music, laid the groundwork for this annual session, with support from NCSA president Robert Ward. Dr. Semans later wrote an account of these early years entitled Siena: Six Summers of Music, in which Ciompi figures prominently.

The Giorgio Ciompi Collection contains correspondence between Ciompi and IMP officials, as well as copies of letters by Ward, Semans, R.B. Crawford of the NCSA Foundation, and other financial backers. In addition to correspondence, there are miscellaneous items associated with the program: travel and teaching schedules, music programs, brochures of tourist sites, catalogs, notes about student performers, student lists, and faculty contracts. Ciompi’s budget files are incomplete; further financial information exists in the NCSA Foundation records, since this department handled many of the logistical aspects of the summer sessions.