AFAM’s range of courses is expanding: a further 126 courses are set to launch

Alongside the rise in student numbers, the range of courses offered by AFAM institutions is also expanding, with nearly 4,000 active courses now on offer. A further 126 courses, which have been approved by the CNAM, are set to launch for the 2026/27 academic year: 61 at first-level and 65 at second-level.

70 per cent of the new institutions are in the field of music (conservatoires and ISSMs), whilst the remaining 30 per cent are in the visual arts, design and communication, though the approaches differ between the two fields.

Three parallel trends coexist within the conservatoires: the first is the expansion into non-classical genres. Popular music and jazz together account for over a third of the new musical provision. The most striking example is Naples, which has established an entire jazz department (nine courses, ranging from singing to composition), whilst Cagliari has done the same with popular music, offering five instrumental specialisations. The second trend is the rediscovery of early music. Almost as strong, but more widely distributed: Baroque cello, transverse flute, viola da gamba, historical piano, Baroque oboe and bassoon, Renaissance trumpet, cornetto, and pre-polyphonic music. Novara, Perugia, Rome and Alessandria are establishing genuine centres of excellence for historical instruments.The third trend concerns technological professions within music. Sound engineering, applied music and sound design for immersive media have small numbers of students (seven) but are cross-disciplinary and more geared towards the audiovisual and gaming markets.

At private academies and institutions, the focus is almost entirely on design, fashion and creative management: IED (5 campuses), Marangoni, LABA, NABA and Accademia del Lusso mainly offer courses in ‘Artistic Design for Business’, with course titles focusing on marketing, branding, luxury and AI applied to fashion. This programme is structured around market demand rather than academic disciplines.

Also worth noting is a growing ‘care and inclusion’ strand: art therapy (Florence, Genoa, Ravenna, Milan), music therapy in Genoa, and music education specialising in disability in Benevento. There are ten courses, almost all at second-level, in a field that until a few years ago was marginal within the AFAM system.