Founded in 1974 by Piero Farulli, violinist of the legendary Italian Quartet, it has been 40 years that the School of Music of Fiesole is an international point of reference, with 1,300 students, 7 orchestras, 6 choirs, 140 teachers and over 200 musical appointments made every year.

Tremendous amounts of musicians from Fiesole who are active in concerts, have been able to acquire the necessary professional skills through the “Orchestra Giovanile Italiana” - one of the most fruitful educational projects of the School which helped them to Find places into orchestras worldwide. 

Extraordinary artists have made available for the institution their teaching methods and also their concert performances: among others Riccardo Muti, Salvatore Accardo, Luciano Berio, Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Maria Tipo, the Trio of Trieste, Natalia Gutman, György Kurtág, Gabriele Ferro, Krzysztof Penderecki, Daniele Gatti, Pavel Vernikov, Gianandrea Noseda, Giuseppe Sinopoli. 

Recently accredited with a ministerial decision releasing a Diploma of AFAM I level, the School of Music of Fiesole has added to the multiple collaborations already existing, a three-year agreement with the prestigious Mozarteum in Salzburg, which covers various common projects, including this year, the equipping of the Mozartian masterpiece “La Clemenza di Tito”. 

All along from the state-of-the-art in the field of the musical literacy of young children, the school has activated a didactic experience completely free of charge and in a manner of collective learning in a multi-ethnic and peripheral neighborhood of Florence, forming one of the cores of the Italian system of orchestras and child-youth choirs.

In addition, from Fiesole - in collaboration with the University of Florence - a project of the first Master postgraduate level I has started to form the operators of this type. 

In 2002 the school relies on the ECMA (European Chamber Music Association) together with some of the most European prestigious musical academies. The formative international path thus created allows many of the string quartets of the Academy to impose themselves in large international competitions such as ARD of Munich, Haydn of Vienna, Shostakovich of Moscow, Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and Prague. 

The activity of the School, the Artistic Director of which is Andrea Lucchesini, since 2008, while Lorenzo Cinatti as Supervisor from 2012, is made possible by the economic support of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities of the Tuscan Region, of the Province, and the Municipality of Florence, and the Municipality of Fiesole. The Institution of Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze is an irreplaceable patron of Fiesole projects, and there are also many private individuals that make available for the most deserving students various scholarships, as recently arranged with a meaning full gesture by Claudio Abbado, by devoting salaries of lifetime Senators. 

The Abbiati Premium received in 1981 is the Best musical initiative. T In 2005 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi then Republic President awarded the National Prize. In 2008, the Japan Arts Association awarded the Imperial Premium Grant for Young Artists.