The Scuola del Teatro Musicale (STM) is a centre for the training of professional musical theatre performers and for the promotion of theatre culture. It has been active since 2013, the year it was founded by Marco Iacomelli, Andrea Manara and Davide Ienco in collaboration with Fondazione Teatro Coccia of Novara and Compagnia della Rancia. Here are the main milestones in our history.

2013

The Scuola del Teatro Musicale is founded in Novara in collaboration with Fondazione Teatro Coccia and Compagnia della Rancia.

2014

The Professional Programmes and Open Courses are launched. STM immediately establishes itself as a centre of excellence in performing arts education by engaging leading professionals and educators.

The STM Care project is established: a programme of social inclusion and integration for young people experiencing social hardship or living with Down syndrome.

This initiative aims to identify and address the need for democratic social interaction through the enhancement of self-awareness, personal knowledge, emotions, and the need to share them within an open and equal relational experience, while also providing a concrete opportunity for social, cultural, linguistic, and emotional inclusion.

2015

Next to Normal, the musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, becomes STM’s first production. Theatre publications describe the show as “a revolution in the world of Italian musical theatre.”

2016

Next to Normal tours major theatres throughout Italy.

2017

STM continues its production activity with Green Day’s American Idiot by Billie Joe Armstrong, featuring the music of Green Day. The School organises the first edition of the National Musical Theatre Festival, dedicated to innovative productions from the musical theatre repertoire and to the advanced training of artists and professionals working in the field.

2018

The student production of RENT, directed by graduate director Costanza Filaroni, is staged at Teatro Nazionale in Milan.

2019

STM launches the publishing series Manuals and Notebooks of Musical Theatre and publishes the Italian editions of Acting the Musical and Directing the Musical.

In co-production with Fondazione Teatro Coccia, STM produces the operas Le Nozze di Figaro and Ami e Tami.

STM produces Dead Poets Society, its first straight play.

The guided concerts Opera and Musical Theatre at Court are produced in collaboration with Teatro Superga in Nichelino for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

2020

STM collaborates with Fondazione Teatro Coccia on the first Italian production of Oklahoma!, directed by graduate director Luca Savani.

Alongside its historic Novara campus, STM opens a new location at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, in agreement with ShowBees.

The Scuola del Teatro Musicale becomes an AFAM institution recognised by the Italian Ministry of University and Research through Ministerial Decree No. 421 of 30 July 2020.

The guided concerts Opera and Musical Theatre at Court continue in collaboration with Teatro Superga in Nichelino for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

2021

STM publishes the book Garinei and Giovannini. The Musical Comedies from 1952 to 1962 by Costanza Filaroni. The project is supported by MiBACT – Directorate-General for Libraries and Copyright and published in collaboration with Istituto Luce – Cinecittà.

A new campus opens in central Italy, in Prato, at the Politeama Pratese Theatre, with the launch of Open Courses and the Pre-Academic Programme.

STM produces The Small Town, featuring graduates of the 2019/20 Academic Year and directed by Maestro Gabriele Vacis.

The guided concerts Opera and Musical Theatre at Court continue in collaboration with Teatro Superga in Nichelino for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

The School is accredited by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Union and is awarded the ECHE Quality Certificate in order to promote European mobility projects (Erasmus+) for the academic community.

2022

STM publishes the book Garinei and Giovannini. The Musical Comedies from 1962 to 1974 by Costanza Filaroni. The project is supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC) – Directorate-General for Education, Research and Cultural Institutes.

The Small Town begins its national tour.

The tour of Dead Poets Society continues in major Italian theatres.

The guided concerts Opera and Musical Theatre at Court continue in collaboration with Teatro Superga in Nichelino for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

In co-production with Andrea Rapaccini, STM produces Maria the Musical, a new work featuring original music and lyrics, staged at the Teatro San Babila in Milan.

For RaiPlay, STM produces the documentary The Small Town, chronicling the creation of the production directed by Maestro Gabriele Vacis.

STM produces tick, tick… BOOM! by Jonathan Larson, commissioning for the first time in the world a new adaptation for seven performers and a re-orchestration featuring the addition of a string quartet.

The School joins CIANS – the Coordination of Non-State AFAM Institutions.

2023

The tour of Dead Poets Society continues with a new cast.

The guided concerts Opera and Musical Theatre at Court continue in collaboration with Teatro Superga in Nichelino for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

STM produces Fully Committed by Becky Mode, directed by Marco Iacomelli.

STM produces Guys & Dolls, directed by Joe Deer, director and faculty member at Wright State University, Ohio, USA.

2024

The Scuola del Teatro Musicale receives authorisation from the Italian Ministry of University and Research to award the Second-Level Academic Diploma in Acting through Ministerial Decree No. 1794 of 20 November 2024.

The guided concerts Opera and Musical Theatre at Court continue in collaboration with Teatro Superga in Nichelino for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

STM oversees the production of Indagini Live by Stefano Nazzi, directed by Marco Iacomelli with associate direction by Massimiliano Perticari, produced by Alveare Produzioni.

STM produces Sweeney Todd, directed by Costanza Filaroni, Marco Iacomelli and Massimiliano Perticari.

STM oversees the production of Da Marco a Marco by Marco Cappato and Alberto “Bebo” Guidetti, directed by Marco Iacomelli and Massimiliano Perticari, produced by Alveare Produzioni.

As part of the PRO-BEN programme of the Italian Ministry of University and Research, STM is awarded funding dedicated to promoting students’ psychological and physical well-being and combating psychological and emotional distress within the student population, pursuant to DD No. 14317/2024.

2025

The Scuola del Teatro Musicale is admitted to the FNSV – National Performing Arts Fund 2025–2027 through Directorate-General Decree No. 1291 of 8 August 2025, under Theatre Activities, Article 44 – Cross-Sector Actions, Professional Development Promotion, “First Three-Year Applications”, achieving one of the highest scores among the newly selected organisations.

STM oversees the production of Indagini Live – A New Story by Stefano Nazzi, directed by Marco Iacomelli with associate direction by Massimiliano Perticari, produced by Alveare Produzioni.

STM develops the stage performance concept for Willie Peyote’s song Grazie ma no grazie for the 75th Sanremo Music Festival.

STM produces the original work AnMARCORD, premiering in Milan and Madrid as part of the Grand Tour AFAM project funded by the European Union to support the internationalisation of AFAM institutions.

The guided concerts Opera and Musical Theatre at Court continue in collaboration with Teatro Superga in Nichelino for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

STM oversees the production of Perché No by Diego Dalla Palma and Paolo Gioia, directed by Marco Iacomelli and Costanza Filaroni, produced by Paolo Gioia in collaboration with Retropalco.

STM produces Merrily We Roll Along, directed by Massimiliano Perticari.

STM inaugurates STM Studio, the new “speakeasy” venue within TAM Teatro Arcimboldi Milano, with a production of Sweeney Todd, directed by Costanza Filaroni, Marco Iacomelli and Massimiliano Perticari.

2026

STM produces Next to Normal, directed by Costanza Filaroni.

STM produces Nadia by Marco Di Stefano, directed by Costanza Filaroni.

STM oversees the production of Indagini Live – Another Story by Stefano Nazzi, directed by Marco Iacomelli with associate direction by Massimiliano Perticari, produced by Alveare Produzioni.

STM produces Dead Poets Society, directed by Marco Iacomelli.

STM produces Drag Historia by La Prada, directed by Leonardo Prada.

STM organises the first edition of the Festival of New Musical Theatre, dedicated to the presentation of original works in the genre and to meetings and conferences with artists and industry professionals.