Alessandra Montali

Alessandra Montali, PhD

Musicology Professor & Research Coordinator • Director of the Mantinea Institute

Alessandra Montali is a professor of Music History at the Giacomo Puccini Conservatory in La Spezia, Italy. She has also held positions as an Affiliated Professor at Florida Atlantic University in the United States and as a Visiting Professor at RK University in India in 2024.
Her recent academic activity has focused on the development and coordination of Alta Formazione Artistica, Musicale e Coreutica (AFAM) doctoral programmes in Italy. She is a member of the Doctoral Board in History, Criticism, and Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Padua and a member of Italy’s National Doctoral Board in Artistic Research on Musical Heritage (DIN), where she also serves as the coordinator of the Immersive Technologies Applied to Music Curriculum (TIM).
PhD in Musicology and Musical Heritage, professor of Music History with a solid background in musicology, performance, and academic leadership. Demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate international research groups and to contribute to the design of European projects aimed at developing innovative artistic and educational programs. Extensive experience in both national and international collaborations.
Her research interests and publications range from music history—particularly of the twentieth century—to systematic musicology (cognitive and cultural processes related to music listening), as well as the use of new technologies for the enhancement of cultural heritage from an interdisciplinary perspective. She has delivered lectures at international conferences in the USA, Kenya, Italy, Poland, and France.
She is currently coordinating the following international research projects:
• The educational series Opera VR – Virtual Learning and Research Hub (PNRR Project MTNT): 6 virtual reality-based educational modules (4 for university level and 2 for lower secondary school) for teaching music history. 
• The international research project Resonances of Stones (HORIZON Project CAPHE), focused on the interaction between architectural reconstruction and acoustic auralization using VR technology for the enhancement of cultural heritage.
• The Experimental Artistic Research Project: A Prototype for Virtual Opera (HORIZON Project CAPHE), dedicated to the application of new technologies (VR, XR, AI) to opera performance. 
• The artistic and performative research project The Role of Women in the Birth of Musical Theater – Conference & Performances (PNRR Project CASTA DIVA), including a publication on opera and gender studies titled ECHOES OF FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE: women’s role in medieval music and in the process of cultural transmission of sacred theatre.
Alessandra Montali also made an instrumental contribution to the development of the Music Theatre and New Technologies (MTNT) project funded by the Italian PNRR, with over 5 million euros. Following her research interests, Alessandra Montali participates in European projects such as the Horizon Europe Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environments (CAPHE) and the Erasmus+ KA2 Project In Media Stat Virtus.

+39 349 395 9020
contact@mantinea.institute