Alice, Taking Chopin's Notes

Alice Bovone is attending her first year of the Bachelor of Economics and Management in Arts, Culture and Communication at Bocconi, and on Thursday she took a particularly difficult exam: she completed a diploma in piano performance at the Vivaldi Conservatory in Alessandria. She scored 950, which is equivalent to 95%. The pieces Alice played during her exam included Chopin (Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53) and Brahms (Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35), two of her favorite composers.

Alice was born in 1993 and she's from the Piedmont Region, but has lived in Milan since September when she began attending Bocconi. "Choosing a room to rent was not easy," says the young pianist, "because it had to have a piano that would allow me to practice during the week." Two hours of practice every day are necessary before taking the final exam at the Conservatory. "Students begin to prepare for the exam during the eighth year of the music program," she says.

Alice began taking piano lessons from Luigina Ganau even before her fifth birthday. In middle school, she was placed in the third year of the program at Vivaldi Conservatory, supervised by Giorgio Vercillo, who taught her until her tenth year and the much sought-after diploma, issued by a commission of five music professors. "Playing in front of an audience doesn't intimidate me anymore," says the student. "With all the final performances I've done, I've learned to manage my stage fright." Alice has performed various solo concerts near Alessandria and Savona; one of the most interesting places was hosted in the medieval village of Varigotti.

After graduating from classical high school, Alice chose the Bocconi Bachelor program because "I think it offers an excellent mix of subjects that I find fascinating and the prospect of a more stable job, including when looking at an economic point of view," she explains.

Her childhood dream has always been to become a concert pianist. This may come true after all, maybe even in the Bocconi Aula Magna, after she receives her Bachelor degree.