MPI 2026
Expression through Interpretation ™
The Marina Piccinini Institute returns to Uri, Switzerland
June 5–13, 2026 · Bürglen, Uri
The Marina Piccinini International Masterclasses return to the heart of Switzerland, set amid the magical landscape of Bürglen, the legendary birthplace of William Tell.
Since their founding in 2008, the masterclasses have nurtured and inspired flutists from around the world. Past editions have taken place at the Peabody Institute, the New World Center in Miami Beach, and on the Marlboro Festival campus, as well as online during the pandemic years. Rooted in Marina Piccinini’s philosophy of Beyond the Score: Expression Through Interpretation™, MPIMC offers a space for deep artistic growth and exploration.
Daily masterclasses with Marina Piccinini will be held at the Alphotel, a striking mountain venue near the gondola. Participants will take part in warm-ups, improvisation sessions, and presentations by leading flute makers, all while surrounded by the natural beauty of the Swiss Alps. The week also invites reflection and renewal through hiking, local cuisine, and swimming in the Vierwaldstättersee, with nearby Lucerne offering its rich cultural backdrop.
Scholarships remain a defining feature of MPIMC, supported by flute makers, private donors, and the Eric Maul Memorial Scholarship Fund. In 2026, a limited number of participants will also once again receive complimentary housing, generously provided by a local sponsor, ensuring access for deserving flutists from around the world.
MPIMC continues its journey as a gathering place for music, inspiration, and collaboration—a celebration of artistry in an extraordinary alpine setting.
MPI is built around the belief that artistic growth happens not only through intensive individual work, but through listening, reflection, discipline, physical awareness, community, and shared experience.
The rhythm of the week has therefore been designed with great care. Masterclasses, performances, warm-ups, concerts, conversations, walks, and moments of rest all form part of the artistic process. Inspired in part by Marina Piccinini’s longtime practice of kung fu, MPI approaches music as a complete discipline, one that engages the mind, body, imagination, and spirit together.
Students are encouraged not only to refine their playing, but to deepen their relationship to interpretation, communication, collaboration, and the larger artistic world around them. The goal is not simply technical excellence, but the cultivation of thoughtful, curious, resilient, and fully engaged musicians.
At the heart of MPI is the belief that serious artistic work can be both rigorous and deeply human, and that the colleagues we encounter as young artists often become lifelong sources of inspiration, support, and shared growth.
