Our Spoleto Study Abroad music students enjoying the view from Monteluco before an evening concert for a very appreciative crowd, where the choir sang “Va, pensiero” from Verdi’s opera Nabucco.
This coming Saturday marks the culmination of three weeks of preparation: the final concert! Ainslee and Sarah have shown remarkable dedication to their craft, and both have achieved significant milestones in their playing. The students will be playing movements of their solo concerti, along with a selection of chamber pieces. It will be a thrilling performance. Bravi tutti!
Our Spoleto Study Abroad choir made huge strides this week. Singing in a small choir is an incredibly daunting task, because the singers feel much more exposed than they would in a large choir. Each musician is critical to the learning process and the group sound as a whole. The choir has learned some difficult and widely-varied repertoire in a short amount of time, and their group sound and confidence has developed dramatically during this final week.
In the final week, the voice students moved into the polishing phase with their repertoire. Although they continued to have some one-on-one lessons with Terry and Laura, they spent much more of their time together performing for one another. It has been wonderful to watch the opera and musical theater scenes come to life this week, from the early stages of trying to remember words, notes, and blocking to the final stages of fully embodying the different characters and connecting with their duet partners. Today’s dress rehearsal bodes well for a beautiful final performance tomorrow morning.
