Faculty Performances and a Hike!

Ciao,

This morning amidst the sounds of cathedral bells ringing in the piazza, students walked to Terrazza Frau to watch the faculty perform.

Jill performing with her son, Niccoló.

Terry singing with Simona on piano.

Matt performing a scene from Hamlet.

Susannah, who students saw earlier in a performance of Don Giovanni, singing. She was joined by her mother, Terry, on the piano.

Simona playing Chopin’s Polonaise No. 1.

Vanessa, Anna, Abigail, Lucas, Eliza, and Loulou took a hike with Alison to the top of Monte Luco this afternoon.

 After dinner, creative writing teacher, Jan, challenged students to think about the differences between “my world, our world, and the world.” Students came up with excellent responses to share with the group.

A domani!

Ciao from Tivoli!

Today we visited the majestic hillside town of Tivoli.

Andrea began our trip by explaining the history behind the construction of Villa Adriana.

Roman Emporer Hadrian built the retreat in picturesque Tivoli.

The retreat is filled with remains of baths, pools, fountains and Greek style architecture and sculpture

Next we were off to Villa de Este to see the outstanding gardens and fountains. Students had time to wander through enjoying the soothing sounds of water running through the fountains.

 We then had time to shop and snack on some gelato in Tivoli after the gardens.

We ended the evening with a lovely dinner at the Clitunno in Spoleto with special Italian treats to celebrate Lucas’s birthday!

Siena Day Trip, Opera Night, and Today’s Creative Writing

It’s been a wonderful first week in Spoleto, full of fun classes, incredible trips, and amazing adventures!

Yesterday, July 14th, was our day trip to the beautiful city of Siena!  We visited the Town Hall where we saw the famous fresco “The Allegory of Good and Bad Government.”  Students were then given free time to find the district of their assigned Contrada and take a picture of themselves with their Contrada’s mascot.  We visited the Siena Cathedral, home of the famous floor mosaic, “Massacre of the Innocents,” and the Piccolomini Library.  After a bus ride to the town Castiglione del Lago and a wonderful pizza dinner by the lake, we got to go see a production of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with our very own vocal teacher Dr. Terri Rhodes’ daughter, Susanna, singing the role of Zerlina.  The opera was performed on an open-air stage in the Palazzo della Corgna. See firsthand a video of our incredible day:  

Today’s focus is on the Creative Writing students.  When the writing students started class today, they were asked to share their revised work with the class and give each other constructive feedback about their writing.  Their most recent revised work was centered around the theme “home and away”. Lately, they’ve been working on fluency exercises and developing an authentic voice, and their current writing project is to take something ordinary and, within a literary piece, make it extraordinary!  Today the students went to observe an Italian supermarket to take note of the differences between Italian and American supermarkets.  Since it was a chilly day in Spoleto, they also went to a coffee shop to get hot drinks  and write about their experiences of the day.

Mac and Sofia writing their pieces.

Dr. Jan Guffin, Nikki, and Lily sitting with their hot drinks.

Sofia writing about her experiences.

Mac, SSA Fellow Symphony, Nikki, Sofia, and Lily at the Spoleto Aqueduct.

A domani!

Drama and Vocal Students

Ciao!

It’s day 3 of classes and the students are starting to find their rhythm. The morning started with breakfast at the convent, then they headed to their first two classes: Italian and Arts & Ideas. After these courses, they had an hour of class with their specific major and attended Art & Architecture with Lorenzo. Art & Architecture usually focuses on the history of Spoleto and of the cities we will be visiting on our travel days.

Tomorrow we are headed to Siena for the day, and on our way home we will be seeing an opera, Don Giovanni. During today’s Art & Architecture period, students learned about Don Giovanni in preparation for tomorrow’s performance.

Lorenzo teaches students about the opera, Don Giovanni

After lunch and siesta, the choral students walked to Terrazza Frau for warm ups and to rehearse ensemble pieces. Today they worked on “Trip It in a Ring” from the semi-opera The Fairy Queen.

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Above: Sopranos practice their part.

Altos practice their part in “Trip It in a Ring”

After choir practice, vocal and drama students moved to the school where major classes are held. Vocal students split their time between working on solo and duet pieces with their instructor, Terry Rhodes, and working on movement and presence exercises with Matt Cosper, the drama instructor.

 

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Above: Students participated in a movement and presence warm up called Foot Ninja.

Vocal Students Anu, Eliza, Ki, and Gracie

Vocal and Drama students are currently working on tableaus. The students are working in pairs, playing both actor and director, and creating scenes which convey the sentiment of their chosen piece (monologue, soliloquy, song). In their rehearsal time, they created a total of six scenes each. At the end of class, they presented their three strongest scenes to their peers.

By student request, the class ended with another game of Foot Ninja.

Vocal and Drama Students in their practice space

Please note that due to a long travel day tomorrow, we will not be posting a blog. We will, however, be posting twice on Friday to capture our experiences in Siena and Lago Trasimeno.

Arrivederci!

A Look into the Disciplines

Ciao,

An update about updates:
Since we would like to highlight each discipline, we are going to designate disciplines for each day’s update.

  • Monday: Visual Arts
  • Tuesday: Music and Photography
  • Wednesday: Travel (N.B. We will be traveling on Thursday this week instead of Wednesday)
  • Thursday: Vocal and Drama
  • Friday: Creative Writing
  • Saturday: Travel
  • Sunday: Spoleto

Instrumental Music and Photography:

Instrumental Music students spent their lesson practicing their craft while learning Italian from the local kids, Lucia, Sofia, and Luigi.

Anne and her instructor Niccolo

Katibeth studying her music

Photography students have been exploring the topics of architecture and movement, and how to capture them in images.  To do this they used both their cell phones and their cameras.  They spent their afternoon capturing their subjects and editing the photos with photoshop.

Hannah getting her shot

Claire capturing her subject

 

The Spoleto Palio:

Throughout the duration of the program students will be competing against one another in contrade (teams).  Each contrada  has a name and a symbol based on Siena’s infamous contrade.  Last night we held our first event, a scavenger hunt around Spoleto, and Lupa won!  We will continue to have events and activities, and we will update you as we do.

Our contrade:

Chiocciola

Tartuca

Giraffa

Aquila

Bruco

Lupa

Drago

A domani!

Fireworks and First Full Day of Classes

Ciao!

Last night the students of Spoleto were in for a treat with an amazing view of festival fireworks set to classical music and opera.

This morning students attended their classes in Italian and Arts and Ideas. Students were able to partner up and practice using new and helpful phrases in Italian. In Arts and Ideas, students had a thought-provoking discussion about how they defined art, and they were later tasked with challenging their own notions of aesthetic appreciation. Afterwards, students either attended Arts and Architecture or a class in their chosen major.

  

In their master classes, students were able to delve into the art they are passionate about. Visual arts students worked on sketching gesture drawings where they practiced sketching quickly and without looking at their work.

 Creative writing students explored Spoleto by stopping in shops to meet local artists and restaurant owners, absorbed their surroundings, and tasted the flavors of gelato and granita as they wrote and later shared their observations and reflections of the town.

Vocal and drama students chose a keyword from their songs as an object of focus. They then had to create a silent scene to represent their keyword and perform it.

Violin students were joined by three Italian students and played chamber music together during their first class. Photography students walked around Spoleto during their lesson on architecture. They later edited and critiqued photographs together.

After a great day of classes, students were together again at Hotel Clituno for dinner before their team scavenger hunt around town.

A domani!

Mercatino and First Day of Classes

Ciao!

After lunch yesterday, the students took a walking tour of our lovely city of Spoleto!  They saw the locals setting up for the various performances of the day for annual Spoleto Festival 2016.  They also visited the Aquaduct and the Duomo (where they filmed Mateo).

Here we have the students listening to Andrea talk about the Aquaduct!

Students Julia, Yebin, Harrison, Eliza, Claire, Lily, and Anu enjoying the Spoleto sun!

After dinner, we went to get some much-deserved gelato!

Today, the students learned about the history of Spoleto and the surrounding area from Lorenzo Muti while sitting in the convent’s gorgeous chapel:

We then went to the Mercatino to look at the street vendors:

After lunch we had our first classes of the program!  Here we have the creative writing students (Lily, Nikki, Sofia, and Mac) with our wonderful teachers, Mary Beth and Symphony.

Some fun and games at the end of the day followed by fireworks for the final day of the Spoleto Festival!

 

A domani!

Andiamo ad Assisi

Ciao!

Today we started the morning with warm chocolate croissants and caffè at the convent. Next we loaded up the bus and were off to Assisi. On the way there Andrea spoke about the history of the churches we would be viewing and their significance. Our first stop was the beautiful Cattedrale di San Rufino. Andrea explained the meaning behind the sculptural elements on the facade. As a group we entered and viewed the inspiring interior of the church.

Our next stop was the Basilica di Santa Chiara. Andrea explained the history of Santa Chiara and her sacrifices to serve God. Within the building we saw incredible paintings and sculptures, along with artifacts from Santa Chiara herself, such as her tunic and locks of her hair.

The group then walked to Tempio di Minerva, taking in its impressive columns. Inside the building were intricate paintings surrounded by ornate gold sculptures. Students were then given time to explore the stores and to purchase memorabilia. Many students grabbed fans to help fight the summer sun and post cards for friends and family.

Our final stop was the incredible Basilica di San Francesco. All were taken with the inspiring interior within the Basilica. Each surface was covered with paintings, wooden carvings, or intricate tile work. Students reveled in the beauty of the gothic style frescos throughout the upper and lower parts of the church.

We arrived back in Spoleto and enjoyed a three course lunch as a group. Laughter and excitement over the days travel could be heard at each table.

We had some time to relax at the convent before walking through the streets of Spoleto with Andrea.

A domani!

Benvenuto a Spoleto!

Ciao!  
The students arrived safely to their Spoleto home, the convent, Istituto Bambin Gesu.

After putting their things in their rooms they went to Hotel Clitunno, the restaurant where they will be having lunch and dinner each day.

Following lunch they had a couple hours of free time to rest, to unpack, and to socialize.  Then they met their instructors and the Spoleto Study Abroad staff while playing games and taking a walking tour of the city.

Tomorrow they will travel to Assisi with some of their instructors and the SSA staff.

A domani!

Summer Arts Programs in Italy

Another incredible summer in Italy awaits high school students! Students will join us in beautiful Spoleto, Italy to study filmmaking, visual arts, drama, vocal music, photography, instrumental music, and creative writing as they explore and experience the art, culture, and history of Italy first-hand.

To apply: contact spoletoabroad@gmail.com