That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, I will be spending my summer in buon Italia this year studying opera and the Italian language with the wonderful staff of Oberlin Conservatory!!!
At an extremely bleak and dreary point during the polar vortex earlier this year, I did something daring. I found, applied, and auditioned for an Italian opera training program all online. This required sending in references, resumés, video taping myself screeching out some Italian opera repertoire, and writing essays on why I thought I would be a good fit for the program. After pulling all these loose ends together, I sent everything in, expecting to hear back in about a month, as I had been told. To my excitement, I didn’t hear back a month later, but I got an email of acceptance only three days later! So, to make a long story short, I will be joining the ranks of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck and packing up my things for a Roman Holiday this Summer! I couldn’t be more excited and more nervous all at the same time. I will be living in an apartment in Arezzo on my own for the good part of two months, and I will be commuting to various places in Tuscany for lessons, classes, and coaching sessions, and then performing at Arezzo's Communal Palace (the location of the opera scene from the movie La Vie e Bella) at the beginning of July. I would covet your prayers for safety and for an alert, re-energized mind so that I can make the most of this amazing opportunity.
To all two or so of you who faithfully keep up with this blog, I will do my best to write updates as often as I can while I am in Italy! Please stay in touch!
