The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Arts February 22, 2008

Like a Fine Wine, Oberlin in Italy Ages Well
 
Ciao, Bella Delicious food and quaint architecture are just some of the attractions for Oberlin students choosing to study under the Tuscan sun this summer. 

Ever since the 2003 release of the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, based on Frances Mayes’ best-selling book of the same name, Italy has appeared in more vacationers’ travel plans. But when Obies visit Tuscany, it’s for more than just good food and a potential local romance. Celebrating its 20th year in action, the Oberlin in Italy summer program has recently moved to the Tuscan town of Arezzo from its former home in Urbania — a smaller town in the state of Marche.

“We decided we needed a larger city and a more culturally-centered city. Arezzo is close to Florence and Siena, and that gives us many options for our participants,” said Director of the Oberlin in Italy Program and Professor of Voice Daune Mahy.

Students participating in this summer’s program will benefit from improved concert venues and complete use of facilities at the University of Siena/Arezzo. The larger town and school will also give the program room to grow.

“We have the complete support of [Arezzo’s] mayor, associate mayor and the president of the University of Siena/Arezzo,” added Mahy.

Arezzo seems like an obvious choice for a music program, as it is the birthplace of many notable Italian artists, poets and musicians, including Michelangelo, Petrarch and Guido — who invented solfege in the 1000s. In addition, Robert Benigni’s 1997 film La vita e bella (Life is Beautiful) was filmed in Arezzo, lending a certain notoriety to the landscape.

Conservatory senior Benjamin Bunte, who participated in the Urbania program in 2006 said he felt that “this change will bring a new spark to the program and provide many students the opportunity to enjoy it even more.”

 Rumors have surfaced on campus surrounding the program’s relocation. Multiple students were mugged last summer while participating in the Urbania program, and some have speculated that the change might have been made to ensure students’ safety.

Bunte, who was mugged in Urbania, denies the necessity of moving the program for safety reasons: “I really enjoyed the program. Urbania is a nice little town with tons of history behind it…. I did have an incident involving some criminals, but they were not from Urbania, so I really can’t hold that against the town or the program.”

The program, which lasts five weeks — this year from June 7 to July 11 — is an opportunity for both musical and intensive language studies and includes voice, piano, instrumental, liberal arts and theater instruction.

Oberlin in Italy is unique in that it offers not only a substantial number of credits, but also the combination of musical, cultural and language immersion. The language classes are required for all participants. Opportunities for performance abound; during the course of the program, students will perform Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Cavalli’s L’Egisto, as well as various arias and duets.

Mahy founded Oberlin in Italy with Director of Vocal Studies and Professor of Voice Gerald Crawford after visiting Urbania and wondering why, in Italy, the birthplace of great opera, language schools didn’t offer vocal coaching.

“The Lucca program, [which is accredited by the University of Cincinnati], is the only other program that comes close to Oberlin’s,” said Mahy.

Oberlin exports many of its faculty across the Atlantic to help run the program. Music Director of the Oberlin Orchestras and Associate Professor of Conducting Bridget-Michaele Reischl, Professor of Voice Marlene Ralis Rosen, Associate Professor of Voice Salvatore Champagne, Professor of Violin Milan Vitek and Professor of Horn Roland Pandolfi all lend their expertise. According to Mahy, this group will be joined by “exceptional coaches” from the Curtis Institute of Music, Copenhagen’s Royal Academy and La Scala, a famous opera house in Milan.

Oberlin’s talented faculty, plus the fresh location with all its history, promise an improved program for this year’s participants.

Added Mahy, “Arezzo is an ideal place for study. It has a long history of artistic endeavor and is a vivacious city. Tuscany itself is full of extraordinary opera houses and venues for performances.”

 


 
 
   

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