Introduction

Hi all,

For those who don't know, I'm currently in Italy for five weeks as part of the Oberlin in Italy music program. I decided to start a blog not only to record my own thoughts and observations, but also to share them with friends and family who may be interested, since due to time differences and expensive phone costs it's not easy to stay in touch.

If you'd like to know more about the program, see the website: http://www.oberlin.edu/con/summer/italy/.
It's an intensive opera program that takes place in Arezzo, Italy, near Florence (if you're interested to learn about the town, go directly to this tab: http://www.oberlin.edu/con/summer/italy/arezzo.html).
We instrumentalists, while not the focus of the program and not numbering as many as the singers, provide a small chamber orchestra to play in the pit for the operas. The singers have private lessons, coachings and masterclasses with the voice faculty, while the instrumentalists rehearse with the cast and have a chamber music program on the side. There are several small performances throughout the four weeks, and then during the last part of our stay we perform the operas.

Aside from musical studies, we also take Italian language lessons for 3-4 hours every morning, and are able to explore historic Arezzo and surrounding areas, including taking daytrips to nearby Siena and Florence. This is a great opportunity for me, since I have already studied Italian for a year at Oberlin and can immerse myself in the culture with a basic knowledge of the language.

After the program ends on July 11th, I'll be traveling to England to visit a friend and do more sightseeing, so I plan to continue updating, pending easy internet access there.

Feel free to follow along and leave comments, and email/facebook me if you'd like to talk more. See you in August!

Enjoy,
-Allie