Our finest musicians from the University of Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music are in Italy for the first European Chamber Music Summer School. They are staging daily concerts in Verona, Mantova and Venice at prestigious venues like The Bibiena Theatre, Palazzo Te and La Pieta.  Our students report from Italy.


Well, that was quick. We are at the end of what has been an incredible journey of music-making, laughter and all things sugary. Experiencing growth in technical ability, style and ways to make the music we perform more exciting and accessible to an international audience with great friends has made this an unforgettable experience.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love catching the ferry to the Con in Sydney. However, sauntering down the hill from our lush accommodation at Alla Fontana del Ferro and crossing the Ponte Pietra over the Adige river to arrive at the Conservatorio di Verona might just be on par with my journey back home. The first week was a series of intensive master classes with soprano Lella Cuberli. Her professional attitude and years of experience (as well as playful mockery of our Aussie accents) made for a fantastic first week. I was blown away at the rate she could improve the quality and flexibility of our voices with simple exercises and assertive encouragements.

In the last week we have appeared in three successful vocal concerts in Mantova and Verona, and been coached by repetiteur Fabio Centanni. It has been a treat to receive such masterful treatment from internationally renowned coaches. As this is a summer school focussing on chamber music, I was delighted to perform duets like Chausson’s La Nuit and Reveil and Rossini’s La Serenata with soprano Imogen-Faith Malfitano. It is so important for us to learn how to sing in ensembles. I can see, after attending concerts featuring a variety of musicians how we have all developed from concentrating on this pivotal element of music.

Our last few days have been filled with excitement! We have visited the Arena Museum of Opera which showed original manuscripts from Verdi and Puccini – and it looked like they wrote in the tenor clef! Good stuff. Visiting the Arena for the second time to see the incomparable Placido Domingo singing highlights from Verdi’s La Traviata and Un Ballo in Maschera was very special. Before the curtains closed on our time here, I was fortunate to perform again with Imogen-Faith singing arias from Handel’s Messiah and Giulio Cesare in the spectacular Sala Maffeiana. It is always a pleasure to perform even sections from these great works.

We are so grateful for this rewarding and fulfilling opportunity and look forward to seeing further progress in the future. And I hear this summer school is going to be on every year… Sign me up!