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.


2014 European Chamber Music School participants


As I sit on the balcony watching a thunderstorm engulf the city, I am compelled to reflect on the beginning of what will prove to be a wonderful Italian experience.

Back in March we auditioned for the inaugural Estivo chamber music festival. Myself, along with over forty other students were lucky enough to be selected. I was selected to perform pieces from the art song repertoire, by composers such as Tosti, Liszt and Massenet, as well as in a vocal quartet performing Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes.

After much preparation and many rehearsals, July 5th was upon us and we were due to fly to Verona. After a long flight (who knew Australia was so far away!) and bus from Milan, we arrived in Verona on a beautiful summer day. As one must do when arriving in Italy, we went looking for the nearest pizzeria, to get our fill of the local cuisine. With full, but happy bellies, we explored the city before succumbing to jet lag at about 730pm.

This morning we arrived at our home for the next fortnight, the Verona Conservatorium, which is located in an abandoned Monastery. It was here that we met with our teacher for the first week, Lella Cuberli.
Lella is an American Soprano, based in Milan, who has had a very significant career specialising in the Bel Canto repertoire, where she sung at all of the major houses in Europe and the USA.
Upon meeting her, we had our first masterclass, which proved to be a very informative session. Three of my fellow singers sung and it was incredibly interesting to see how she approached their singing, from both a technical and musical standpoint. She seemed to be informing her advice from the Italian Appoggio technique, which I have always been very interested in. I am very much looking forward to singing for her tomorrow and taking on as much advice as possible from her.

Tomorrow I will also be rehearsing the aria “Dies bildnis ist bezaubernd shön” from Die Zauberflöte with the Chamber orchestra that has formed over here. I will be performing this on Friday in the Conservatoriums open theatre and I am excited for this amazing opportunity.

Tomorrow will prove to be an extremely memorable day, as we also have tickets organised for us to see Aida at the Verona Arena, which is similar in design to the famous Roman Colosseum, but has been transformed into a 15,000 seat amphitheatre. What an incredible place to watch one of Verdi’s great works! I haven’t seen Aida before and I am always excited to see pieces for the first time, especially in the home of Opera, Italy!

It should be a very exciting and rewarding fortnight and I really looking forward to taking as much out of this experience as possible.