Alright, this needs to be stated for the record: I love Lucca.
This town is too beautiful for words. Today I went bicycling on medieval walls, with views of the interior of the city to one side and panoramic views of the seven hills of Lucca on the other. GORGEOUS. Yesterday and this morning it rained rained rained, but this afternoon has been sunny and beautiful.
I am living in a youth hostel, but this is no ordinary youth hostel. It is a giant old palazzo-type place, with a giant courtyard in the back and rooms on the first and second floors with enormously high ceilings...it's just gorgeous. I share a room with seven (yes, seven) other girls: Gretchen (mezzo, from Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University), Vanessa (soprano, from Youngstown University in Ohio), Emily (soprano, from University of Chicago), and four girls from Carnegie Mellon: Michelle (mezzo), Crystal (...mezzo, I think), Olivia (mezzo), and Bevin (soprano). We are all in the Studio Program together. There are possibly more mezzos doing this program than sopranos. I swear to god.
I have yet to encounter any raging bitches or soprano divas, as I was worried about, which is wonderful. Yesterday we had 'auditions', which were a chance for us to be placed with voice teachers and for the directors of the Studio to figure out what we're going to do. We also had Italian placement exams (which consisted of me saying 'Umm, yeah, I don't speak Italian. Sorry.' I say that a lot, really.
Today we had our first Italian class (which I think will be wonderful for me--the way they teach the language is conducive to me already understanding the basics of grammar from the ol' days of studying Spanish. And let's face it..Italian grammar can hold no candle to German grammar), followed by Studio. SO EXCITED FOR STUDIO. When I first got here, I was kind of concerned because it seemed like all the older singers were doing the I Solisti program (all the CMU girls are rising sophomores)...so I was like, wow, do I just suck? But then I met a lot of older people doing Studio, and today I remembered that I didn't audition for the Solisti program because I don't want to do it--I want to act, and that's what Studio is about. I will talk more about what we do when we start doing it...but I think it's gonna be a ball. And the woman who runs it Claudia, sang at the Met AND on Broadway. How bout them apples.
This weekend we (as in me, Emily, and Bevin...yet to run it by anyone else) are talking about going to Cinque Terra, which is supposed to be gorgeous (BEACH!) and is only about a 30 minute train ride from here. And as Emily, Miss Fluent in Italian Because I've Been Living Here for Three Months and Studying it for Years Blahbity Blah Blah (love her), will be quite an asset to this crazy train system.
I AM SO LUCKY!
*ciao*
This town is too beautiful for words. Today I went bicycling on medieval walls, with views of the interior of the city to one side and panoramic views of the seven hills of Lucca on the other. GORGEOUS. Yesterday and this morning it rained rained rained, but this afternoon has been sunny and beautiful.
I am living in a youth hostel, but this is no ordinary youth hostel. It is a giant old palazzo-type place, with a giant courtyard in the back and rooms on the first and second floors with enormously high ceilings...it's just gorgeous. I share a room with seven (yes, seven) other girls: Gretchen (mezzo, from Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University), Vanessa (soprano, from Youngstown University in Ohio), Emily (soprano, from University of Chicago), and four girls from Carnegie Mellon: Michelle (mezzo), Crystal (...mezzo, I think), Olivia (mezzo), and Bevin (soprano). We are all in the Studio Program together. There are possibly more mezzos doing this program than sopranos. I swear to god.
I have yet to encounter any raging bitches or soprano divas, as I was worried about, which is wonderful. Yesterday we had 'auditions', which were a chance for us to be placed with voice teachers and for the directors of the Studio to figure out what we're going to do. We also had Italian placement exams (which consisted of me saying 'Umm, yeah, I don't speak Italian. Sorry.' I say that a lot, really.
Today we had our first Italian class (which I think will be wonderful for me--the way they teach the language is conducive to me already understanding the basics of grammar from the ol' days of studying Spanish. And let's face it..Italian grammar can hold no candle to German grammar), followed by Studio. SO EXCITED FOR STUDIO. When I first got here, I was kind of concerned because it seemed like all the older singers were doing the I Solisti program (all the CMU girls are rising sophomores)...so I was like, wow, do I just suck? But then I met a lot of older people doing Studio, and today I remembered that I didn't audition for the Solisti program because I don't want to do it--I want to act, and that's what Studio is about. I will talk more about what we do when we start doing it...but I think it's gonna be a ball. And the woman who runs it Claudia, sang at the Met AND on Broadway. How bout them apples.
This weekend we (as in me, Emily, and Bevin...yet to run it by anyone else) are talking about going to Cinque Terra, which is supposed to be gorgeous (BEACH!) and is only about a 30 minute train ride from here. And as Emily, Miss Fluent in Italian Because I've Been Living Here for Three Months and Studying it for Years Blahbity Blah Blah (love her), will be quite an asset to this crazy train system.
I AM SO LUCKY!
*ciao*
2 Comments:
No other Emily will ever be quite so dear to my heart.
For future reference, Emily buys EVERYONE no-no items, so don't feel special.
I can't function without you. Come home.
Or, I'll manage, keep having a blast.
Love, Chris
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