La vita è bella

Roma!! (Bill Engvall, the Swiss Guard, underground graveyards and more...)

2009-09-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

Our tour guide at the Vatican/St. Peter's...

Me in Piazza Navona (you might recognize it from Angels & Demons as the fountain that Tom Hanks pulls a cardinal from)

Trevi Fountain!!! (someone else in my group took pictures of us kissing coins and tossing them in...)

Furman gladiators! We are standing in front of one of the rooms where a gladiator would have lived and trained (this is next to the Colosseum and Roman forum)...

My first ride on a metro!! I think Erik is embarrassed by me...

Oh, St. Peter's...

The Roman sunset from the steps of a church...

Allison & I at the Colosseum

One of the churches we toured...

OH MY GOODNESS.

Just got back from Rome last night. Too much to ever fit into one blog post but I will do what I can.

Things we saw: the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Appian Way, Saint Sebastian's cattacombs, St John Lateran, St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican & Vatican Museums, the Borghese Gallery, the church of Saint Cecilia (the patron saint of music), The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Michelango's Moses....art by Bernini, Michelango, Caravvagio and more...the Sistine Chapel, the crypt of Cappucian monks (instead of just burying the monks, their bones were used to decorate crypts), the Roman Forum, Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain...

...the list goes on and on. (We also saw Bill Engvall in the Rome train station last night- he was boarding the same train as we were). Unfortunately, a 3-day trip to Rome does not rid Furman students of homework, lessons or tests, so I must go practice and work. More pictures are on facebook if you are interested! :)

Firenze, frescoes and fish pizza...

2009-09-13T01:41:00.000-07:00

Ponte Vecchio in Florence

Rossini's cenotaph in Santa Croce

Really, really old chant in Santa Croce

We saw Brunelleschi's tomb in the Florence Duomo!

The Florence Duomo

Santa Croce

Ciao!!! Yesterday was an exciting day for many reasons...

1) My first train ride ever! It was about an hour to Florence. 3 cheers for public transportation!
2) We visited the Duomo and Santa Croce in Florence...both were overwhelming in many ways...from Rossini's cenotaph to Brunelleschi's tomb to the gorgeous frescoes...
3) the Ricordi store...while this was more of a mainstream music store with cds, DVDs, video games and a small section for scores, we still found some quality music...I bought 2 volumes of Marcello sonatas (2 volumes of 12=24 sonatas for 32 euros!) The other music store in town was unfortunately closed.

Back in Arezzo that night...
Owen and I decided to be adventurous and picked our pizza at random...UNFORTUNATELY...what we ordered was fish pizza...well, pizza with anchovies and capers to be exact. Not the most pleasant Italian dining experience.

Jenny, Emilee, Allison and I watched a street band by the duomo and then came back to the Accademia and passed out.

Today, Jackie and I are going to PAM to pick up some food, then we're going to see the changing of the bishops at the Arezzo duomo and finally, a roommate date at the nearby Mexican restaurant.

Ciao!

Saracen Joust, Cortona, Baroque flute and more...

2009-09-11T05:46:00.001-07:00

The view from Cortona

Town Hall in the Main Piazza of Cortona

Stefano and one of his many passions, which include Baroque flute, fine wine, cigars and brandy.

Stefano playing the Powell.

Go Porta Crucifera!!!

The two images directly above are both from the Saracen Joust in Arezzo this past week. Thousands of people came from all over for this event and the streets were packed. Just imagine a bunch of Italians screaming at a bunch of guys on horses with crossbows. TOO. MUCH. FUN!

For more pictures of this, check out my facebook page as I should have some more up soon.

Also this week, I saw my flute teacher here in Arezzo, Stefano Fanticelli, give a concert on Baroque flute with a modern flute and portative organ. The concert was in the limonaia at il melone, a resort with a hotel and restaurant. The concert was almost all Baroque music and included a free wine tasting afterwards by Ruffino wines.

After the concert, Dr. Britt suggested we go to dinner in Cortona as we were only about 10 minutes away. The hill town has gorgeous views and we got some delicious ravioli for a decent price at a family-owned restaurant Dr. Britt had been to a couple times before (other previous diners included Robert Redford and the foreign girl from Law & Order). Overall, a very nice night.

Tuesday was my first lesson with Stefano...he showed up on his motorcycle sporting aviators and a popped collar. We had a 2-hour lesson in the music studio of the Upper Cazina (the room has flowing curtains and multiple windows with views of the Tuscan countryside...basically, I can't imagine a more inspiring place for a lesson). He gave me diaphram exercises to work on and had me play on his Baroque instrument (a Powell) for a bit. I'm still working on Griffes and Copland for my recital and he picked the Bach C Major Sonata and some orchestra excerpts for me to look at (a Bach overture and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun).

Last night we had a Cabaret with the theater students. Lots of fun monologues, poetry readings and musical acts- both funny and serious. I played Katherine Hoover's Kokopeli for Solo Flute. We also discovered our new favorite gelato place, called Sunflower...this particular gelateria includes flavors such as chocolate, grapefruit, fig, blackberry and some others I couldn't read...all were delicious.

Tomorrow is a day trip to Florence for the music students to see Santa Croce and Santa Maria di Fiore.

Ciao!

Some views of Arezzo...

2009-09-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

Guido!!!

View on the way into town.

Also seen on the way to town...

Sam and I at the pretty place of the Villa that overlooks all of Arezzo.

The view from our window.

More pictures coming soon!

Experiences- 9/5/09

2009-09-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

1) First Italian grocery shopping experience (PAM)... purchases: rose wine, Kinder bar, corks
2) Renaissance-style joust (this was way cool)
3) First Italian shopping experience (Jackie and I found some good clothing stores...Zara, Pimkie, Zetenis, etc.)
4) First Italian pizzeria experience (TOO delicious)...I think it was called Pizzeria del Corso.
5) Prosciutto, asiago, mozzarella and rose wine with Jackie and Sam in the Mensa tonight...good food, good wine, good friends.

Also, starting to work on a piece Sam just finished entitled Portraits (for solo flute). It is 3 movements... each for a different friend. One is myself, one is Eliza and one is Andrew. I'm very much looking forward to working on the piece and hopefully playing it on one of the cabarets.

First day of classes is tomorrow and Dr. Britt, Karinn and I are going to hear Stefano Fanticelli (my flute teacher while I'm in Arezzo) play a concert tomorrow evening.

Buona notte!

Ciao from Italia!

2009-09-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

I cannot say anything about this place except that it is completely and utterly gorgeous.

The view outside my window is incredible, the food is fresh, the wine is cheap and delicious and I'm already developing leg muscles I never knew could exist from the somewhat lengthy, beautiful walks into town. The villa that we are living in, we found out, is a former bishop's summer home and is now actually owned by the Vatican. To try to describe the beauty of this place would not do it justice. I will post more photos here in the future, but for now, I have posted just under 100 photos on facebook if you would like to view them.

The students in the theater program seem extremely nice and lots of fun. We all (music and theater students) gathered in the limo (shortened from the Italian word that I can't remember how to spell...the limo is actually our quiet hour free hang out building with a TV and couches, kitchen-y stuff, cd player, etc.) and listened to some classy jazz music and drank from our newly-purchased bottles of wine (found earlier in the day at PAM, a grocery store, which was found with the assistance of the handy-dandy Accademia man, Michael Grady).

The first night here (while still jet-lagged) a group of music and theater students (myself included) and Dr. Britt went into town and got DELICIOUS gelato and after that myself and 2 other students (Josh, a piano player from Furman and one of my good friends, and Jon a new theater friend) went to a wine and cocktail bar next to the gelateria to get our first glass of wine in Italy (mine was a 4 euro Chianti).

Earlier that day, Sam, Owen, Allison, Mary-Catherine, Emilee (a clarinet player from New York) and I went into town in order to avoid napping and get a look at the town (again, tons of pictures on facebook and I will put more here soon). We did some shopping for necessary things forgotten or just not yet purchased (adaptors, shampoo, etc.) and found Guido's statue. If you don't know anything about Guido, he is a big deal. Google him. (Credit to Owen for seeing the statue first.)

Anyways, yesterday was orientation, classes start Monday and I didn't know it, but along with lessons, a coaching with a pianist is included every week for singers AND instrumentalists (I'm having some scores scanned and emailed to the Accademia and others shipped for use later in the semester- thank you, Mom!) This is exciting as the only chance I've had to work with a pianist at Furman thus far was for my jury and the couple times I've played on recital (and now I can kind of noodle around with some music I'm interested in). These coachings start Monday. Also on Monday, my Italian flute professor, Stefano Fanticelli is playing a concert and myself, Dr. Britt, Erik "Fingers" Franklin (a clarinet player and friend from Furman) and Katrinn (from Holland, she works at the Accademia and her daughter studies with Stefano) are going to see him perform.

Well, I'm off to get ready for the day as it's going to be a long one spent mostly in downtown Arezzo...there is an antique fair, which is a big deal and happens once a month here, and the Sarazen joust (http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/tuscany/horse-jousting.asp). Monica, pretty much head of awesomeness at the Accademia (also my Italian teacher starting tomorrow) taught some of the hand gestures of Italy to us yesterday and said that we could expect to be seeing some of those today (A couple of the funnier hand gestures... one, which means "How boring!" is actually translated to "What a big pair of balls!". The gesture actually looks a lot more like the second translation and the lower you do the hand gesture, the more bored you are saying you are. Another, which is worse than the finger, means that a man's wife is cheating on him because he's not doing what he's supposed to.)

More blogging later...off to breakfast!

Countdown: 2 Days!

2009-09-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

So, I currently have a pile of clothes, toiletries, books and other assorted items on my floor waiting to be packed into 2 suitcases that each need to way less than 50 pounds.

I am currently experiencing a combination of extreme excitement and nervousness. I am listening to Ray LaMontagne to try to calm my nerves but even he cannot tame the butterflies in my stomach.

Playing on my ipod: "Be Here Now" Ray LaMontagne

Pictures of the Accademia!

2009-07-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

My Address in Italy

2009-07-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

Tiffany Bishop
c/o Accademia dell’Arte
Villa Godiola
Loc. San Fabiano 9
52100 Arezzo
ITALIA

2009 Italian Study Abroad Student Calendar

2009-06-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

September 3 Depart Charlotte
September 4 Arrive Arezzo
September 5 Orientation at Accademia
September 6 Sarazen Joust in Arezzo (You will like this!)
September 7 Classes Begin (Britt)
September 11 Andiamo a Firenze (1-2 Music History Presentations)
September 12 Conducting Class x2
September 13 Local Day-Trips (OYO)

September 16-20 International Polifonico (Tutti)
No classes 17-18

September 24-26 Roma (3-4 Music History presentations)
September 27 Local Day-Trips (OYO)

October 1 Dr. Britt, Faculty Recital
October 3-4 Local Day-Trips (OYO) Classes complete @ 1 pm on Oct. 2
October 8 Student Showcase Recital I
October 9 Conducting Final Exam
October 10; 12-14 Tuscan Art Study Trip (Arezzo, Siena, Assisi, Florence)
(Music History presentations)
October 11 Local Day-Trips
October 16 Midterm Exams (Mus. His.; Italian) Classes complete @ 1pm.

October 17-25 Fall Break (Classes complete @ 1 pm on Oct. 16)

October 26 Classes Resume (Walter)
October 31 Group Concert Attendance in Florence (required)

Nov. 1; 7-8; 15; 22; 27-29 Additional Travel Opportunities (OYO)…Day Trips!
November 5-7 Jill Feldman Master Classes at Accademia
(attendance required for vocalists)
November 12-14 Venice, Italy (Music History presentations)
November 19 Dr. Walter, Faculty Recital
November 21 Group Concert Attendance in Florence (required)
November 26 Student Showcase Recital II
November 27-29 Student Travel

December 2 Music History Final Exam
December 3 Student Public Recital (Juries)
December 4 Student Public Recital (Juries)
December 5-6 Student Travel
December 7 Celebration Dinner @ Accademia
December 8 Depart Arezzo

Fall Break Plans

2009-06-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

Looks like my friends (Jackie Stucker, Owen Belcher and Sam Hunter) and I will be going to Vienna and Berlin for our fall break in Europe!

Our current plan is to fly from Rome to Berlin Saturday, October 17th, from Berlin to Vienna Wednesday, October 21st and then back to Arezzo Sunday, October 25th. We're planning on seeing the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics on the trip! We're also going to try to get tickets to the performance of L'Orfeo at La Scala on October 3rd.

Can't wait!

THE CONCERTS:

Berliner Philharmoniker
Daniel Harding Conductor
Janine Jansen Violin

Béla Bartók
Divertimento for string orchestra
Benjamin Britten
Violin Concerto
Richard Strauss
Death and Transfiguration

Thu 15. October 2009 8 pm
Fri 16. October 2009 8 pm
Sat 17. October 2009 8 pm

Introductory presentation 7 p.m.

Konzert im Konzerthaus
Date: 2009-10-22, 19:30
Location: Großer Konzerthaussaal (Wien, Österreich)
Conductor: Georges Prêtre

Program:
Franz Schubert: Symphonie Nr. 2, B-Dur, D 125
Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, op. 40