Music
Italy Tour
Members of Denison University's Chamber Choir, Chamber Orchestra and Music faculty recently returned from a week-long tour of Italy. Dr. Bonnie Borshay Sneed, Coordinator of Choral Activities and overall coordinator of the tour, led a group of 45 Denison students and faculty on a concert tour which included performances in Florence, Venice, and Milan. The Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Carlson, who also serves as Concertmaster, performed Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, featuring Clarinet Professor Dr. Nicholas Del Grazia as soloist. Also featured on the concert was the world premier of Amor, a work for Choir and Orchestra written by Composition Professor Ching-chu Hu and which included Dr. Hu on string bass. "This is the first time Denison has ever sent a choir and orchestra on a tour to Europe. It was exciting for all of us, especially for me since I've only been at Denison since August!" says Dr. Sneed. "To combine a college choir, orchestra and faculty for a European tour is an opportunity of a lifetime, and one that most universities much larger than ours do not accomplish. Added to that was the performance of a concerto and a world premier work from one of our own faculty, and you have a terrific experience. We are greatly indebted to the Middendorf Endowment Fund which enabled many of our students and faculty to participate."
The Choir performed a combination of American and Italian sacred works, such as "Beatus Vir" by Monteverdi, "Lux aurumque" by the American composer Eric Whitacre, the "Gloria" Steffano Bernardi's Missa Il Bianco e Dolce Cigno. Also performed were American choral pieces ranging from "America the Beautiful," to "Embraceable You" and the spiritual, "My Soul is a River." The Orchestra was featured with Dr. Del Grazia for the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and combined with the choir to perform Dr. Hu's Amor, and the final movement from Rossini's Stabat Mater.
Concert venues included Chiesa di S. Stefano al Ponte in Florence, the Chiesa Ognissanti in Venice and the Chiesa di S. Bartolomeo in Milan. There were several impromptu performances, including at the Chiesa di Frari, where Monteverdi is buried. Here the Choir and the Orchestra (singing their parts!) performed a Monteverdi motet standing by his tomb. The Choir was permitted to give a complete performance of their sacred a cappella pieces in the Milan Duomo, the splendid Gothic cathedral which dominates the city's center. The tour also included a visit to view Michelangelo's David and da Vinci's Last Supper, as well as an astonishing variety of Renaissance masterpieces by such artists as Giotto, Botticelli, Titian, Tintoretto, and Raphael. Another favorite was La Scala in Milan and the Guggenhiem Museum of Modern Art, which overlooks the Grand Canal in Venice. This museum contains one of the largest collections of 20th Century art by such masters as Picasso, Mondrian, Klimt, Pollock, Calder, Modigliani, and Chagall.
Given that the group was composed largely of college students, food was an important part of the trip. The consensus favorite was gelato, a smooth Italian ice cream which comes in a number of flavors. When Italian food was insufficient, any number of students managed to find a McDonald's.
The tour was the experience of a lifetime, and the group is grateful for the generous support of Denison's administration as well as the parents of the students who helped make the tour possible.
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