dlpiano

I have taken my piano students to NY for piano and cultural arts camp for years. It has been very successful for all involved and I am ready to branch out! I would like to start with a student music trip to Italy. I have vacationed there 3 times and would feel more confident. An off season trip would be best to avoid crowds and take advantage of cheaper rates. A few examples of musical adventures students would probably enjoy are attending a Puccini music program in Lucca in the same church he was baptized and viewing the 1st piano ever made in Florence. I WOULD LOVE TO LEARN OF OTHER IDEAS! Thank you

Lynnaustin

A little more info would be helpful. Age of students? How many students? Where are you travelling from ? How many days for trip?

dlpiano

OK I can give my group info. High School students, no more than a dozen students, we will be traveling from ORF airport and I would like to spend 8-10 days in Italy.
Looking for others to share their successful, enjoyable musical experiences with me so I can begin making a list. I will research these suggestions and figure out which ones would work best for the students who sign up for camp.
Thanks!

basingstoke2

As much as I love Italy and as rich as Italy is in music, have you considered Vienna? There you can:
Stay at the Best Western Tigra that occupies the building where Leopold and young Wolfgang Mozart lived when Wolfgang made his Vienna debut and where he had an apartment on his own as an adult. The hall where it took place is close by; visit the Kunsthistoriches Instrument Museaum in both of its locations where you can see a fabulous collection of instruments including ancient ones as well as the pianos owned or played by Brahms, Lizt, Shumann, Shubert, Mahler, Wolf, and one attributed to Haydn as well as other historic pianos. Visit the graves of Beethoven, Gluck, Brull, Czerny, Salieri, Schoenberg, Schubert, Von Suppe, all of the Strausses, and other composers, singers, actors and artists all at the Zentralfriedhof Cemetary. Trace out Beethoven's Vienna and see some of the places where he lived and hung out. There are all kinds of concerts all over the city nearly any day of the week - usually several to choose from. How about an overnight trip M from Vienna to Salzburg, a little more that 2.5 hours by train to visit Mozart's birthplace. A bonus on the train journey is that you will go through some gorgeous scenery. Tempted?

dlpiano

I am very tempted but would feel more comfortable exploring Vienna before I brought students. The kids don't want to wait so our first trip could be Italy. Your ideas are plentiful and fantastic! Vienna trip should follow after I explore it with out children!
Thank you~

ellenem

Just to spark our ideas, what type of things do you do with your students when you visit NY?

Meanwhile . . .

The Accademia Gallery in Florence, home of Michelangelo's David, has a interesting small permanent exhibit in its Department of Musical Instruments featuring actual instruments, some hands-on models, as well as computer terminals to explore info about the different instruments.

http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/en...sei/cherubini/

In Venice you can visit Vivaldi's church and hear The Four Seasons played almost any night in any number of venues. Also some concert/opera at La Fenice.

basingstoke2

http://tinyurl.com/4fnj5cq

Follow the above link for some very good ideas. A number are not off season, but many are. A visit to Cremona, the center of the violin universe would be at the top of my list. The activities in Parma and Ravello look great too.

Have a great trip, and do get to Vienna some day. For a musician it is a pilgrimage.

dlpiano

These ideas are wonderful! In NY we have private parlor concerts, outdoor concerts at West Point, Vanderbilt Mansion, & Bowdoin Park,tour Vassar Music Dept, see a Broadway musical then put on our own skit to this musical, take voice lessons from an opera singer, to name a few! We also take master classes and give recitals but would not do that in Italy!

feda

Have you considered visiting Milan's La Scala? And what about attending either an opera or a ballet there ? Milan is also home to one of the most renowned schools for music in Italy (the Milan CONSERVATORIO)

taconictraveler

Dipiano: I gather you are in the Hudson Valley. I live there not far from Poughkeepsie, have a friend who left here for life in Spain and Italy, so depending on the time of year you go, she, being a violist, and who know all about chamber music , etc. In Italy, would be happy to help you if she is there - or can give you even more help by email, etc. if you could forward email contact info. She is such a music love, and you prob. Have frie ds in common.

basingstoke2

"We also take master classes and give recitals but would not do that in Italy!"

Do not be so quick to dismiss that. Some years ago when DD was in a local youth orchestra they had arranged a trip to Italy where they were to play in a church in Venice, one of the selections was the Vivaldi Bassoon concerto with DD as soloist - you can imagine her excitement. Then came 9/11/2001 just before the trip so it was called off and they went to New Orleans instead and did the program in a church there instead. I do not just what they had to do to arrange to play in Venice, the the point is that they were able to do it, so it is possible.

taconictraveler

and I would also add that my friend, formerly of Dutchess County, could arrange for playing
in the Le Marche and even other parts of Italy.

when are you going on this trip and to what parts,of Italy?

dlpiano

So many great ideas! This year is NY camp already planned so probably 2012. Florence, Venice with a fun side trip to Cinque Terre to "air out" the students
I hesitate to involve classes or a recital/concert due to practice time involved. In NY my students practice 3 hrs a day! basingstoke2-- it would be inspirational to listen to other students perform!
taconictraveler --I would enjoy talking to your friend. How do we exchange emails?

feda

If you want to "air out" the students do keep into consideration the GARDALAND funfair near lake Garda, in Lombardy-northern Italy. There are all sorts of rollercoasters and things like that.

dlpiano

googling GARDALAND --sounds right up kids alley.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Here's somewhere you might like to add to the list - on the island of Ischia...

http://www.lamortella.org/

Try....
http://www.lamortella.org/content/view/56/184/lang,en/

and....
http://www.lamortella.org/content/view/40/179/lang,en/

What's Ischia?
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/allaboutischia

Peter

dlpiano

Amazing! What a life legacy-thank you for sharing. The student concerts are exactly what I was looking for.

taconictraveler

Are you involved with the august Raymond Ave. College? If so, I'll think of something.

dlpiano

No college, just a dedicated private piano teacher with a large studio (70+ weekly students). Originally from Hudson Valley but now in a small beach community with very little cultural activities. My camps are a way of exposing children to the arts.

zeppole

dipiano,

In addition to Lucca and Puccini, some important towns in Italy for music are Arezzo in Tuscany (where the musical scale was invented), Parma is the home of both Verdi and Toscanini, with many musical performances, and Cremona is the home of Stradivarius, where his handmade violins are still played by curators every morning to keep them in tune.

I appreciate that you don't want to make your students practice while they are in Italy, but I do think it would be a shame to take them to amusement parks and on hikes like le Cinque Terre that they could just as easily do in the US. Everywhere you go in Italy you will find places to kick back, hike, bike or swim in the sea or public pools.

Here are some links that might help you and your students gain an appreciation of the contribution Italy has made to the world of music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Tuscany

http://www.allegroholidays.com/Music...al_Cremona.htm

http://www.centromusicacremona.it/wo...-music-contest

http://masamizuno.com/pianonew2/it.html



http://www.allegroholidays.com/Verdi...arma_Italy.htm