Summer can be a time to relax or it can be a time to explore and experience. For Madison Teuscher and Karen Hunt, two vocal performance students at the University of Idaho, this summer proved to be full of the latter.
Teuscher and Hunt both spent their summer abroad in Europe, participating in separate, independent opera programs.
Teuscher, a UI junior, spent five weeks in Salzburg, Austria, studying the German language and vocal performance with the Franco American Vocal Academy.
“I spent five weeks studying German language, fiction, stage movements, voice lessons and coaching,” she said. “The culmination of all of this was performing Mozart”s “Le Nozze di Figaro.””
Hunt, also in her third year at the university, spent three weeks in Barona, Italy while studying under the vocal performance program, Opera Viva!
“In Italy, we had the opportunity to perform in three concerts in Italian and we were performing different scene assignments,” Hunt said. “We also did a Sacred Music concert in a basilica in Verona that was over a thousand years old.”
Karen Hunt | Courtesy
Attending live Italian operas at the basilica in Vienna, Italy was a part of Karen Hunt”s summer program.
Hunt said while the programs were not tied to the university, such opera experiences abroad are commonly pursued among undergraduate and graduate students.
“The programs we went to are separate opera programs, but they”re both some of the most really high quality ones you can go to,” Hunt said. “The faculty usually recommends students apply to these programs.”
Teuscher said these programs are often the next step vocal performers can take towards a career.
“As somebody who has a passion for opera and wants to do it as a career, it”s the next step towards that goal to do a summer program,” Teuscher said. “I really loved my time there and it”s an opportunity I will not soon forget.”
Teuscher said the most difficult element of the program was preparing for it while she was still in Moscow.
“We were contractually obligated to show up memorized and that took a lot of work and preparation while I was still in Moscow,” Teuscher said. “An hour or two a day for four of five weeks got me up to speed, knowing the music and having a clear idea of the character.”
Despite the amounts of work that went into the program, Teuscher said she loved every moment of the experience.
“If you don”t love rehearsal and the practice process, then there”s no point in you doing this,” Teuscher said. “It”s like the “Little Red Hen,” you have to put the work into the beginning to get the bread at the end.”
Hunt said in addition to the quality of the program and the experience she gained while abroad, her favorite aspect of the trip was the group she was able to work with.
“You think of the stereotypes––you get a bunch of performers together and there”s going to be so much drama but that wasn”t the case,” Hunt said. “We came from different walks of life and everyone was just so supportive of each other and the people that were a part of the program made it just an incredible experience.”
While there are many benefits to participating in a program abroad, Hunt said she found the opportunity to experience a different culture invaluable.
“It was really cool to see that the culture of opera and music is so deep in Italy,” Hunt said. “We saw several operas in Verona in this old Roman arena where you sit on stone bleachers and you can bring food … vendors go around selling wine and beer and you watch an opera like you would a baseball game in the United States.”
Hunt said she recommends vocal performance students interested in similar programs do their research early to find a program that best suits them.
“When you”re looking at the cost of these programs, because mine wasn”t necessarily cheap, you have to consider what the opportunity costs are,” Hunt said. “For me, my program was worth every penny, I don”t regret a second or a cent of what I spent in Italy … it was a life changing experience.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected]