“Music in Italy is a way of life. Music breathes within the fabric of the cities and grows within the culture of the Italian people.”
In the spring we shared the exciting news of Madi Marks’ Summer Burch Fellowship Award to study in Italy this summer. Now we’re pleased to shared her experience this summer in Madi’s own words.
Four years ago, I was applying to college. I was starting my senior year of high school and had no clue what was in store for me for the next four years to come. Little did any of us know there would be a pandemic, but little did I specifically know that within the span of my junior to senior year of college, I would spend 6 months of it in Europe. And what a life-changing experience it has been. My Burch Fellowship consisted of an idea born from my time in Florence on my study abroad trip. I noticed how in Italy music was not just an “extracurricular” that looked good on a CV. Music was not picking up an instrument as a retired
person because you finally have time to do something besides work. Music in Italy is a way of life. Music breathes within the fabric of the cities and grows within the culture of the Italian people.
The center focus of my Fellowship was a comparison of Italian versus American music in secondary schools. My first time in Florence changed my perspective when I noticed that the Italian music scene was more collaborative than the hierarchical approach in the American music classroom. This is not to say that American music cannot be collaborative, but there is something utterly different about the way music is made when life is for living, not for working. My project was composed of two main locations and institutions; Il Trillo School of Music, Florence; and the San Marino Institute of Music in the Republic of San Marino. To put it simply, Il Trillo is in the center of the major Italian city, Florence, and is a private institution that runs off of funds from the programs it creates and hosts. San Marino Insitute is a small government-funded conservatory in the 33,000-person country of San Marino. Looking at this in hindsight, the differences in these locations, organizations, and my experiences with them served as a major comparison point in my research.
As stated previously, my time at Il Trillo was the majority of my trip, specifically about 6 of the 7 weeks I was in Italy. I arrived in Florence at the end of May, right as school was wrapping up, and students were about to go to summer camps. This first week for me was right as Il Trillo was doing their class final concerts- Saggio Musica (music essay- final exam). These were very young to very old students ranging from instruments like piano to drums. Each class was small with one teacher, and while the music was not Beethoven, it was an experience for people to practice performing, to fall in love with the feeling of expressing themselves through music. Often in America, and in life, we think unless we start at an early age, new things, like learning an instrument, are unobtainable and a waste of time.
After almost two weeks in Florence, I went on my first trip to San Marino to the San Marino Conservatory. At Il Trillo, I was one of the many Americans many Florentines see every year. In San Marino, this was the opposite. The structure was different; the type of student was different; and the end goal was different. The lessons were stricter and more focused on classical training, and the students were working for the goal of becoming the best musician possible. In San Marino I resonated more with this type of goal-centered musical environment – it felt more American. Besides watching lessons in San Marino, I participated and performed with the San Marino Conservatory Orchestra; this felt like home. Concert performing was something I had been doing for years and despite being halfway across the world, I found comfort and familiarity in the pattern of performance.
For the next two weeks of my trip, I went back to Florence and I jumped into the “Centri Estivi” (summer centers- summer camp). The main goal was to have fun while making music. A concept we focus on in my education classes is called the “teacher toolbox.” This is the knowledge a teacher has of ways to help a student. In this camp, I was as far out of my comfort zone as possible but was able to rely on my toolbox and communicate to fix problems.
My next adventure was my second and final trip to San Marino. Being able to speak your native language was a comfort that was not there for me. I did not have my words to fall back on. Something I have always been good at is taking opportunities by the reins and going for it. Well, I went for it and ended up being asked to conduct the last three pieces at the concert that Friday. My first concert I conducted, and it happened to be in Italy. I was able to lead the rehearsal in Italian, make connections with the students, and conduct the concert ending with an explosion of applause. This was it; this was what I was meant to do.
A concept we focus on in my education classes is called the “teacher toolbox.” This is the knowledge a teacher has of ways to help a student. In this camp, I was as far out of my comfort zone as possible but was able to rely on my toolbox and communicate to fix problems.
Returning to Florence again, I was involved in a huge program at Il Trillo; the Korean Music Festival. By this point in my trip, I felt fully adjusted to the extent that it felt like I truly was an employee of Il Trillo. The Korean Festival happens twice every year at Il Trillo. This summer it was over 100 musicians from South Korea that performed two different concerts. The first was beginner musicians and the second was an orchestra with opera performers. During the weekend of the Korean festival, the musicians worked throughout the day prepping their material for their concerts with the Il Trillo staff. In the practice rooms there were translators, there were three languages, English, Italian, and Korean; but only one music, and it was understood by all.
The last big event of my trip was my performance of Adagio from the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. A few things to note about this concert specifically: I was the only woman in the entire concert; I was the only one that spoke English, and I only had two rehearsals with the orchestra. But the wonderful thing about being a musician, and something I really learned on this trip, was communication through music and body language. I was completely out of my comfort zone going into the rehearsals, but with this trip I had to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. So I adapted; I learned, and I was able to successfully perform a concerto in Florence, Italy.
This was it; this was what I was meant to do.
Reflecting on this trip, saying it changed me would not be my main takeaway. What this trip did proved to me how much I can do when I set my mind to something. How capable I am of creating a sense of home, overcoming language barriers, and how ready I am to enter the real world. In Italy, life is about the pleasures that come along with living. The beautiful thing about Florence and Italy is that the music is so ingrained in their lifestyle that I did not even have to search for my research, it came to me. This trip reinforced to me the power of connection, whether it be through colleagues in the classroom or connections across the world. I have always had such a strong passion for music that I knew it would be my career, but throughout the past year I realized I also am extremely passionate about travel. The wonderful thing about these two interests is that there are ways to combine them. I do not know exactly how but what I do know is, literally, a new world has opened for me, and I am taking life by the reins and jumping completely in.
by Madi Marks, class of 2024
