8/12/2019 Renaissance, Issue 5-2012 Magazine Cover, Table of
Contents, and Article World-Class Culture Firsthand.
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2012 39
S
enior vocal performance music major Angelina DeFeo
in Florence, Italy. With great successes in UCM-sponsored opera
programs and vocal competitions behind
her, singing and studying opera in the country of its birth
was
a logical step.
After researching UCM Study Abroad options, she enrolled in
intensive Italian language and music study at the Accademia
Europea di Firenze during fall 2011. When asked what she
has gained from study abroad, DeFeo shared that her goals
have become even clearer and more attainable in her mind.
She feels as if she is part of a global culture belonging to
alarger collection of citizens who strive for knowledge and
cultivation of self. Not only was DeFeo immersed in the
language, food and music of Italy, she also lived and
studied
with many students from several different countries. Living
in Florence and traveling easily to Venice and Milan was
something she could not have imagined before.
One of the highlights of her stay was visiting the world-
famous opera house, La Scala, in Milan, where she was able
to observe an opera rehearsal. Knowing that the greatestopera
singers from the eighteenth century to present day
performed at La Scala, being able to sit in the balcony, to
explore not from a picture in a book or from a video but
in real time, made for her a profound experience. DeFeo
of my dreams is incredible . . . almost sacred for me. She
added, It took my dream and made it more concrete.
In Florence, DeFeo performed in a production of MozartsCos fan
tutteat San Stefano al Ponte Vecchio, a church
dating back to the thirteenth century, as well as the
American
Consulate General of the United States. DeFeo has returned
World-Class Culture
FirsthandBy Stella Dayrit Roden
39
