Despite my degree in law, music is and has always been my true passion.
I began as a jazz singer, then experienced the evolution of my own tastes and interests after joining “I Polifonici Senesi,” a Siena-based chorus devoted primarily to early polyphony.
Pursuing this new direction, I won a scholarship to and took part in a special three-year program at the School of Music in Fiesole, sponsored by the European Community to train singers as all-round musicians (topics studied included vocal technique, individual and choral interpretation, music history, theory, harmony, keyboard technique, and stage arts).
Though I worked professionally in operatic companies following that program, I realized that my particular love rested with earlier musical forms (baroque and pre-baroque). Work with small professional ensembles (such as the Florence-based group L’Homme Armé) has proved tremendously gratifying.
At the Siena School for Liberal Arts, I lead students through a series of seminars as part of their orientation in Siena, exploring together how history, art, literature, architecture, and music combine happily to create this unique city.
Since 2003, when sufficient numbers of musically inclined students attend the school, I teach a course in the history and performance of Italian Madrigals - treasures in an art-form which itself fortuitously unites poetry, music, and even visual arts.
Education:
2006: Law Degree from the University of Siena. Thesis title: “The ‘Perceived Enemy: The Search for a Dynamic Definition of Political Crime in the United States of America (1776-1980).”
2000: Diploma from the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole’s special three-year program for singers, sponsored by the European Community. The program included study under internationally renowned maestri such as British countertenor Michael Chance, opera singer and director Claudio Desderi, and conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini.
1987: High school diploma in accounting and computer programming from the Istituto Tecnico-Commerciale “L. Pinto,” Castellana Grotta (BA).
Teaching Experience:
2007 - Present: Italian Language and Culture teacher at the Tenuta Spannocchia, Chiusdino, Italy.
2007 - Present: Teaching orientation seminars at the Siena School for Liberal Arts, Siena, Italy.
2003 - Present: Teaching Italian Madrigals (history and performance) at the Siena School for Liberal Arts, Siena, Italy.
Honors/Awards:
2003: The “Trio Armonia,” of which I am a founding member, won First Prize in Chamber Music at the First International Music Competition “Castello della Magione”.
1998-2000: Full scholarship to the program at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.
Related Work Experience:
2003 - 2005: Performed Renaissance dance with the Santa Fina Company of San Gimignano.
2000 - Present: Singing with various professional ensembles including L’Homme Armé (working with many performer/conductors including Andrew Lawrence King, Michael Chance, and Fabio Lombardo), I Cantori di Lorenzo, Città Lirica, Coro da Camera della Toscana.
1993: Performed with a group of Commedia dell’Arte actors led by Bepi Monai. We lived and traveled for two months on a horse-drawn “actors’ wagon” (a reproduction of the 17th-century original) along the northern Adriatic coast.
Languages
Italian: native
English: fluent
LIS (Italian Sign Language): First certificate