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2011 Choral & Cultural Tastings Descriptions

Orientation Meeting and dinner at Hotel Dei Duchi:

Our first official gathering in Spoleto when, for the very first time, all participants and staff members alike are together in the same physical place – a very exciting moment for our program! Though suffering from the usual delirium of jet lag, participants will officially meet and get to know each other, receive practical tips from the staff on the “ins and outs” of living as a “Spoletino” for 12 days, as well as general information on the day-to-day flow of the program. We will also savor our first delicious Umbrian meal at our hotel’s restaurant.

Walking Tour of Spoleto Historic Center with Daniela:

After our first night on Umbrian soil we will explore and get our bearings of the charming historic center of the medieval hilltop town of Spoleto through an adventurous morning walking tour with Daniela, our program cultural coordinator. In addition to having endured rigorous tests to become a fully licensed and authorized professional guide of Umbria, Daniela possesses a timeless and spiritual passion for this "off the beaten path" and mystical region of Italy. Wear comfortable walking shoes and get ready to experience the cobblestone streets and steep hills of Spoleto!

Ensemble Rehearsals at Sant’Angioletto Church:

New this year, the Sant’Angioletto rehearsal space is located at the end of the Corso Mazzini, the main drag of Spoleto’s historic center. It is in this precious, intimate, and fresco filled space where our daily choral workshops and rehearsals will take place. Individual voice placement hearings will also take place in this space after our very first rehearsal on Thursday, July 21st. Here we will develop our ensemble, build our unique sound, and aim to achieve the highest level of choral excellence possible in preparation for all of our concerts at the end of our program in Umbria.

Literary Interludes: Monteverdi lecture & aperitif with Rodney Lokaj:

Medievalist Rodney Lokaj is an Australian transport who fell in love with Umbria and lives just outside of Spoleto, in his own secret part of "the green heart of Italy", where he does most of his writing and research. He has held teaching positions at the Universities of Perugia, Edinburgh, and Rome, and is presently professor of Medieval and Humanistic Latin literature at Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza". His major areas of interest are the classical tradition, Franciscan studies, Dante and Petrarch.

Lunch at Hotel Paradiso in Monteluco, visit to the Franciscan Convent and the Sacred Woods:

Located on a mountain immediately next to the town of Spoleto, Monteluco is a favorite destination for locals and tourists alike, who seek a moment of peace in the lusciously green and spiritual Umbrian forest “Bosco Sacro”, once a refuge of St. Francis himself. After an exquisite lunch and a feast on local Umbrian delicacies at the welcoming Hotel Paradiso restaurant, we will visit the forest as well as the Franciscan convent where inside one can see the cells of the primitive monastery and a well in the middle of the cloister, the water of which, according to legend, was released from a bare rock by St. Francis.

Umbrian Cooking class at Palazzo Dragoni:

The XIV century Palazzo Dragoni is one of Spoleto’s most exquisite small “hotel de charme” and historical residences, located near Piazza della Signoria, just steps away from the Duomo cathedral. The owners, Roberto and Erminia Diotallevi, are long time “spoletini” friends, who used to own and sell amazing pastries at Bar Vicenzo, a night time hang out for all festival participants and spoletini youth alike. Roberto’s father was Umbria’s most famous pastry chef. At this class “Serenaders” will learn to make the local pasta, “strangozzi”, Spoleto's traditional long and irregularly hand-cut pasta, and then savor the pasta for dinner in Palazzo Dragoni’s exquisite setting.

Concert at the Duomo Cathedral Porch:

Joseph Flummerfelt and The Westminster Choir started a wonderful tradition in the early 70’s performing informal concerts in this great portico and cathedral entrance, during Menotti’s famed Festival of Two Worlds. Being that our unique program is in direct artistic lineage with Flummerfelt and The Westminster Choir, this special tradition is proudly kept alive and passed onto all singing participants during our Umbrian Serenades program. Though sometimes in competition with the ringing of the cathedral’s bells, singing at the “Duomo Porch” is a unique acoustical experience where "Serenaders" perform at an ideal place to sing a cappella choral repertoire, as well as the opportunity to "serenade" passers-by, tourists, and local spoletini, as our glorious sounds are heard throughout the spacious Piazza del Duomo.

Visit to Cascata delle Marmore (Marmore Falls):

Immersed in natural scenery of incomparable beauty, the Marmore waterfalls are an artificial accomplishment of the ancient Romans. During that time the Velino River was a vast zone of stagnant waters, so a canal was then dug to direct its waters to the Marmore cliffs, creating a fall of 165 meters, into the Nera River. For centuries the beauty of the waterfalls has inspired many poets and artists, and certainly will inspire, refresh and reenergize all of this summer’s participants! Watch out for colorful rainbows, which often appear in all of their colorful glory!

Concert at Santa Eufemia Church Museum:

Santa Eufemia is a notable Romanesque church in Spoleto and was built in the 12th century on the site of an 8th-century Lombard ducal palace, overlooking the Piazza del Duomo and incorporating remnants of this palace as well as earlier Roman monuments. The highlight of the church is the architecture of the nave, with its two-story side aisles and tall apses that stretch the full height of the church. The arched galleries were used to segregate women from the men, who worshiped in the main nave below. This configuration is the only one of its kind to survive in Umbria. It is no longer used as a church and is only accessed with admission to the nearby Diocesano Museum. Santa Eufemia is an ideal place to perform a cappella choral music, and therefore a favorite venue for many concerts during the Festival dei Due Mondi. For the very first time we are thrilled to offer our 2011 “Serenaders” a unique acoustical experience performing in this historic Festival and Umbrian venue.

Concert and visit to the San Francesco Church Museum in wine town of Montefalco:

The church-museum of Saint Francis is a unique complex as it contains a church, an archeological section, a museum of wine artifacts dating from the XVIII and XIX centuries, AND a fully modern wine and espresso bar! The church was built between 1335 and 1338 by monks known as the “Friars Minor” who inhabited the space through 1863, when it became property of the Comune of Montefalco, and later in the 19th century an official museum. It contains frescos dating from the XIV to XVI centuries, painted by famous artists such as Benozzo Gozzoli and Pietro Vannucci, also known as Perugino. The apse, frescoed by Gozzoli, is most likely the most famous artwork in this unique church as it depicts stories of the life of St. Francis, saints, and other characters of the Franciscan order. The ancient wine cellars of the Friars Minor were made accessible to the public in recent years, when it was accidentally discovered during a recent restoration, when several materials used in the working of grapes and making of wine during the XVIII and XIX centuries were found, confirming a description of a fully equipped and functional cellar in a document of 1798 from the town of Spoleto’s state archives. Immaculately conserved, the cellars situated in the museum of St. Francis are a visible testimony of a living connection present in the wine town of Montefalco since its earliest days between art and daily life, culture and society, thanks to the role of the monks over the course of centuries.

Concert at the San Francesco Auditorium in Norcia:

The Auditorium San Francesco is part of the Saint Francis Complex in Norcia, and a building from the XIV century, which also contains the town’s historical archives as well as a library. The external façade was completed by Franciscan monks during the Gothic period, and displays a beautiful rose window on the front, and rich portals on the side. 16th century frescoes are housed in its interior, artwork by Jacopo Siculus depicting the Annunciation. This auditorium is much sought after as an ideal venue for chamber music concerts.

Castelluccio:

The magical and dreamlike tiny town of Castelluccio is famous for its prized lentils and being set against the dramatic backdrop of the legendary and mysterious Silibini Mountains. The lonely road leading towards this secluded village passes right through the middle of a breath-taking and vast plain. It is here where the most famous lentils of Italy are produced; famous for their delicate taste and for their tiny size. Since 1998 the lentils produced in Castelluccio di Norcia have been awarded the I.G.T., or Protected Geographical Indication. Cultivation has always been organic, not because of recent trends, but by going back to the century-old traditions of working the terrains. This has remained unchanged through the method of crop rotation: one year wheat, the next lentils, and then the land remain as pasture during the third. The lack of chemical use and the fact that cultivation is mainly manual justify the elevated price of these much sought after and exquisite lentils.

Norcia:

The southeastern Umbrian town of Norcia is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a sub-range of the Apennines with some of its highest peaks near the Sordo River, a small stream that eventually flows into the Nera. The town is thus popularly associated with the Valnerina (the valley of that river). The area is greatly known for its air and scenery, and is a base for mountaineering and hiking. It is also widely known for hunting, especially of the wild boar, and for sausages and ham made from wild boar and pork, to the point that Norcia has given its name to such products: in Italian, norcineria.

Visit to Rocca di Fabbri Winery in Montefalco:

Tenuta Rocca di Fabbri is located on a hill covered with vineyards, in the heart of Montefalco town and has been producing wines since 1984. It is the dream project of Pietro Vitali, an Umbrian entrepreneur and antique dealer, who often felt a close connection between art, nature, and the eno-gastronomic traditions of his homeland. Today Rocca di Fabbri is run by his daughter Roberta, and produces excellent wines made from the unique Umbrian grape variety called sagrantino, as well as other international varieties. All “serenaders” will enjoy a wonderful tour of this modern winery, savor a tasting of the famous Grecchetto DOC Umbrian white wine, Rosso di Montefalco DOC, and Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG red wines, as well as a delicious Umbrian lunch.