This June, the Sidwell Chamber Chorus will attend the International Choral Festival in Tuscany, Italy —  a trip that will allow students to delve into Italy’s beauty, culture and, most importantly, music. 

For Upper School Choral Music Teacher Sarah Markovits, what makes this trip unique is the opportunity to share music with choirs from different parts of the world.

She explained that there will be “choirs from all over the world: there are church choirs, community choirs, children’s choirs and other school choirs, and singing with such a wide variety of choirs with a different version of the same experience is truly unique.”

Likewise, senior Ellie Rosser pointed out that the overseas trip to Tuscany excites her because “while previous trips to Hershey Park and New York have been enjoyable, they remained on a smaller, more localized scale. This limited the chorus to encountering similar styles of music and culture.”

Across Tuscany, Rome and Florence, students like Rosser can perform music in front of local residents, singing at Tettuccio Spa, a local church and restaurants like Piazza del Popolo.

In addition to listening to music, sophomore Lauren Jain is excited to perform for global audiences. “Music has been something I’ve been passionate about my whole life, serving as an opportunity to relieve stress, boost my mood and have fun,” said Jain.

Along with the excitement brought by this trip, Markovits believes that visiting Tuscany is a significant way for the ensemble to improve: “Traveling with the people that you sing with brings you closer as an ensemble. I always think of choir as the team sport of singing; the more bonded we are, the closer we are as an ensemble, the better we are going to perform together,” she explained.

Apart from singing, Jain is interested in witnessing the “beauty of Italy” and its many notable landmarks. In particular, she looks forward to visiting the Duomo in Florence, as her friends and family have told her about “the magnificent art pieces and culture reflected in this cathedral.” 

She also hopes to enjoy the architecture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Renaissance showcase of the Walled City of Luca and the ancient hilltop of Montecatini Alta. Throughout these tours, Jain hopes to “learn more about Italy’s rich culture and history.” 

Similarly, senior Elizabeth Hare is interested in Italian culture and “loves Italian food.” She is excited “to try authentic Italian cuisine and culture,” especially gelato, pizza and the traditional Tuscan Dinner on their final day. 

Jain and Hare will also be able to enjoy the many activities Italy has to offer, including window shopping, exploring local food spots and visiting museums.

Students and faculty alike contributed to the planning process. On the administrative end, Coordinator of Overnight Trips Cate Woodward explained, “Ms. Markovits and I had our first meeting about this trip at the end of the last school year” and “have been preparing since then.”

She noted that this is one of Sidwell’s first international trips after COVID-19, so working together with the team and school to figure out the best way to offer these fun opportunities to students, given the changing circumstances, is something they had to navigate.

In addition, students faced various changes when preparing for this concert. Markovits noted that this year, students have been working specifically on music without accompaniment. She explained, “Because we will be singing in a lot of different places, I think it is very important to sing wherever we are without accompaniment so that we don’t have to worry about whether there is a piano in the place we want to sing.” 

For Hare, another notable change is the music they will be singing. She said the pieces are more complicated, as “they are learning a song that is 27 pages long and has 16 parts.”

Rosser elaborated that this year, “portions of the song contained parts in Italian, with unique Italian singing harmonies,” a distinctive addition to the normal Chorus curriculum. She continued, “They even had a part of the class dedicated to learning terms in Italian.” 

Despite these challenges, Hare and Rosser believe all of this preparation will be worth it. Hare explained, “I’m a senior, and it’s the end of my time, so it’s going to be very nice to spend those final moments with some of my closest friends, both in the chorus and in the musical.”

She elaborates that she will have to miss parts of the senior tradition of beach week, but for her, “it’s still worth it… as spending time with people you share a connection with in music is something that is particularly meaningful.”

“This opportunity is right after graduation, so it offers me one last chance to sing with the Sidwell Friends Chorus, which has been such a big part of my life for the last four years,” Rosser said.
She further reflected, “Singing with the chorus has been one of my favorite things to do every day, and singing with everyone has been so enjoyable. Performing in Tuscany is truly an exciting and memorable way to end my career.”