University News

Three WIU Music Students Chosen to Study Opera in Italy this Summer

May 9, 2017

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MACOMB, IL – Three vocal performance music students at Western Illinois University have been accepted into an international program for opera singers this summer in Italy.

Graduate music student Amanda Ensign, of Quincy, IL, junior Zachary Palmer, of Washington, IL and freshman Parker Carls, of Beardstown, IL, have each been accepted into the "Scuola-Italia: Program for Young Opera Singers."

The students work with WIU Music Professor Terry Chasteen and WIU Music Assistant Professor Penelope Shumate.

Chasteen said he was urged to have students apply by a University of Illinois music professor he is professionally acquainted with. He has previously had two students included in this prestigious international program.

"I suggested that four current WIU students send in application materials; amazingly, three of the four took me up on the suggestion and all have been accepted," he said.

The students will travel to Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Tuscany, for the four-week experience, which runs from May 31-July 1. The students will experience daily Italian language lessons, vocal studies and coachings and rehearsals for public performances they will present there.

During the four weeks, the students will perform in two public concerts.

"The unusual element of our students being accepted into this program is that one usually finds conservatory students making up the rosters of such programs," said Chasteen. "It is not only a testament to the hard work that these students have put into their musical and vocal preparation, but also to the training that vocal musicians receive at the School of Music here at Western Illinois University. Further, it is unusual that while the students are all at different levels of development, the program's music director and head of voice study agree that a rising sophomore, a rising senior and a graduate student are all prepared to take advantage of what the program offers."

For more information about the WIU School of Music, visit wiu.edu/music.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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