Quentin Prewitt, Furman  University

At the Accademia dell’Arte, I am privileged to work with two Italian instructors. One is Sylvia, who is my Italian teacher, and the other is Marta, who is my coach and accompanist. I wasn’t expecting the language barrier to effect my learning before I got here, but I have come to find that the use of two languages, and sometimes no language at all, creates an environment that allows for a higher level of learning. I have learned so many new vocabulary words, and I have also learned how to communicate without language during my coaching time. Sometimes Marta isn’t able to describe in detail how I should sing a certain phrase, so she demonstrates or uses her hands to indicate artistic expression. Communicating in this way is something that I think is extremely important to any kind of artist. Words are not always the most important aspect of art. At the end of this semester, I envision myself as a more communicative singer, with a strong sense of language and meaning in my work. I chose the Accademia dell’Arte in my pursuit of learning, because I knew that placing myself in a location that was foreign to me would force me to learn in a way that I have never learned before, and learn things that I couldn’t even have imagined before coming here.