For the City Times

STEVENS POINT — Students and a music faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will join singers and instrumentalists from all over the world this summer at the prestigious International Lyric Academy.

Held July 3-28 in Vicenza, Italy, the summer opera training program will include six students: Débora Barr, McFarland; Stephen Calgaro, Appleton; MacKenzie Frost, Vesper; Erin Holmes, Adelaide, Australia; Jon Scott, LaCrosse; and William Toney, Milwaukee. Associate Professor of Music and Artist-Teacher of Voice Matthew Markham will teach voice at the academy, and Stevens Point music teacher and singer, Margot Friedli, will also attend. Participants are accepted through an audition process.

The International Lyric Academy offers an intensive three-week educational and performance opportunity. Singers receive professional coaching, voice lessons, daily Italian language study, master classes, acting classes, training for auditions and career strategizing.

The Wisconsin group will be featured in leading roles in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” in a Mozart Marathon Opera Scenes series, concerts, opera chorus and masterclasses.

It is important for young singers to participate in summer apprenticeship programs to gain musical and stage experience outside of a university setting, Markham said.

“The professional connections and personal friendships that form with musicians from around the world will give our students first-rate and first-hand experiences with the life of a professional singer,” he said. “Being able to study in Italian language and live the creative and cultural life of the vibrant city of Vicenza, as well as to sing and study in the birthplace of opera, is a dream for most musicians.”

International Lyric Academy in Italy. (Contributed)