Our Hilltowns
Umbria is a landlocked region at the very core of the Italian peninsula, poetically known as “The Green Heart of Italy”. This lush and mountainous area is the only Italian region that does not have direct access to the sea, therefore, remains almost secluded and somewhat unexplored by most travelers, who often follow Frances Mayes’ steps to neighboring Tuscany. Located just an hour and a half north of Rome, Umbria is the mystic home of St. Francis, and is the perfect destination for “off the beaten path” travelers in search of Italy's famed “la dolce vita”, love for nature, and of quiet peace. Its historic hilltowns are filled with resonant churches and cathedrals, which are living museums of art and architecture. All this being said, Umbria bursts with exuberance and celebration in that renowned Italian passion for fine food, wine and for beauty!
Spoleto
Sung of by St. Francis, talked about by Goethe and Michelangelo, thrilled by the prestige of its cultural institutes and the international importance of its name, the hilltown of Spoleto divides its soul between past and present while also looking to the future. Town of art, music and and historical performances, Spoleto not only is the home of the famed European Festival dei Due Mondi of Gian Carlo Menotti, but is also the stage of many other cultural events year-round. Spoleto has a rich and regal old city center that harmonizes in an extraordinary continuum with the surrounding landscape: a two-thousand year old union between art and nature. It is surrounded by lush and green rolling hills, made up of woods, olive groves and vineyards.
At the end of long and wide fan-like steps and just above Piazza della Signoria lies Spoleto's glorious cathedral (Santa Maria Assunta), or the “Duomo”, as locals call it. Built in the second half of the 12th century, the Duomo still stands proudly as one of Spoleto’s most famous monuments. Its spacious interior, in addition to providing a live acoustical setting ideal for a cappella singing, has breath-taking artistic treasures: a fresco cycle depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, created by one of the most important painters of the Florentine Renaissance Fra Lippo Lippi, as well as paintings by Pinturicchio, and a splendid patterned “Cosmatesque” marble floor, which still lies in its original layout. Singing in Spoleto’s Duomo is an unforgettable experience.
Assisi
The grandiose and gorgeously embellished Basilica di San Francesco (Basilica of St. Francis) in Assisi is a rather incongruous memorial to a man who preached and lived a simple life of poverty, abstinence, and renunciation of worldly goods in search of greater spirituality. But the bi-level basilica is one of the world's focal points of both high art and intense spirituality. Still a major place of pilgrimage, it can move the devout to tears and art lovers to near-religious ecstasy. For the 2009/10 programs, Umbrian Serenaders will return to participate and sing in a mass in this extraordinary space, steps away from the remains of St. Francis, underneath breath-taking frescoes. "Serenaders" will also have the unique opportunity to enjoy an exclusive and private visit to the Franciscan library to view original 13th century documents and manuscripts, what promises to be an unforgettable and awe inspiring experience.
Bevagna, a medieval gem
The little walled city of Bevagna is one of the most attractive places of central Umbria, just 17 miles from our program base of Spoleto. This medieval gem of a town of merely 5000 habitants sits in a shallow basin at the foot of the northern end of the Colli Martani, the mountainous backbone of Umbria. Such an advantage would count for nothing if the town were unattractive, but Bevagna is loaded with interesting and beautiful sights: Roman mosaics, the remains of a Roman theatre and of two Roman temples, and half a dozen good churches, most of them medieval: among which the frescoed Sant' Agostino, S. Domenico, S. Margherita; and above all, the great Romanesque churches of San Michele and San Silvestro. 2010 Winter Session participants will perform at the exquisite San Silvestro Church.
Orvieto
Orvieto town has one of the most majestic sights in all of Umbria, and is the home of the famous Orvieto Classico wine. It is marvelously situated perched high above volcanic tufa cliffs, showing traces of every phase of history for the past three thousand years. The tufa butte on which Orvieto is located is itself riddled with tunnels and wells dating from Etruscan times to only a couple of hundred years ago. A town of medieval antiquity, it is surrounded by stupendous landscape of fields and vineyards. Orvieto's glory is the Duomo Cathedral, known worldwide as a masterpiece of Italian Gothic art and one of the most beautiful churches in all of Italy. It is in this sacred sanctuary and in this exquisite and artful setting that "Serenaders" will have the unique opportunity to perform during our 2009 summer session.