CENTRO STUDI ITALIANI, the Italian language school in Urbania

Our first 20 years:  1 9 8 5 - 2 0 0 5

Story of a gift

In November 1984, I received an offer to collaborate with the "School of Humanities" of "The Flinders University of South Australia" in Adelaide. Their proposal seemed interesting and I was about to accept it when I received another letter from Australia, from Carlo Zincone, director of the courses held at the Dante Alighieri Society at Griffith University in Brisbane. Carlo Zincone also had an interesting proposal: "Instead of you coming here to teach Italian, we could send you Australian students wishing to take Italian courses in Italy".
This second proposal took precedence over the first and from then onwards my plans and the entire course of my life changed forever.
Lengthy correspondence with Carlo Zincone followed, and he came to visit Urbania and Urbino in December 1984 and again in December 1985, this time bringing with him a group of students studying Italian at "Griffith University". This was the first group to take part in a linguistic "study-holiday" in our area.

For future Italian language and culture courses it was necessary to choose the exact locality for the new school. First I thought of Urbino, because it is certainly the best known town in our Province for those who are interested in history and culture. The idea seemed very attractive . Moreover, the summer courses in Italian language and culture organized by the University of Urbino were very well known.
But there were negative aspects to be taken into consideration. For example, Urbino had too many tourists. After several weeks of meetings, visits and hard thinking I decided against Urbino, above all for ethical reasons because I have never wanted to reap where others have sown. So I finally decided on Urbania.
I have never regretted my decision. In Urbania I found the indispensable conditions for setting up my project, in spite of the fact there were innumerable difficulties to be overcome. I was able to count on the moral support of the people, on the sentiments of those simple and sincere people whose support has never been lacking, especially in the particularly difficult moments.
Nobody forced me to choose Urbania, it was a personal choice made of my own free will.
I had received a gift from Carlo Zincone and I have given a gift to the town of Urbania, but also the town of Urbania has given a gift to me. 

On 20 January 1986, I went to Rome with Carlo Zincone to meet the secretary general of the Dante Alighieri Society, Giuseppe Cota. We explained our project to set up Italian courses for international students in Urbania and he was enthusiastic. This was the first of a long series of meetings after which I opened the school for foreigners in Urbania and we became firm friends.
During the busy months that followed, there was another important event that influenced the future: John Willett, founder and first Vice Chancellor of "Griffith University" in Brisbane, Australia, was our most welcome guest for 10 days at the beginning of April. He came because he had heard so much about us from Carlo Zincone and about the idea of setting up an Italian language school in Urbania.

We had long conversations together and Professor Willett took an active part in the project with great interest. He really liked the idea of "small courses in a small town", which, from that moment on, became the slogan we always remembered when programming the courses. During his stay, Professor Willett wrote to the Presidents of several American universities that he knew in which he enthusiastically announced this initiative. In fact he wrote: "Small courses in a small town - a town that is not swamped with foreign students and tourists - means that course members will be able to take part in the local life of a very pleasant community.
Each course will be on a human scale. A student will not feel lost in the middle of 10,000 other students, as happens in summer courses at large universities. And it is for this reason that each student will have individual attention.
There is no doubt that students will have a warm welcome in Urbania and no doubt about the quality of the study programme".

Before leaving, Professor Willett gave a lecture in the town hall in Urbania and talked enthusiastically about our plans. He died a few years later, but always had happy memories of his visit and followed the developments of the school and courses with great interest. Personally, I consider Professor Willett a kind of prophet and luminary who, with his presence and encouragement, crossed my path like a bright meteorite at the moment in which I was about to start on this great adventure. At that particular moment in my life I needed a person like him. I will be forever grateful.




In order to set up the first courses in Italian language and culture in Urbania, it was necessary to found a branch of the Dante Alighieri Society. After having consulted the Central Committee, the then president Giovanni di Giura approved the idea with enthusiasm.
With the President's consent, I was nominated regent of the new Urbania branch on 11 March 1986.
I had no difficulty in finding 50 ordinary members and a fair number of permanent members.
The official opening ceremony took place on the evening of 27 June 1986 at the town hall in Urbania. The Secretary General, Giuseppe Cota, was present as was the "Presidente del Consiglio Regionale della Regione Marche", Giampaoli, the "Assessore regionale", Scriboni, the "Assessore Provinciale", Bonci, the Mayor of Urbania, Ebe Biagetti and many other personalities. The meeting concluded with my unanimous election as president of the Urbania branch.



The first course for foreigners began a few days later and lasted from 30 June to 25 July (the second from 28 July - 22 August and the third from 25 August - 19 September). On the first course, there were only 4 students! (what a delusion, after so much hard work and such high hopes!) But "in nuce" it really was an international school: the 4 students were of 3 different nationalities (1 Austrian, 2 Dutch and 1 Australian), coming from 2 different continents.
The second course was worse: 5 students, but only one paid. The third course was slightly better: 11 students, even if not everyone paid. The total of the three courses was then 20 students. During these courses I did everything: teacher, driver, secretary, guide during the excursions, etc. and my wife became hostess with our house transformed into a youth hostel!
I admit that this very modest start gave me serious doubts. Not only was I sceptical, but so were many people in Urbania. However, a good seed had been sown in fertile ground and the fruits were yet to come. 





During the first few years the school grew very quickly. 20 students in 1986; 153 in 1987( five 4 week courses from May to September); 350 in 1988 (seven courses from April to October); 453 in 1989; 520 in 1990, with the school open nearly all year round.
After that, the number remained at around 500 per year.

Up to June 2005, 8.149 students had attended the Centro Studi Italiani (more than the population of Urbania!) coming from 113 countries throughout the world:
Albania, Algeria, Angola, , Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bielorussia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brasil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Czech Republic, Chile, China, Cyprus, Colombia, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo Democratic Republic (Kinshasa),, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Figi Islands, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakistan, Kenya, Kirghizistan, Lesotho, Lebanon, Liberia, Lybia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Principality of Monaco, Myanmar (Birma), New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Ruanda, Russia, Samoan Islands, Sao Tomé and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Serbia-Montenegro, Singapore, South Korea, Syria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, Uganda, Uruguay, U.S.A., Vatican State, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.
 

Such rapid growth could, of course, create problems. It did, and not only growing pains.
Soon we started to collaborate with prestigious institutes, universities and conservatories abroad. On our first course for international opera singers (June 1987) there were two professors from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College, Ohio, U.S.A.: Daune Mahy and Gerry Crawford. They were so enthusiastic that they returned the following year with thirty of their students. That was the beginning of the programme "Oberlin in Italy", which was directed for 19 years by Daune Mahy. This and other forms of collaboration with international institutions meant that a new type of administration and organization was necessary for this new school for foreigners
It was not possible to offer high standards of quality without changing the legal status of the school. That is, it could no longer depend on volunteers, in spite of their hard work and generosity. What was needed was continuity, professionalism and reliability, without which the school would not have had any future.
So, for these reasons, the Centro Studi Italiani was founded in March 1988, while the courses organized by the branch of the Dante Alighieri Society continued. This was the right decision at that moment, also with an eye to the future.  

In the summer of 1986, the first courses of Italian for foreigners were held in Urbania at the "Biennio" (Istituto Francesco Maria II della Rovere, in via Garibaldi). The following year the local authorities gave the "Dante" some of the rooms in the local library, which was in the Ducal Palace. We stayed there until May 1988. Then in June that year we moved to the prestigious "Governor's Palace" in via Ugolini 15/17.Instead of having to rely on rent free premises offered to the "Dante", the Centro Studi Italiani rented the entire palace from June 1988 - February 1995, when we were obliged to leave due to imminent refurbishing of the building.
We are now in Via Boscarini 1, once St. Joseph's Orphange for girls. The building was called "Palazzo Luzi" but we have renamed it "Collegio Boscarini", in memory of Monseigneur Guerrantonio Boscarini (XIX century), Bishop of Urbania, founder of the orphanage. Since June 1988, the Committee of the Dante Alighieri Society in Urbania has also had its offices here at the Centro Studi Italiani, first in Via Ugolini 15/17and then in Via Boscarini 1.

Since the very beginning, numerous groups have come to the Centro Studi Italiani in Urbania, mainly opera singers but not only. The main ones are:

“Oberlin in Italy" artistic director: Daune Mahy ( Oberlin Conservatory, USA)  1987 2006. Performances of Operas, Opera Scenes and Concerts in Urbania, Urbino, Sant'Angelo in Vado, Fermignano, Apecchio, Sassocorvaro, Pennabilli, San Leo, Pergola, Pesaro, Riccione, S. Lorenzo in Campo, Ostra Vetere, Montefiore Conca, Monte Urano.

Pontificio Collegio Urbano "De Propaganda Fide", 1989 - 2003.

University of South Carolina, special programme for MIBS-IMBA: 1990 to date.

"Centro Studi Italiani in New York", artistic director: Joan Patenaude-Yarnell (Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, and Manhattan School of Music, New York), from 1993 to 2003. Concerts and opera scenes in Urbania, Urbino, Sant'Angelo in Vado, Porto San Giorgio, Montebelluna, San Giovanni in Marignano, Maiolo, Mondolfo, Pennabilli, Sassocorvaro, Montecosaro, Monte Gridolfo.

Carlos Montané Group (Indiana University, USA), 1995, 1996, 1997. Concerts in Urbino, Urbania, Piobbico.

Maya Schermerhorn Group, special programme for Dutch opera singers, 1999, 2000, 2001. Concerts in Urbania and Piobbico.

"Chamber Music in Urbania", director Stephen Swedish (DePaw University, USA), 2000, 2001. Concerts in Urbania, Sant'Angelo in Vado, Fossombrone, Apecchio, Civitanova Marche.

"La Musica Lirica Italiana a Urbania", directors Brygida Bziuckiewiz e Kathryn Hartgrove (White Water University, USA) from 2000 - 2004. Operas, Opera Scenes, Concerts in Urbania, Urbino, Sant'Angelo in Vado, Macerata Feltria, Pergola, Novafeltria.

Millikin University, special course for art students, 2002 and 2005.

"La Lingua del Canto", artistic director Sheila Luxon (Christcurch University College, Canterbury, GB), special programme for British opera singers. 2001, 2002, 2003. Concerts in Urbania and Belforte all'Isauro.

"Voce e Bel Canto", artistic director Professor Sebastian Vittucci (Music University of Vienna), special group for European and international singers based on the Feldenkrais method. Two programmes a year have been held, one in February and one in August from 2004 to date.

"Stage combat", directed by Ran-Arthur Braun, special programme, unique in its kind, of stage combat for theatre, television and cinema actors, with the participation of Tony Wolf, director of the fight scenes in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The programme was held in Urbania and Piobbico in August 2004.

"Lirica Italiana per la Cina", director Zhang Xian, vice-secretary general of the Chinese Musicians' Association(CMA) of the Peoples' Republic of China. Special programme for Chinese opera singers organized by the CMA. Urbania, August 2004 and July 2005.

"Lingua e Lirica italiana", artistic director Cecilia Mieko Hata (University of the Arts, Nagora, Japan). Special programme for Japanese singers. September 2004.

"China Conservatory in Beijing", directed by Song Yi, programme for professors and students from various conservatories and universities in the Peoples' Republic of China, August 2005 to date.

It is certainly a long time ago since I came to Urbania for the first time when, walking through the main street with my English wife and our young children, we attracted a lot of attention from the shopkeepers and local people, who literally walked out onto the pavement to stare at the "foreigners", wondering whatever we were doing there!
That was way back in 1978 and in 1982 we moved permanently to this area. Since then, thousands and thousands of foreign students from all over the world have come to Urbania and the town has become really international. There is now a considerable difference between Urbania and the nearby towns, who have not had these international students.

This type of phenomenon has certainly brought cultural and social improvements but, above all, has induced economic growth in Urbania and its surroundings, in the Province of Pesaro and the Marche Region. All this has been done by us, at zero cost for local organizations and government.

There have been several marriages between our students and people from Urbania, not to mention the lasting friendships and international relationships with many different people and places throughout the world.
Another important aspect is the proliferation of our type of school. In 1986 we were the first school for foreigners in the Marche region and along the entire Adriatic coast. For many years there had been various courses for foreigners , for example the summer course organized by the University of Urbino, courses in Rimini organized by the University of Bologna, etc. However, these were just Italian language courses, they were not a "school for foreigners" in the real sense that this now means after the founding of the Centro Studi Italiani, with its original carisma that was recognised by Professor Willett. This model has now spread throughout the territory and there are now many schools in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino alone, all deriving directly or indirectly from the Centro Studi Italiani. This model has also been imitated in other regions: Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Tuscany, Umbria.

Since the very beginning the Centro Studi Italiani has also collaborated closely with the Centro of Italian Studies in Melbourne and with the director Elio Guarnuccio.

In 1991 Elio came to Urbania and stayed the whole summer, meeting up with his brother Claudio who was already here teaching for us. Together they took thousands of photographs that they then used for the text book "Ci siamo".

This original course of Italian as a second language consists of a text book, workbook, teacher's manual and a series of audiocassettes for the teacher and students. The book was published by CIS-Heinemann in 1997. The text book is set in Urbania and the various units present not a true but plausible story of students attending our courses. The whole town can be seen, with its narrow streets, squares, monuments, local figures..

This was certainly excellent promotion for Urbania throughout the world, especially the English speaking world. "Ci Siamo" has contributed enormously in publicising Urbania (and our school).

 
The idea to create "music courses" in Urbania came from Giuseppe Cota, Secretary General of the Dante Alighieri Society. It was the evening of the official founding of the "Dante" (27 June 1986) and we were walking down the main street (Cota, my wife Anna and I)on our way to the town hall where the meeting was about to take place. At a certain moment, Cota stopped and looked around. He seemed intent, even inspired. He lowered his voice and said: "I think music courses would do well in Urbania." In fact, Italian is the universal language of music, not only for the musicality of the language itself but for the importance Italian music holds throughout the world. Cota's words proved to be prophetic. We considered his idea and soon decided that these "music courses" should be courses for international opera students and singers interested in studying and perfecting their knowledge of Italian operatic repertoire. There is obviously a very strong connection between the Italian language and Italian operatic repertoire.
The people who helped us develop a specific and original programme of courses for international opera singers were Maestro Maurizio Spaccazocchi from Urbania who taught at the "Rossini" Conservatory in Pesaro and Genia Las, (mezzo soprano) from Poland but resident in Italy for many years and a great friend of Anna's.
The details were decided after a series of meetings in August 1986. Maestro Morganti, also a teacher from the conservatory in Pesaro, was nominated "coach" and artistic director. The programme was unique in its kind (in Italy and throughout the world) and was officially recognised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The first courses were held in the summer of 1987 and the following year the first group attended with the international programme "Oberlin in Italy".
This programme grew continually, attended by an ever increasing number of individual students and groups.
With all this "raw material" it was easy to envisage organizing an opera festival: the "Centro Studi Italiani Opera Festival" for young voices and instrumentalists from all over the world. It was the end of May 2000, jubilee year and change of millemium, which seemed a happy and auspicious moment.



The festival consists of 4-week international programmes. Each programme has its own artistic director. Course members attend the Italian language course in the mornings, where special attention is given to correct pronunciation, and the afternoons are dedicated to Italian operatic repertoire with one-to-one lessons with Italian singing teachers, coaching sessions, individual practice, group rehearsals and master classes. Concerts and other performances take place in the evenings.
This festival is unique in it kind throughout the world, both because it is only for young voices of exclusively Italian opera and is non-profit: young artists perform free and all performances are free (with the exception of Urbania, due to local government regulations), in order to promote a renewed love for Italian opera in Italy and throughout the world.

In June 2000, the "Oberlin in Italy" programme performed the first opera of the festival "Amelia al Ballo", by Menotti. It was not a casual choice, but an emblematic one, because this great Italo-American composer symbolised the spirit and aims of our festival.
Gian Carlo Menotti emigrated to the United States when he was very young because he had won a scholarship to Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. When he was twenty he wrote his first opera "Amelia al Ballo" which paved the way to his brilliant future career. He was one of  the greatest lnodern composers of Italian opera and founder of the famous "Festival dei due mondi".
Our young singing students from all over the world (including "Curtis Institute") do the opposite of Menotti. That is, they come to Italy to perfect their knowledge of the Italian language and Italian operatic repertoire which they then take back to their countries. We would like all of them to be as successful as Maestro Menotti. In the meantime Italian opera is becoming more and more well known and appreciated throughout the world.

1994 was a particularly difficult year. We had to leave the premises in Via Ugolini (February 1995), and move to Via Boscarini 1, where we had to do extensive refurbishing as the building had been closed for many years.
In March I had a series of health problems: a heart attack and a difficult surgical operation with a slow convalescence. The war in the nearby ex-Yugoslavia made our area risky and this did not encourage foreign students and tourists. All this meant we lost a considerable number of students. In 1995 things improved, with the new and more functional premises and the end of hostilities in Yugoslavia. Our renewed enthusiasm did the rest. Very soon we returned to the old "standards" and then went on to do even better.

The latest great initiative of the Centro Studi Italiani, (which in the meantime has become an "Polo Universitario Internazionale") is China. With its one billion three hundred million inhabitants, it is today's "giant" and, predictably, will continue to be so in the future.
We have set up special programmes for China and the first results were seen in August 2004 with the programme "Lirica italiana per la Cina". In 2005 this programme was repeated in July. A new Chinese programme was organized this year in August2005 with the "China Conservatory in Beijing", a programme that includes other qualified conservatories from different parts of China.
In the meantime the first students have arrived who are attending a preparatory course before going on to Italian universities. It is still very difficult for these students to obtain visas to study in Italy and this is slowing down and complicating matters. However, regulations are changing and it is hoped that these difficulties will soon be overcome.
Apart from China, the Centro Studi Italiani is also interested in other emerging countries: Eastern Europe, India, certain Arab countries and Latin America. But all that will be part of our future….

Carlo Amedeo Pasotto