By Andrew Danielson
It has been a busy summer for musician Mastodons, and earlier this month was no exception. From July 1 to 13, a group of former and current students traveled to Italy with Dr. Hamilton Tescarollo to attend the InterHarmony International Music Festival.
Dr. Tescarollo, director of Keyboard Studies at Purdue University Fort Wayne School of Music, served as a faculty member and guest instructor at the first of two sessions of the festival.
Located in Acqui Terme, Piedmont, Italy, the event is an intensive music camp where musicians from across the globe get the chance to play and study music with their international colleagues.
According to the festival organizers, cellist and current music director Misha Quint started what would become the InterHarmony Festival in 1997. In 2000, a name change was made and the InterHarmony International Music Festival came into being.
This year’s festival was held in Italy, but the location varies depending on the year. The festival’s website mentions other host countries as locations for previous camps, including the United States, The Netherlands, and Switzerland.
For Tescarollo, this year’s InterHarmony was his first time going to the camp.
He explained that he knew some of the camp faculty and had indicated interest in possibly attending the festival. When an invitation came to serve as a guest piano instructor for the camp, he jumped at the chance.
Tescarollo said his duties at the camp included teaching private piano lessons and instructing chamber music classes, as well as performing on the piano himself.
Tescarollo pointed out that the location of the festival gave students a unique opportunity to not only study music, but also to experience a new culture and new surroundings.
The town in which the camp was held, Acqui Terme, which means “Thermal Waters,” has been a site of relaxation and culture since the time of the Romans. Located just two hours away from Milan, students had the opportunity to go on excursions and see the historic and culinary heritage Italy has to offer.
Joining Tescarollo in this international musical venture were four of his former and current piano students.
One PFW Mastodon who went on the trip was Allyn Beifus, a pianist and graduate of the School of Music.
She said one of her goals was to improve as a musician, while also getting to meet new people.
She offered an advice to students considering going abroad to study at an international music festival: “You will experience a trip of a lifetime at a place outside the country, experience the culture, and develop musicianship with the people around you that are participating in this event as well,” she said.
That spirit of excitement and curiosity to learn and study is what Tescarollo hopes students experience with international music festivals like InterHarmony.
He said the camp provided students with some amazing opportunities to learn and study music in an international setting.
“Basically, expand horizons and meet new people and make connections,” Tescarollo said.