Music, Food Systems, and Interdisciplinary Explorations
Dartmouth students embark on an initiative in partnership with Italian cultural institutions
Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, 2018 Italy Tour, courtesy of the DSO
Students from the Hopkins Center's Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra will be at the nexus of a robust Dartmouth presence in Italy in December that unites food, sustainability, and music.
Through educational exchanges and performances across Rome and Tuscany, developed in collaboration and dialogue with Italian conservatories and cultural institutions, the tours embody Dartmouth's commitment to international exchange and to using the arts as a platform for learning, diplomacy, and connection across borders.
"At Dartmouth, the arts are rooted in the liberal arts, where performance is inseparable from inquiry, history, and cultural understanding," says Mary Lou Aleskie, Howard Gilman '44 Executive Director of the Hop. "This musical journey brings our students into the heart of Italian cultural traditions in music, food, and sustainability. Experiencing these elements together strengthens us as artists and reminds us that our creativity is tied to the fullness of our shared humanity."
Rome: Exploring Food, Climate, and Culture
From December 2–6, eight student musicians will travel to Rome to participate in the Food at the Nexus of Territory, Tradition, and Climate Change symposium at the American Academy in Rome. The event is part of a collaboration with the Provost's Office, Dartmouth's Sustainability Office, and the Rome Sustainable Food Project, bringing together students, faculty, and partners to explore the complexities and intersections of global food systems through art and scholarship.
The visit includes a reception and the premiere of the newest Hop ensemble, the Dartmouth Chamber Players, in the Borromini Room at the Donna Camilla Savelli, a historic refectory within a former Baroque convent in Trastevere. This adaptable ensemble includes Dartmouth's most dedicated student musicians and Brian Messier, director of bands and senior liaison for Hopkins Center ensembles, as the faculty lead.
The program, a vibrant dialogue between Italian and American traditions, includes Mother and Child by William Grant Still, Hoedown by Aaron Copland, and Ancient Airs and Dances by Ottorino Respighi.
The Chamber Players will then travel to Siena to perform on December 7 at the Accademia Chigiana alongside the Leviosa Quartet, before continuing to Florence where they will join the rest of the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra for the remainder of their tour.
"This collaboration is about much more than performance," said Messier. "It's about building bridges through music, and discovering how collaboration itself becomes the art. This is how we want them to approach their work: as musicians who are curious about the world."
The tour marks one of the American Academy's early nods to the United States' 250th anniversary, connecting Dartmouth students to a broader cultural dialogue between Italy and America.
Tuscany: Sharing Music Across Borders
From December 12–17, the full Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, led by Filippo Ciabatti, music director of orchestral and choral programs, will travel through Tuscany, performing at the conservatories of Florence (Luigi Cherubini), Lucca (Luigi Boccherini), Livorno (Pietro Mascagni), and Siena (Rinaldo Franci).
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Each concert will be presented in partnership with Italian student musicians. Dartmouth students will rehearse and perform alongside Italian conservatory musicians, coming together as a single orchestra in a series of concerts presented in landmark venues including Teatro Verdi, Teatro Goldoni, Chiesa di San Francesco, and Teatro de' Rinnovati.
"Italy has been putting art into the world for a long time," says Ciabatti. "When Italian and American musicians sit side by side, you feel that history and you also feel the joy and passion of young people making music together."
The orchestra will be joined by internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Antoinette Dennefeld for a solo performance. This marks the orchestra's second tour of Italy, following its 2018 collaboration in Florence with the Tuscany Orchestra Conservatory.
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Through this integrated international exchange, the student musicians will represent Dartmouth on a global stage—sharing the arts as a vital medium for dialogue on sustainability, heritage, and collaboration.
The Hop continues to expand opportunities for students to engage with artists and audiences around the world, including through the Mexican Repertoire Initiative and this initiative. "Whether it is in Rome, Tuscany, or Mexico," says Aleskie, "our ensembles are not simply performing abroad but collaborating, co-creating, and building partnerships that prepare them for a lifetime of engaging across differences."