More than Mahler: How the DSO's Tour to Italy Created Unforgettable Memories
Sophia Jiang '28 performs with students from the Conservatorio Boccherini di Lucca in Tuscany, Italy. Photo by Filippo Bosco
Last summer, as I was preparing for my DSO audition, it struck me that I had never played any music written by Gustav Mahler before. Although I played violin in my local orchestra for over 10 years, I had never been exposed to any of his work. So, not knowing what to expect in the upcoming season, I read about the work in question: Mahler's First Symphony, nicknamed the "Titan"—a four-movement cosmopolitan powerhouse that spans style, culture, and emotional depth. The reading may have staved off my boredom in the few weeks leading up to school, but it wasn't until mid-December, on the DSO's collaborative concert tour with the conservatories of Tuscany, that I truly understood the grandeur of Mahler's music.
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After having practiced vigorously for weeks on end, we embarked on our journey to Italy, touching down on a Monday morning in Rome, where we boarded a bus to our hotel in Florence. As the rehearsal space was only a five-minute walk from where we were staying, my friends and I had plenty of time to enjoy a stunning view of the city from the top floor, go on quiet morning walks along the river, and check out the stores in town. Everything about the place felt brighter, from the leather bags sold by street vendors to the seasonal Panettone bread local to the region.
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As the American and Italian students took their seats in the high-ceiling rehearsal space, I couldn't help but notice the richly colored paintings on the walls. My attention was soon redirected when the manager of the Italian students presented her announcements, which my stand partner, Sara, quickly translated for me.
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Finally, our conductor, Filippo Ciabatti, raised his baton to start the rehearsal. Although the Italian students, understandably with their busy practice schedules, were sightreading the music, they learned at an impressive pace thanks to Filippo's clear instructions, delivered in rapid-fire Italian. The rehearsal continued until 5:30 in the evening, punctuated by three breaks, or as they say in Italian, "pausa."
The next day, I decided to eat lunch in the rehearsal room until break was over. Thinking I would spend the next half an hour alone, I was soon proven wrong when Sara and two other students, Elisa and Irene, pulled up some chairs and asked if they could join me. As the four of us ate together, we traded stories about our respective experiences in school, bonding over our love for music and describing our hometowns. I discovered that their dream is to someday visit New York City, and I eagerly showed them a picture of the Rockefeller tree I had taken only a few days earlier. Irene later came up to me with a photo of a Christmas tree she had passed on the street, saying with a laugh that there was "no comparison." Meanwhile, all three girls were curious about the cuisine in the U.S. I jokingly shook my head and admitted it would be hard to transition back to American food after having tasted the wide selection of Tuscan cured meats and smooth gelato in the city.
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Not only did the Italian students provide a sense of belonging in an unfamiliar place, they also helped me feel more secure during the performances. The first showcase of our joint orchestra happened in Livorno at the Teatro Goldoni, a state-of-the-art European concert hall whose ornate balcony overlooks red velvet chairs. The program started with Mahler's Songs of the Wayfarer, featuring French mezzo-soprano Antoinette Dennefeld as soloist. As her warm, resonant voice filled the hall, I recalled a conversation I had with my friend Amelia Kydd, a DSO violist, in which we admitted that neither of us had ever heard opera of that caliber before, let alone shared the stage with it. After many rounds of applause for Dennefeld's spectacular performance, we commenced with the centerpiece of the program—the symphony itself. Filippo raised his baton just as he did in rehearsal, and the hushed opening of Mahler's first symphony rose from the stage.
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What I remember is the feeling of freedom as we navigated through the many moods of Mahler as a single, cohesive unit. In that moment, the symphony didn't just feel like a piece of music—it became a number of countless transitions from emotion to emotion, leaping through pastoral scenes of the first movement and into the waltz of the second movement, wallowing in the third movement's funeral march, and finally unleashing the full titan in the finale. The audience reciprocated our energy in its thunderous applause as Filippo acknowledged each section, and finally, every member of the orchestra took a well-deserved bow.
We could not leave without presenting, as Filippo called it, "a piece of America." So, as an encore, we played the well-known Hoedown from Rodeo by Aaron Copland, a whimsical Western folk piece and staple of American orchestral music. After yet another round of applause, we exited the stage and boarded the bus back to Florence, exhausted but ready to do it all again the next day in Lucca.
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After Lucca, we performed in Florence, then ended the tour in Siena. Each day of the trip was magical in its own way and brought in a fresh perspective, even outside of the concert hall. I learned so much not just about music but about the subjects that my peers specialize in, and I fondly recall a breakfast conversation with violist and Earth Science professor Leslie Sonder, in which we had discussions about everything spanning from sedimentary rocks, sound art, and her travels to other Italian regions.
Furthermore, I made new friendships with Dartmouth students I hadn't previously known well, especially through a trip to Pisa that my friend Eki Imudia '28 planned, where I witnessed the impressive Italian of Oliver Andrews '28, talked life with Leah Goldberg '28, and learned basic medical terms from Evan Easley '29. I remember affectionately how my DSO stand partner, Kalen Wilson '29, who arrived later having just recovered from illness, still performed up to standards nonetheless. The trip was about more than music—it was an all-encompassing experience, and I couldn't be more grateful to have been a small part of it.
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