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Italian pianist, who'll perform Rachmaninoff, is living out her family's dream By
Jill Zweifel
"Suddenly, one day, it seemed clear to me that full flowering of music is frustrated by our instruments. . . . In their range, their tone, what they can render, our instruments are chained fast and their hundred chains must also bind the composer." -- Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni, 1866-1924 In a room only about 10 feet by 10 feet sat a large, black grand piano, whose keys were just waiting to be tickled. The surrounding walls are a fading white with no decoration. The lighting just bright enough for pianist Alessandra Volpi to find her way to the black, wooden bench. After making herself as comfortable as possible, she prepared for perfection as she removed her watch and rings from her wrist and fingers. "I don't like anything to distract me," Volpi said. The room, once dark and dull, fills with light and excitement as fingers so fast as to make them nearly invisible make their way across the keyboard. With her full attention on the keys, Volpi doesn't seem to miss a note of the first movement of Rachmaninoff"s Concerto No. 2. Volpi is preparing to perform this piece at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Kent Concert Hall. She will be joined by several other winners of the 2001 Student Concerto Competition. "It took me about three months to learn the notes of that piece," she said. Three months may sound like a long time; however, the piece is about 70 pages long. "After I learned the notes, I had to really polish it," she said. Volpi chose Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 because she feels it is very virtual, and still very romantic. "Music is born free; and to win freedom is its destiny." Volpi was born in Carrara, Italy, a city in the region of Tuscany. She has been a student of the piano for 16 of her 20 years. Her father bought her mother a piano for their anniversary when Volpi was 4 years old. Both her parents are musically inclined. Her mother grew up taking voice and piano lessons, and her father loves listening to jazz and classical music. Her grandmother, Alessandra Zuccolini, was a well-known opera singer in Italy during World War II. Volpi began taking piano lessons from a teacher near her home who taught her to love music. "He loved it so much that he communicated it to others," she said. He not only taught Volpi about music, he helped her live it. Taking her to many concerts in Italy, he introduced her to several concert pianists, such as Perahia from Argentina, Ricater from Germany and Pollini from Italy. When she was 10, Volpi continued her lessons from her second teacher, Daniel Rivera. Rivera was from Argentina and had been winner of the Busoni Competition in Italy. Practicing three hours a day eventually began to wear Volpi out. When she switched from her first to her second teacher, she wrote her mom a note saying, "I want to quit. I don't want to do it anymore. I don't think this is what I'm supposed to be doing." "I put it under her pillow. I was trying to be sneaky, I guess. She got it and read it. She came to talk to me after, and she said, 'I have this vision and I know you are supposed to be doing this. I know you'll be sad if you don't keep on doing this now.' "So I kept going." After Volpi had studied privately with Rivera for three years, she began to study through the Livorno Conservatory. Normally, students attend the conservatory for five, eight or 10 years. Here, general education like math and English weren't on the curriculum; music was the only subject studied. Because of her ability, when she was 13, Volpi was able to take the required tests and pass the fifth year. Shortly afterward, she began her secondary education. She considered studying physics, algebra or journalism, but with her love of piano, she decided to pursue her childhood dream of being a concert pianist. When she was 16, her English teacher suggested that she study in the United States to experience something new and to learn the language. Volpi looked into the program and decided to follow that advice. Volpi preferred to study in Utah. She and her mother had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a few months before her decision to study abroad. Volpi thought that studying in Utah would be a good experience for her. Several of Volpi's friends also applied to study abroad. "All of my friends were like, 'No, go with us to California or Boston,'" she recalled. "I said, 'No, I think I'll go to Utah.' "Then I got the letter and went to Utah. I came at first as an exchange student and I was supposed to stay nine months," she said. Arrangements were made for Volpi to stay with a host family in Sandy. She began looking for a piano teacher so she could continue to improve. Her host family had heard that Gary Amano, professor at Utah State, was the best. They contacted Amano, and he explained that she could come and audition; however, he was leery about taking students for only nine months. "I went and I played for him, and started taking lessons," she said. "Then he offered me a scholarship." Volpi really liked Amano's teaching techniques and continued to learn from him. She liked Amano so much that she decided to stay and study at USU. Volpi currently teaches aural skills, or ear training, whose classes consist mostly of music majors. She teaches her students to sight-sing by giving them sheet music and having them sight- read notes. She also plays music and her students write down what she plays, only by listening to the notes. Between teaching her classes, along with her 20 other piano students consisting of children and college students, and practicing five to eight hours a day, Volpi doesn't have much time for anything else. "I've tried to take generals [basic required classes], but I just don't have time," she said. "Right now I'm just doing music." Volpi admitted that all that practicing does get a little monotonous. "Sometimes when I'm practicing I think about what I will have for dinner," she said. "Staying focused is the hardest part." Volpi admitted that nerves are involved. Volpi performs 20 to 30 concerts a year worldwide. This summer she will return to Italy to perform. A concert in Hungary is also on the agenda. "Even though we have practice recitals, the nervousness is always there," she said. The good side of being nervous is that is usually makes her play better, she said. After she completes a university degree, Volpi plans to audition to go to Juilliard, and continue to take master classes. She isn't sure if she will settle in the States or head back to Italy. She said that most of the time, her work has been an "uphill climb," but she has seen its rewards. She won first prize at the Pietro Napoli National Competition, the Mascia Masin International Competition, the Lucca Young Pianist National Competition and the Citta' di Camaiore National Competition. When she was 15, she also won second place at the J.S. Bach International Competition in Pisa, Italy. Volpi took first place at the Utah State Fair piano competition last year, and has received honorable mention at the Music Teachers National Association piano competition for Utah. She will perform the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra in May 2002. Volpi wants those who are discouraged while pursuing their piano dreams to know, "Always remember why you are doing it." "One of my friends has had two competitions. He got second in one and he didn't get accepted to the other one. Piano is like that. You spend so many hours on it, and it's really hard to get rewards. You just always have to remember that you do it because you love it," she said. "If you keep working hard, things will come."
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