{"id":220171,"date":"2025-10-01T08:27:53","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T12:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/?page_id=220171"},"modified":"2025-10-05T05:26:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T09:26:53","slug":"brianna-coppolinos-internship-in-sicily-summer-2025","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/opportunities-for-students\/reawakening-gods-international-collaboration\/risveglio\/brianna-coppolinos-internship-in-sicily-summer-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Brianna Coppolino&#8217;s Internship in a Musical about Greek Myths in Sicily (Summer 2025)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Video: Brianna Coppolino (MA student, Voice, Montclair U) Il Risveglio degli Dei (Agrigento, Sicily, 2025)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WKW7P6ezd-M?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 500px; height: 281px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When this past July Brianna Coppolino stepped inside the Temple of Concordia of Agrigento, Sicily after her performance in the musical <em>Il Risveglio degli Dei\/The Reawakening of the Gods<\/em>, she was inspired by the Doric columns preserved since the 5<sup>th<\/sup> century BCE to recite the verses of a poem of hers. \u201cThis powerful show, enchanting location, and magical time of the day all spoke of poetry to me,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"prpl-row\"><div class=\"prpl-column one-half\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-220182\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/brianna-coppolinos-internship-in-sicily-summer-2025\/img_4786\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/IMG_4786-rotated.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/IMG_4786-rotated.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p><p class=\"p1\"><\/p><\/div><div class=\"prpl-column one-half\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-220181\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/brianna-coppolinos-internship-in-sicily-summer-2025\/brianna-sing-column-2\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/Brianna-sing-column.jpeg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/Brianna-sing-column.jpeg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"Brianna sing column\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p><p><span class=\"gmail-s1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/span><\/p><\/div><br \/>\n<em>Brianna performing on the Via Sacra (Sacred Road) leading to the Temple of Concordia, respectively before and after dawn<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Brianna Coppolino, graduate student in the Voice Program of the Cali School of Music at ÌÇÐÄvlog, was one of the winners of a paid international internship that took her to the Southern tip of Italy \u2013 \u00a0the World Heritage site of The Valley of the Temples in Agrigento \u2013 to perform in a modern musical about ancient Greek myths and deities presented in July and August 2025 for several days at dawn (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/2025\/08\/15\/performing-arts-students-speaking-italian-debut-musical-valley-temples-sicily\/\">recap<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"prpl-row\"><div class=\"prpl-column one-third\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-220176\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/brianna-coppolinos-internship-in-sicily-summer-2025\/img_5178\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/IMG_5178.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/IMG_5178.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"Brianna and Marco hug\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p><p><em>Brianna says goodbye to director Savatteri before leaving Sicily<\/em><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div><div class=\"prpl-column two-thirds\"><br \/>\nBrianna came to this experience with some fluency in Italian and a background in opera that required a certain level of adaptation to a musical. \u201cBrianna was up to the task: her refined voice and dramatic presence on stage led me to first create a new role just for her, a wailing mother incarnating the drama of pain during the Trojan war; later, I felt comfortable in assigning her the closing solo, the goddess Fate\u201d (See <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WKW7P6ezd-M\">video<\/a> below) \u2013 Maestro Marco Savatteri, creator and director of <em>Risveglio,<\/em> remarked. \u201cLike the other interns from ÌÇÐÄvlog, Brianna gave us a sense of the international reach of the show and we were pleased to have her vocal expertise &#8211; as well as psychological introspection, philosophical inquiry and gentleness &#8211; as part of our company in <em>Risveglio<\/em>, but also\u00a0other shows like <em>Scopri il teatro<\/em>.\u201d <span class=\"gmail-s1\"><\/span><\/div><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-220186\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/brianna-coppolinos-internship-in-sicily-summer-2025\/brianna-in-scopri\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/Brianna-in-Scopri-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Brianna in Scopri\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>Brianna performs in Scopri il teatro, an interactive show about the history of the local theater entitled to Noble-Prize-winning writer Luigi Pirandello, originally from Agrigento (Photo by Colin Keys)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Prof. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies), designer and co-organizer of the internship program with Prof. Lori McCann, coordinator of the Voice program at MSU, was struck by the director\u2019s and company\u2019s ability to smoothly embrace new members and highlight their talents: \u201cIt\u2019s an extraordinary emotion to see a student from our campus on such a unique stage in Sicily. This internship is the perfect example of how an interdisciplinary collaboration supported by donors (thank you, Mr. Inserra along with Angelo and Marie Cali) can provide a very enriching and eye-opening experiences to our students.&#8221; Fiore commented. &#8220;Over lunch one day, Brianna told me that working in Agrigento taught her that, while the U.S. is about planning and organization ahead of time, in this company she quickly realized that spontaneous creation can also work: it&#8217;s a sign of listening to individual performers and a precious opportunity to make something unexpected, unplanned. Maestro Savatteri did not have a part for Brianna before her arrival because he had to create one ad hoc on site,\u201d Fiore concluded.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Video: Brianna Coppolino performing Fate in the musical Il Risveglio degli Dei (Agrigento, Sicily, 2025)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JuXGwwD2F_U?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 422px; height: 750px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Marco Savatteri is scheduled to visit our campus this Oct. to relay the Summer 2025 internship experience along with Brianna and other students, and to present the Summer 2026 edition as well as a Reading on campus designed to acquaint with <em>Il Risveglio <\/em>(see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/opportunities-for-students\/summer-internships\/international-internship-summer-2026-in-italy-musical-in-agrigento-sicily\/\">program of events<\/a>)<em>. <\/em>\u201cI look forward to walking through the memories of an unforgettable experience for me as a singer and a person active within a professional company in a delightful foreign town that through regular tours I learned to discover and love for its artistic beauty and layered history. All these visits prompted the writing of new poems,&#8221; Brianna added.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Video: 2025 International internship for Risveglio degli dei Musical Performance\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3Jn94RiLNjo?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 500px; height: 281px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Video: Footage and editing by Colin Keyes<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And in Agrigento, there are powerful memories of Brianna\u2019s stay. Flora Contrafatto, a member of the Savatteri company who shared the apartment with her, fondly remembers the days spent together: \u201cWe had a special routine that grew organically for us: while cooking and setting the table, we would sing our parts in the musical. It did not feel like rehearsing, but rather weaving the musical into the fabric of our lives, spontaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Short link: <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/BriannaAG\">tinyurl.com\/BriannaAG<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"prpl-row\"><div class=\"prpl-column one-half\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-220045\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/2025\/08\/15\/performing-arts-students-speaking-italian-debut-musical-valley-temples-sicily\/risveglio-msu-gruppo\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/08\/Risveglio-MSU-gruppo.jpeg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/08\/Risveglio-MSU-gruppo.jpeg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"Risveglio MSU gruppo\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p><p class=\"p1\"><\/p><\/div><div class=\"prpl-column one-half\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-220283\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/events\/2024-25-events\/risveglio\/brianna-coppolinos-internship-in-sicily-summer-2025\/142a9915\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/142A9915.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/inserra-chair\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/10\/142A9915.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p><p><span class=\"gmail-s1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>This internship is the perfect example of how to &#8220;combine business with pleasure,&#8221; or as the Greeks would put it \u03c4\u1f78 \u03c7\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c4\u1f78 \u1f21\u03b4\u03cd (to chr\u0113simon kai to h\u0113dy), which in Italian is &#8220;l&#8217;utile e il dilettevole&#8221;\u00a0 (MSU students\u00a0 &#8211; Brianna Coppolino, Emma Mason, and Mia Grizzuti &#8211; at the Temple of Concordia with MSU professors Lori McCann and Teresa Fiore, along with Maestro Savatteri, and then at the natural park beach of Torre Salsa with Prof. Fiore)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When this past July Brianna Coppolino stepped inside the Temple of Concordia of Agrigento, Sicily after her performance in the musical Il Risveglio degli Dei\/The Reawakening of the Gods, she was inspired by the Doric columns preserved since the 5th century BCE to recite the verses of a poem of hers. \u201cThis powerful show, enchanting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":220195,"parent":219206,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-220171","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/220171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220171"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/220171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220174,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/220171\/revisions\/220174"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/inserra-chair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}