Rosignano, 4:15pm

Buena sera,

I am writing to you from the public library in Rosignano, (where internet is free but limited!).  I just finished my 3rd day of classes which are going well so far.  The first day was interesting, hearing everyone sing and seeing where everyone is at and what their goals are.  There are only 6 singers, all female and quite a range of ages.  I am the 3rd youngest.  There is a 16 year old who is classically trained, a 20 year old jazz singer from Montreal who has a very cool sound (but is unfortunately leaving on Monday due to other engagements), a drama teacher in her 50's who has done some shows in the past but has been away from singing for a while, and the two women we live with, who are very new to singing but are excited to be challenging themselves in a new way and unplugging themselves from their lives at home.

Richard, our instructor, (whose last name escapes me now) is a great instructor, very up, very positive and very good at working with such a variety of singers.  We start the day in singing class, working on music as a group, as well as playing around with individual pieces.  We have come back 3 days in a row with the same song, with the challenge of bringing something fresh to it everytime.  I chose to work on a piece by Charles Amore,(the songwriter I have been recording with for the last year) called "Fire in my Blood".  (Everyone thinks it's really catchy Charlie!)   For our final showing, I'm going to challenge myself to do the song "Time to Say Goodbye", that classical English/Italian song that Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli both have recorded in the spirit of studying in Italy as well as a musical theatre piece called "A call from the Vatican", that's pretty fun.  And perhaps a couple of other things in addition to group numbers. 

 Stephen and I have both been enjoying workouts at the gym- we have been going almost daily, and the owner Marco who is allowing us all to work out for free, has been an awesome trainer for us both.  Stephen's pumped about it.  I am a little jealous about all the free time he has to go to the beach.  My tan's got nothing on his yet...but I do have a healthy glow :)  Stephen has also been taking yoga at our studio-- one of the dancers has her certification so that's been fun for him too.  Other than that, just settling into life in Italia.  We're supposed to go to a jazz festival in Umbria this weekend but it's a 5 hour train-ride away so we may just chill and enjoy the beach...still deciding on that...

Gotta run...I'm off to the beach to jump in the turquoise water!!

Love to you all,

Andrea & Stephen