AEDO, the Accademia Europea Dell’Opera, is a uniquely focused European opera experience, centered on the preparation, creation, and performance of full operatic roles. The international program brings together selected singers from around the globe to work with pianists, conductors, and directors from some of the world’s most celebrated opera institutions, during an intense period of musical and dramaturgic study and rehearsal, followed by a series of public European performances. Participants work at an extremely high level to understand first-hand the musical, intellectual, and physical tools required to build an opera character from concept to performance, and are prepared for similar professional experiences in European and North American opera houses. The program also includes masterclasses and coachings with special guests from Europe’s leading opera programs (past guests have included the head coach from Teatro alla Scala, and the heads of the National Opera Studio London, the Netherlands Opera Studio, and the studio of Opera du Rhin), and private voice lessons, all in context of a compelling European life setting.

New this Year: AEDO’s 2013 program takes place in the spectacular Tuscan city of Lucca, birth place of Puccini, home of the Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago. This picturesque setting provides the quintessential Italian experi- ence and backdrop to AEDO’s program of opera production and musical and dramatic study. Performances take place throughout the Tuscan countryside and artists live in Lucca’s stunning historic centre, less than an hour’s journey to Pisa, Florence, or Mediterranean Sea.