Newtown High Choir Sings In Italy For The Pope

By Tanjua Damon

The Newtown High School choir travels abroad every three years. This year during spring break, 63 members arrived in Italy to tour and sing throughout the romantic Italian countryside. Pope John Paul II even heard the high school group during the general papal audience.

The choir group performed at San Stae Church in Venice, the Church of Santi Giovanni and Reparata, a liturgy at St Francis’ Cathedral, liturgy at St Peter’s Basilica, and for the Pope during the general papal audience. The students toured over 10 cities in the country known for its romance and history.

“It went about as perfect as it could have. The weather was perfect,” Ann McNulty Ferraro, the choir director, said. “It’s a land of singing. They have such a singing tradition there.”

Going to Italy also provided the choir with the opportunity to see and understand where the music they sing comes from.

“That’s where antiphonal singing began,” she said. “They started to understand the origins of the music we sing.”

Senior Erin Zaruba felt the trip was an opportunity to spend time with her friends before graduation and to learn about the history of Italy.

“It’s my senior year. It was an opportunity to go to Europe,” Erin said. “It was all pretty memorable. I liked Assisi.”

Many of the students were struck by the history of Italy and its impact on the rest of the world.

“I liked the church in Lucca where there were Roman ruins,” Kendra Barrow said. “The church was built on top of the ruins, so just think of the history.”

Being able to see the Vatican was one experience Chris Lyddy will never forget.

“The Vatican, it’s just some place I always wanted to go,” he said. “It was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the one person closest to God.”

Beth English has never been outside the United States and felt this experience would benefit her.

“I’ve never been outside the East Coast. I wanted to go to Europe while I’m still young,” Beth said. “Especially in Rome it hit me. It’s a lot like New York City but right in the middle there are ruins. It’s so much older than anything [in the United States]. We’re babies.”

The students were also able to take a ride in a gondola in Venice, which was a highlight for Mike DeLuca.

“The gondola, just going through the canals seeing all the houses,” Mike said. “The ice cream, gelato, was the best. It had fresh fruit and it is very light and creamy.”

Not knowing everything about the buildings and land of Italy was interesting to Brandon Kirch.

“The feeling of being somewhere when you’re there everything is so old,” Brandon said. “You can’t know everything that happened before you have been there.”

Stephen Tomasiewicz wanted the opportunity to experience culture and diversity outside the United States.

“I wanted to deepen by knowledge of the culturally diverse world we live in today,” Stephen said. “Just by soaking in the sites of a varied nation.”

The entire trip was not all serious, especially for Pat Curran, who had a sword fight in front of the leaning tower of Pisa. But he also enjoyed the history of the country.

“You can appreciate history. It gives you a better understanding,” Pat said. “Ancient Rome had an effect on US culture in one way or another.”

The group traveled to Venice, Rome, Verona, Montecatini, Padua, Pisa, Florence, Siena, Assisi, Pompeii and Sorrento, where they saw various historical sites including San Marco’s Basilica, Piazza San Marco, San Stae Church, Giotto’s Belltower, Accademia with the David, Colosseum, Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. The group of students and their chaperones left for Italy on April 11 and returned April 21.