A Soprano in Venice

Airbnb2

LIESL ODENWELLER
Cofounder Venice Music Project St. Georges Anglican Church

“I’M IN AN old stone church with heavy, patinated bronze doors in front of a small audience of about 50.They take their seats, and the room quiets as I make an introduction about the piece in English, French and Italian. When you give a little background on the music, people listen differently. Then I sing while the rest of our Baroque ensemble performs on period instruments. It’s the first time anyone has heard this music since the 1700s, and that’s exciting.

I’m originally from New Jersey, and my husband is from Pennsylvania. We met in Rome while I was studying there, fell in love withVenice, and moved here in 1998. We have a 16-year-old daughter. Before this, I had toured all over -I was a soloist at Carnegie Hall several times but- I wanted to stay home while she was in school, so I cofounded the Venice Music Project in 2012. We wanted to do something positive to give back to the city. We didn’t want to just be regurgitating Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. People don’t realize that once Mozart came along, a lot of Venetian composers, such as Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli, who wrote some of the first operas, were forgotten. So we thought it would be wonderful to put on these high-level concerts of music that had been lost in the archives —hidden treasures, really— and donate a portion of the proceeds to support the restoration of places where we perform. We’ve contributed more than €40,000 [$45,000] for St. George’s Anglican Church, our home for the past four seasons.

I love the European lifestyle. I go running in the morning. My husband, daughter, and I have lunch together in the afternoon. There are no cars in Venice, so we have a boat. I commute to the church by taking a water bus —everyone from the countess to the trash man is on it. Venice is a big city,

but it’s a small town.”

—MARA REINSTEIN

For the article please

You can find our Airbnb Experience

Other content that might interest you

Musicians

Caterina Chiarcos

Caterina Chiarcos – Soprano Graduated cum laude in 2018 at Conservatorio B. Marcello in Venice, with a Master Degree in “Renaissance and Baroque Music Singing and Performance”, under the mentorship

Leggi Tutto »
Brochure Venice Music Project Autumn 2023
Blog&News

Brochure Autumn 2023

2023 – 10th AnniversaryProgram Concert Season – BAROQUE CELEBRATIONS – Venice Music Project celebrates our 10th Anniversary in 2023,with special concerts and events – and LOTS of great music!

Leggi Tutto »
The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
Blog&News

Award Announcement!

We are thrilled to announce that Friends of Venice Music Project has been awarded a research grant from the  Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation  to support our work on the Neglected

Leggi Tutto »
Blog&News

Giving Tuesday 2022!

Friends of Venice Music Project is excited to announce our Giving Tuesday 2022 campaign! The past year has witnessed some major milestones of which we are very proud. Not only

Leggi Tutto »

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Keep informed about our initiatives and concerts!

If you would like to stay in touch and receive information about our concerts and events, as well as invitations for them, SIGN UP for our newsletter

Support the Venice Music Project!

Your support will help us to budget for extra-special programs in celebration of our first decade of activity, as well as help to fund our Musical Archaeology and the performances of works we discover during the year.

And, as always, we will Ba-ROCK you!