The voice of Stratford went abroad this summer. Maggie Bergmark, 2014 graduate, traveled to Italy to participate in a five-week music program hosted by the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Bergmark’s opportunity resulted from an audition with Daune Mahy, professor of singing at Oberlin Conservatory, one of the top music schools in the country, a part of Oberlin College in Ohio.

Their annual summer training program “Oberlin in Italy,” located in Arezzo, in the region of Tuscany, is geared towards upper level college and masters students. Bergmark, currently a freshman at Westminster Conservatory of Music, Rider University, Princeton, NJ, was an unusually young selection.

Bergmark joined other students including singers, stage directors, pianists, and design and production students, to refine her singing skills, earn a semester of the Italian language, and immerse herself in the culture. Through the “Emerging Artists Program” Bergmark worked on various scenes of opera. One of the operas she studied was “Il Matrimonio Segreto,”or, The Secret Marriage.

While at Stratford, Bergmark left her mark in the arts by participating in the spring musicals, plays, the One Act Competitions, and the marching band.

Ms. Sylvia Haynie, the director of theater, noted how much Bergmark practiced.  “Maggie was one of those rare cases of a student who was extremely motivated to practice, not just the things that were going to be in a show,” Haynie said. “Maggie was extremely dedicated.”