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Drake prof to teach and perform at Italian music festival

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Ann Cravero
MEDIA CONTACT: Tory Olson, 515-271-1834, tory.olson@drake.edu

Ann Cravero, assistant professor of voice and opera director at Drake University, will teach master classes in voice and perform in concerts this July as part of the Alexander & Buono Festival of Music in Abano Terme, Italy. 

The festival, which runs from July 4-13, draws classical musicians from around the world who are interested in honing repertoire and advancing technique in voice and instrumentation.

Distinguished professors from the United States, Europe and Japan teach the master classes during the day, while concert performances are held in the evening. 

The faculty includes Gohei Nishikawa, professor of piano at the Greenwich International Conservatory of Music and Cosmo Buono, executive director of the International Academy of Arts and Sciences in Closter, New Jersey.

Cravero performed in Italy once before as a soloist in the 2007 Festival Internazionale Cantus Angeli.

An active mezzo-soprano recitalist and soloist, Cravero joined Drake as a full-time faculty member in 2003. She has performed a wide array of roles in various operas and participated in master classes with world-renowned mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham. 

As director of Drake Opera Theatre, Cravero directed Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” and Copland’s “The Tender Land.” She also directed Britten’s “The Little Sweep” with the City Opera Co. of the Quad Cities, as well as producing and directing the one-act opera “Fortune’s Favorites” at the University of Iowa. 

Cravero holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Master of Musical Arts in vocal performance from the University of Iowa, which awarded her the Donald Walker Vocal Scholarship. She received her Bachelor of Music Education from Bradley University, where she won the university’s Piano Concerto Competition and received the Academic Achievement Award for music education.