The Utah State University Men’s basketball team arrives home Monday, Aug. 19 from a 10-day trip to Italy and Croatia during which they won all three games they played.
And during what was an equally successful tour of Italy, USU’s Caine College of the Arts Jazz Orchestra spent 10 days in July where they performed at five prestigious festivals.
Through a rigorous audition process, 20 top-tier students were selected for the tour. Directed by Associate Professor Max Matzen, they performed in festivals including Umbria and Ancona from July 7-17.
Each concert was opened by AMP — the Aggie Music Project — a quartet of distinguished USU professors.
Professor Matzen said after each show the students spent time talking and interacting with the audiences, in a mixture of broken English and Italian.
Dr. Nicholas Morrison, Cain College dean, said the tour was a transformative experience for the students as they gained invaluable insights as artists on the world stage.
The orchestra’s performances in renowned venues were made possible by several donors including Tim and Sylvia Newman.