A junior at Academy of Notre Dame, Ava DiGiuseppe recently represented her school the Regional Shakespeare Contest in Philadelphia, and is a dual Arts and Global Citizen Scholar and a member of Model UN and Hi-Q. She participated in National History Day, and is on the staff of both the school’s literary magazine and the student newspaper. Last spring, she submitted a poem inspired by Catullus’ Carmen 8 to the literary magazine that was selected for a magna cum laude designation at the Philadelphia Classical Society’s Annual Latin Week Competition. DiGiuseppe sings with the Peabody Institute’s Vocal Performance Academy, participated in the Boston Conservatory’s Vocal/Choral Intensive, and was invited to Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute this summer. She is also very involved in her study of Latin and has achieved gold and silver medals on the National Latin Exam throughout Middle and Upper School. She was selected as a Diocesan Scholar for the 2024-2025 academic year, cantors with St. Thomas the Apostle Church, and tutors Latin.
Main Line Media News: You delivered a heartbreaking monologue by Ophelia from Hamlet, securing the opportunity to represent Notre Dame at the Regional Shakespeare Contest in Philadelphia Feb. 26. Tell us a little about that contest, and your most vivid memory of that day.
Ava DiGiuseppe: In preparation for the Regional Shakespeare Competition this academic year, students are required to prepare a Shakespearean monologue as well as a sonnet of their choosing. This year, I was determined to find a monologue from Hamlet as I have always had a great appreciation for his characterization of Ophelia. Upon arrival at the competition, I was greeted by many friendly, familiar faces, but also had the opportunity to compete against a myriad of new, excellent performers within the Philadelphia region. In order to remain entirely earnest in my response, my most vivid memory from the competition would be the lunch hour that Dr. DaCrema and I shared in which we analyzed our favorite interpretations of monologues that we observed earlier in the day and celebrated the continued legacy of Shakespeare in the 21st-century.
Main Line Media News: You are currently working on a paper for publication in a humanities journal on the topic of religion in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. What has been the most interesting thing you have learned in your research for that paper?
Ava DiGiuseppe: The most rewarding aspect of analyzing the sociopolitical impact of literary works in translation is definitely working to develop a translation that is reflective of grammatical accuracy and idiomatic nuance. In developing the paper, I have had the opportunity to study various translations and analyses that have contributed to my own interpretation of the work, which I hope will be received well when it comes time for review!
Main Line Media News: You’ve had the opportunity to perform solo classical voice pieces at Notre Dame’s music concerts such as the Chamber Music Concert and in master classes with professors at the Peabody Institute. Your focus with music is mostly on classical voice and piano – what has been your favorite performance piece and why?
Ava DiGiuseppe: I find that I have developed a great appreciation for the performance of French arias. Currently, I am preparing Habanera from Georges Bizet’s Carmen as one of my vocal selections for the spring/summer competition season. While working to portray the character with accuracy has been a challenging leap out of my comfort zone, I have greatly enjoyed studying the melodic structure of the piece and the opera. As I have attended schools with great French influence for the majority of my life, I often find that my artistic preferences act in alignment with my upbringing- particularly the works of Ravel, Massenet, and Fauré.
Main Line Media News: What has been the most important thing you have learned as a tutor of Latin?
Ava DiGiuseppe: Quite honestly, attempting not to get too carried away with the intricacies of Roman history! While the tutoring sessions that I host mostly focus on grammatical structure within the context of commonly studied poetic and prosaic works, I always ensure that the student is provided with sufficient historical context that may aid in developing their understanding of the text — this is definitely where I tend to ramble!
Main Line Media News: You are planning to publish an album of classical vocal selections (core repertoire selections as well as your own classical compositions) this summer. Can you tell us a little about your own classical compositions?
Ava DiGiuseppe: As a majority of the piano repertoire that I listen to and study is derived from the Romantic canon (e.g., Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninov, etc.), I often find that the accompaniment components of my art songs act as a contemporary continuation of Romantic principles. As most art songs are developed in order to complement a folk-based poem, each of the art songs that I have composed for the album are derived from public-domain folk poems in French, German, Italian, Latin and English.
Main Line Media News: What is your favorite book, and why?
Ava DiGiuseppe: Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. In order to supplement my academic curriculum this year, I developed a series of literary works that I planned to read in accordance with the histories of various sovereignties and temporal periods that I was interested in studying. I initially read Anna Karenina in the spring of my sophomore year and fell in love with Russian literature, so I planned to re-read the text in September alongside the works of Eastern European authors such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Anton Chekhov. As I plan to pursue a career as an academic within the field of constitutional law, my perception of the work has affected my interpretation of legal doctrine in favor of a more classical and traditional ideological standpoint.
(To be selected as Main Line Student of the Week, a student must first be nominated by his or her school.)
To view a gallery of the previous Main Line Students of the Week click here
