Elizabeth Williams will arrive at Belhaven College in August, ready to begin her freshman year studying opera, but first she'll spend July at the prestigious Operafestival di Roma in Italy.

The program, which accepts only 50 students per year, offers master classes, coaching, diction lessons, voice and conversational Italian, and opera rehearsals with the festival's celebrated faculty. Williams will study with musicians from around the world, where three weeks of intense musical study culminate in a week-long series of fully staged performances at the 15th Century courtyard of S. Ivo alla Sapienza in central Rome.

In the mean time, Elizabeth is preparing for graduation from Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs, CO, and the June 7, “Symphony of Song,” where she will sing a full concert in preparation for her trip to Rome.