Mariasole romani: Chasing dreams

Story by Matt Machia

Mariasole Romani may spend many of her evenings tending bar at Caffe Italia in Cagli, Italy, but she spends most of her days doing what she loves – playing the violin.

The 23-year-old Mariasole goes each day to the music conservatory where she takes classes twice a day. She practices with a quartet and a full orchestra, learns about composers and their compositions. She recently traveled to Russia to perform.

“I play the violin out of love for the music,” she says, adding that she is fond of Beethoven, Mozart, and Italian artists such as Puccini.

Mariasole’s interests extend beyond music. In addition to her classes at the conservatory, she also is attending Scienze Della Formazione Primaria to become an elementary school teacher. To earn her teaching degree, she must complete four years of study and 100 hours of student teaching. Her busy schedule means she can’t make it to every class, so she has to spend a lot of time studying on her own, she says.

She likes the variety in her life, saying she wants to “keep her feet in some different things.”

Mariasole works, plays and studies hard. While her efforts can be consuming, she says, they are necessary for her to succeed. A person must “put energy onto these things,” she says.

Someday, Mariasole would like to leave Cagli and travel the world. She dreams of visiting India, the United States, China, and France. She is fluent in English and Italian, and she is studying French. She doesn’t know where she will be 10 years down the road, she says. “I don’t know about tomorrow.”

Wherever the wind takers her, she says, she will always be an Italian at heart. She currently lives with her parents, and Cagli will always be home. To travel, she says, she needs stability. “I need a place I know is home.”
Aside from her home, Italy has another thing she can’t find in the states. “In America, pasta is still not Italian pasta.”