“The Laura Pasqualetti Memorial Scholarship fund pays tribute to our dear friend and mentor and founding faculty member of Bel Canto in Tuscany, Larua Pasqualetti,” Reggioli, the Executive Director of the Program, told OperaWire. “As ED, it was vital for me to form this fund both to recognize her contributions to our program – the friendship and guidance she offered our students, and the absolute artistry she brought to every interaction as a coach and collaborator – and to provide to as many students as possible the same life-changing opportunity that I received as a student at BCT in its first year. This field is expensive–training programs are expensive–and that expense only exacerbates disparities already present in opera and feeds the alienating stereotype that opera is for the wealthy. We hope that in the long term, this scholarship fund can help to break down that barrier, make our program available to students from all demographic backgrounds, and continue to nurture a generation of singers who are committed to excellence as complete opera artists, from vocal technique to acting to language and more. If future students won’t be able to benefit from Laura’s coaching, they will benefit from her legacy.”