Professor. Performer. Perfectionist
Andrea Ridilla
Andrea Bosco
Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment
She has performed with the great Italian operatic tenor
Luciano Pavarotti, dined with Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis and, more recently, been granted a U.S patent.
A mere representation of who she is and what she does, Miami University students know her best as Professor Andrea Ridilla or Professoressa to some.
There's a certain contagious, motivational-filled air about her that makes students strive for perfection. As the professor of oboe, she teaches and practices with students, hours upon hours, to help them achieve a final performance free of mistakes.
"We know you can't be perfect in this life but in music you can't mess up," Ridilla says.
A mover (literally) and a shaker, Ridilla has performed oboe in places such as Korea, Canada, Ecuador and most of Europe. Her collegiate career started at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and continued in New York City at The Juilliard School, where she earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in music.
"I grew up in western Pennsylvania and needed that environment to get me to the next level," Ridilla says. "I knew the more professional you are the more you are prepared to walk into the profession."
Ridilla says The Juilliard School was not the most welcoming place, but a place to "toughen you up."
"It's the school of hard knocks," she laughs. "There are professional conductors and the standard is high. You really learned what the standard is for the marketplace."
"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere," Frank Sinatra once crooned about New York City. Well, Ridilla made it and lived at 87th and Park Avenue while getting there.
Yes, Park Avenue. Relax, Gossip Girl fans.
She lived with a relatively affluent family in a 13-room penthouse. Ridilla babysat for their daughter in between her studies. The mother, a Vassar College classmate of Jackie O's, held a small fundraiser luncheon for Ted Kennedy at their home one afternoon.
"I was so surprised because I was always thinking she was a woman who didn't eat very much," Ridilla says. "She walked in and said 'I'm starving!' and then grabbed a whole bunch of strawberries. She liked to talk but she asked questions and listened. She didn't divulge in herself. Jackie reminded me of any normal mother."
Ridilla's first job was principal of oboe at Rhode Island Philharmonic. Her next job took her cross-country where she worked at the University of Nevada Las Vegas as principal of Las Vegas Symphony. A friend she worked with in Rhode Island, who was employed at Miami, suggested she come to Oxford in 1987.
"I have found a lot of avenues for professional growth here, ironically, being in the middle of nowhere," Ridilla says. "Professors here have so much to offer because of all the things we have done."
She says she always wants to make time for students and likes when students give as much as they want from a professor.
"It's not 50-50, it's 100-100," Ridilla says. "It depends on the work quality of the student."
Sophomore Alex Meyer says Ridilla brings enthusiasm to her opera class.
"She allowed for a lot of student innovation in the interpretation and understanding of an opera," Meyer says.
Although Ridilla lives in the "middle of nowhere," that was not her original plan. In high school, Ridilla studied French and spent three summers in Europe, studying in Switzerland, France, Dijon, and Florence.
"When you get to talk to people in their language you get to know them on a different level," Ridilla says. "It's a different dimension when you know the language."
Rightfully so, her first CD, which debuted in May 2009, is titled "L'amore Italiano…"
"I think it's such a privilege to make a living as a musician," Ridilla says. "It's amazing that I can travel to all of these great places."
She recorded her album at the Sofia Philharmonic in Bulgaria, which features the lyrical oboe in opera and cinema. In order to improve her oboe playing, Ridilla decided to begin learning opera four years ago.
"The more you play like a singer, the better you'll become," she says.
She has been teaching the Discovering Italian Opera course at Miami for three years. At the end of the semester students are required to attend a New York City trip to see an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera House.
"By the end of the course I had developed a profound appreciation of the art and understanding of what makes opera so unique," says sophomore Nicholas Huber. "Professor Ridilla's focus was clearly on the individual growth and learning of each student."
After a quick mention of the late Pavarotti, Ridilla replied, "I find that his lyrical steel-like quality drives through his warm voice and it's truly compelling."
For junior Cordeila Moore, the opera course was quite personal.
"Ridilla's class was an excellent experience, not only for the opera lover, but for those who have any interest in taking a step out of the typical day-to- day monotonous classes," she says.
In addition to performing across the pond, Ridilla is also a business woman.
In May 2009, she was granted a U.S patent on an oboe reed-making gauging machine called the Ridilla Gauging Machine. She and Ugo Heng, owner of Reeds n' Stuff, a German fi rm, co-designed the machine, which is now on the market.
Ridilla has published articles for the Journal of the British Double Reed Society and is involved on seven campus committees, including a position as a senator in the University Senate.
Her latest passion, swimming, may seem a bit unrelated to her day job. However, the breathing aspects and requirements of swimming and playing oboe are similar. Ridilla is a member of the U.S. Masters Swim Team, the Miami Redfins.
"I grew up with an indoor swimming pool and always enjoyed it," she says. "The coaches saw me swimming and asked me to join the team. I commit to three days a week from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. It is like having a personal trainer."
The training seems to have paid off because Ridilla recently won first prize in the women's 50-meter breaststroke. But she takes it all in stride, not forgetting how unique she is to have so many different types of experiences.
"Every time I do something new I tell myself I bet I'm going to die soon because life has been so good to me," Ridilla laughs. "If I died tomorrow, I have had so many incredible experiences on this earth."
A mere representation of who she is and what she does, Miami University students know her best as Professor Andrea Ridilla or Professoressa to some.
There's a certain contagious, motivational-filled air about her that makes students strive for perfection. As the professor of oboe, she teaches and practices with students, hours upon hours, to help them achieve a final performance free of mistakes.
"We know you can't be perfect in this life but in music you can't mess up," Ridilla says.
A mover (literally) and a shaker, Ridilla has performed oboe in places such as Korea, Canada, Ecuador and most of Europe. Her collegiate career started at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and continued in New York City at The Juilliard School, where she earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in music.
"I grew up in western Pennsylvania and needed that environment to get me to the next level," Ridilla says. "I knew the more professional you are the more you are prepared to walk into the profession."
Ridilla says The Juilliard School was not the most welcoming place, but a place to "toughen you up."
"It's the school of hard knocks," she laughs. "There are professional conductors and the standard is high. You really learned what the standard is for the marketplace."
"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere," Frank Sinatra once crooned about New York City. Well, Ridilla made it and lived at 87th and Park Avenue while getting there.
Yes, Park Avenue. Relax, Gossip Girl fans.
She lived with a relatively affluent family in a 13-room penthouse. Ridilla babysat for their daughter in between her studies. The mother, a Vassar College classmate of Jackie O's, held a small fundraiser luncheon for Ted Kennedy at their home one afternoon.
"I was so surprised because I was always thinking she was a woman who didn't eat very much," Ridilla says. "She walked in and said 'I'm starving!' and then grabbed a whole bunch of strawberries. She liked to talk but she asked questions and listened. She didn't divulge in herself. Jackie reminded me of any normal mother."
Ridilla's first job was principal of oboe at Rhode Island Philharmonic. Her next job took her cross-country where she worked at the University of Nevada Las Vegas as principal of Las Vegas Symphony. A friend she worked with in Rhode Island, who was employed at Miami, suggested she come to Oxford in 1987.
"I have found a lot of avenues for professional growth here, ironically, being in the middle of nowhere," Ridilla says. "Professors here have so much to offer because of all the things we have done."
She says she always wants to make time for students and likes when students give as much as they want from a professor.
"It's not 50-50, it's 100-100," Ridilla says. "It depends on the work quality of the student."
Sophomore Alex Meyer says Ridilla brings enthusiasm to her opera class.
"She allowed for a lot of student innovation in the interpretation and understanding of an opera," Meyer says.
Although Ridilla lives in the "middle of nowhere," that was not her original plan. In high school, Ridilla studied French and spent three summers in Europe, studying in Switzerland, France, Dijon, and Florence.
"When you get to talk to people in their language you get to know them on a different level," Ridilla says. "It's a different dimension when you know the language."
Rightfully so, her first CD, which debuted in May 2009, is titled "L'amore Italiano…"
"I think it's such a privilege to make a living as a musician," Ridilla says. "It's amazing that I can travel to all of these great places."
She recorded her album at the Sofia Philharmonic in Bulgaria, which features the lyrical oboe in opera and cinema. In order to improve her oboe playing, Ridilla decided to begin learning opera four years ago.
"The more you play like a singer, the better you'll become," she says.
She has been teaching the Discovering Italian Opera course at Miami for three years. At the end of the semester students are required to attend a New York City trip to see an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera House.
"By the end of the course I had developed a profound appreciation of the art and understanding of what makes opera so unique," says sophomore Nicholas Huber. "Professor Ridilla's focus was clearly on the individual growth and learning of each student."
After a quick mention of the late Pavarotti, Ridilla replied, "I find that his lyrical steel-like quality drives through his warm voice and it's truly compelling."
For junior Cordeila Moore, the opera course was quite personal.
"Ridilla's class was an excellent experience, not only for the opera lover, but for those who have any interest in taking a step out of the typical day-to- day monotonous classes," she says.
In addition to performing across the pond, Ridilla is also a business woman.
In May 2009, she was granted a U.S patent on an oboe reed-making gauging machine called the Ridilla Gauging Machine. She and Ugo Heng, owner of Reeds n' Stuff, a German fi rm, co-designed the machine, which is now on the market.
Ridilla has published articles for the Journal of the British Double Reed Society and is involved on seven campus committees, including a position as a senator in the University Senate.
Her latest passion, swimming, may seem a bit unrelated to her day job. However, the breathing aspects and requirements of swimming and playing oboe are similar. Ridilla is a member of the U.S. Masters Swim Team, the Miami Redfins.
"I grew up with an indoor swimming pool and always enjoyed it," she says. "The coaches saw me swimming and asked me to join the team. I commit to three days a week from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. It is like having a personal trainer."
The training seems to have paid off because Ridilla recently won first prize in the women's 50-meter breaststroke. But she takes it all in stride, not forgetting how unique she is to have so many different types of experiences.
"Every time I do something new I tell myself I bet I'm going to die soon because life has been so good to me," Ridilla laughs. "If I died tomorrow, I have had so many incredible experiences on this earth."
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