Concert in the classroom helps Providence College students experience Mozart
By Martha Young
Honors students at Providence College studied composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart through two immersive experiences — a musical performance by two of their professors in the classroom and a live performance of the play Amadeus at a local theatre.
Licia Carlson, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy who has studied violin since age 4, and Alex Orquiza, Ph.D., an associate professor of history and classically trained pianist, treated their students to a live performance of Mozart’s Sonata in G for Violin and Piano.
Carlson is a member of a Boston-area volunteer orchestra that raises funds for health-related nonprofits. Orquiza, who studied piano from age 5 through high school, expanded his musical repertoire in college as a percussionist in a marching band. Mozart’s sonata was Orquiza’s first duet performance on the PC campus.
Mozart as a guiding figure in the Development of Western Civilization honors course was the creative orchestration of Carlson, Orquiza, and Stephanie Boeninger, Ph.D., associate professor of English. In the four-semester Civ program, first-year and sophomore students read great books, dive deep into historic events, and learn about the people who changed the course of history — like Mozart, one of the most influential composers of the Classical era.
Boeninger, who traveled to Vienna with the Honors Program during spring break in 2024, was enamored of the city’s deep musical history and saw an opportunity to weave the composer’s brilliance into the Civ course. When she shared with her faculty colleagues that the play Amadeus would be staged at the Gamm Theatre in Warwick, Carlson and Orquiza offered their own musical talents to create an immersive Mozart experience for their students.
After reading Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed play Amadeus, which explores the rivalry between Mozart and composer Antonio Salieri, Boeninger and her students enjoyed a live performance of the play. Through the staged drama, students gained a richer understanding of the genius and struggles Mozart endured during his short life, Boeninger said.
“Watching the play in a theater full of classmates who had joint knowledge of the subject was such an original experience,” said Kaitlin King ’27, a marketing major from Essex Falls, New Jersey. “I could talk about how we perceived acts of the play differently than when we just read it.”
John Dunn ’27, a biology major from New Hyde Park, New York, had limited experience with live theatre prior to the show. He was captivated by the historical backdrop of Mozart’s life in 18th-century Vienna.
“I grew an appreciation for his work and classical music as a whole,” Dunn said.
