Jen Borghi '02 spends a lot of time these days at her "office" — Small World Coffee — working on her senior thesis.
Thus far, the thesis, an analysis of the role of the Sibyl in Dante's "Divina Commedia," sprawls over countless notebook pages and Small World napkins. It is the culmination of her academic work as a comparative literature major in Latin — but it is not Borghi's only work in progress.
In February, Borghi, a mezzo-soprano, and pianist Kueh Hao Yuan '02 won the Princeton University Orchestra's annual concerto competition. As winners, Borghi and Kueh will be featured in a spring orchestra concert on April 26 and 27, performing Mozart's concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di te?"
"We both adore that piece," she says of the aria, composed for soprano Anna Storace, with whom Mozart was in love. It is ten minutes of the most difficult music Borghi has ever sung, and a prelude to her future performances.
This fall, armed with her literature degree and certificates in musical performance, medieval studies and Latin, Borghi will begin a year of vocal training at London's Guildhall School of Music in preparation for a career as a classical singer.
It is an unusual choice for a Princeton graduate. Professional musicians most often emerge from conservatories, or at the very least major in music. But Borghi's interests are diverse.
Before college, she played the trumpet for seven years. She arrived at Princeton as a prospective physics major with an interest in acoustical engineering, intending to design concert halls following her graduation.
A chance encounter with an Old English textbook and a glance at the family tree of Indo-European languages sparked her interest in comparative literature.
She came to singing relatively late, beginning voice lessons her freshman year here. Since then, Borghi has sung with the Chapel Choir and Chamber Choir and played colorful roles in two operas — a frisky pageboy in Monteverdi's "The Coronation of Poppaea" and a platinum-blonde, leather-clad minx in Mozart's "The Magic Flute."
The idea of seriously pursuing music first occurred to her during her sophomore year, but junior year was when she, as she puts it, "flipped the switch," increasing her practicing and making her most dramatic progress.
Music began to engross her. "I'm a person of extremes," she says. "I obsess about the singing. I don't like moderation. It's all or nothing."
Mezzo-soprano is one of the lowest registers of female singing voices. A mezzo voice generally fits one of two broad categories, dramatic or lyric.
Dramatic voices tend to be dark, rich, smoky, and sultry. Lyric voices — like Borghi's — are higher, have a lighter texture, and can sometimes even sing soprano repertoire.
Mezzos often fill the roles of boys. Borghi especially covets the role of the vivacious teenager Cherubino in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro."
But the road to Cherubino and to professional success is uncertain. Borghi is realistic about the odds. "The thought that this is incredibly stupid has crossed my mind. It's entirely possible I'll develop vocal nodes and say goodbye to singing."
But Borghi is optimistic. She hasn't ruled out storming the world's most prestigious recital halls and opera houses. "The Met, Chicago, Covent Garden, La Scala, Salzburg Music Festival, Carnegie Hall — why not?" she says with a grin.
"Of course," she adds, "I won't peak until my late thirties or forties. 'Till then I'll starve or something. At least it'll keep me thin enough to play boys."
She'll have company in a fellow starving musician — older brother Eric, a classical percussionist. And there are many other interests to pursue in the meantime. Besides the musical career, Borghi has hatched plans for a self-described "post-Princeton dilettantism."
"I'm going to start learning math again!" she says. "And botany. And ancient Greek — lots more languages. And Epicurean philosophy. And finally read some literature written after the 15th century."
As a parting gift, she teaches me a phrase in Latin. "Trahit quemque sua voluptas," translated "To each, his own desire."
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