Below is the letter sent to all participants and faculty:

Dear Summer Music in Tuscany 2020 participants, 

It is with a very heavy heart that I must write with some bad news. After much consideration, we have decided we must cancel our 2020 program. I know it may seem early to make this kind of decision, but 80% of our participants (both students and faculty) are coming from Universities that have now banned all summer travel to Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak as of this week. We are very sad for our friends in Sarteano and very disappointed that we will not be able to make beautiful music with you all this summer. I understand that some of you, including myself and other faculty, have already purchased flights. It is my hope that with the official cancellation of the program, that folks might be able to utilize trip insurance to at least get a partial refund of those costs. If you are one of those folks, please reach out to me with any questions or concerns. I personally plan to wait a bit to try to cancel/change my flights, in case there are considerations made by the airlines closer to time of travel. 

We will, of course, return to Sarteano in summer 2021. Any of you interested in participating next year will be automatically admitted if you reapply. In addition, I will be fully refunding your $250 deposits. This will take 5-10 days to be refunded to your original source of payment. The $40 application fee to the Acceptd.com platform, I understand to be non-refundable. 

Thank you again for your application and interest in our wonderful program; I sincerely hope we all get to be together in the future. I am available via this message or at Courtney@summermusicintuscany.org if you would like to reach out.

With gratitude, 

Courtney Kalbacker

Program Director