The interview of the month

Meet Adele Sbrega, Administrative office clerk.

Can you tell us about your professional experience before joining ROF?
After graduating, I immediately start working, first doing part-time jobs and then working for several years as a manager in a small commercial activity in the jewellery sector. At the same time, I studied law at the University of Urbino, with the aim of finding a job in the administrative sector.

What was your first contact with the festival?
Actually, it happened by chance, at the beginning of last year: I was preparing for an exam in public administration and, between one announcement and another, I came across the Foundation's call for applications for an administrative assistant. Without giving it too much thought, I sent in my application: I was certainly familiar with the Rof because of its reputation and prestige, but I must admit (mea culpa!) that I had never followed its activities. I have fond memories of the day of the interview: I went home thinking of what had just happened as a constructive experience, aware that I had come close to an extremely interesting reality and determined to follow its initiatives more actively. Needless to say, I was delighted to hear that I had been selected for the post!

You are an administrative assistant. Could you explain what your job involves?
Contrary to what some people might think, there is an important job that precedes and follows the running of the festival and the various events that accompany it. In short, there are many aspects that need to be taken into account in order for the more administrative and bureaucratic side to go hand in hand with the artistic side, such as the accounting and tax formalities for the artists, but also for the companies and staff who work with the Foundation in various capacities, as well as communications with the social security and insurance institutions. During these months I have been able to see the importance of effective communication and cooperation between the various offices, and the support of my colleagues has been equally fundamental. With great professionalism and selflessness, they helped me to adapt to a completely new reality, mixing technical terms with anecdotes and curiosities about the world of music and theatre. In short, an articulated and very peculiar context, certainly stimulating, about which I still have a lot to learn!

What is your favourite memory of your ROF experience? 
I would say that I remember with particular affection my first festival itself, which I experienced as an extremely powerful moment. First of all, without wanting to be taken for granted, the collaboration with all the people I had the opportunity to work with was a surprisingly positive experience for me. Another wonderful experience was undoubtedly the first time I witnessed the staging of an opera, during the dress rehearsal: the possibility of appreciating a performance as a whole from a privileged perspective, of fully understanding how the passion and commitment of so many people take shape in an amazing performance. I won't hide the fact that, at the first notes of the orchestra, I felt a very strong emotion, which I experienced at the same time as the rest of the audience in the auditorium: the music, with its universal language, reached everyone present and I felt truly grateful to be among them.