The UM Opera Theatre will perform “An Evening of Arias” at the David H. Nutt Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. The event will be a showcase of each participating student’s solo capabilities.
Pieces chosen by students include the famous soprano aria “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and tenor piece “Una furtiva lagrima” from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. All pieces are performed in their original languages, and UM Opera Theatre will provide translations on screen so the audience can read the text in real time.
Sophomore music performance major Lucy Elfert will perform a rendition of “Deh Vieni, non tardar” from “The Marriage of Figaro,” a choice she made through personal connection and finding a piece that suits her voice and style.
“The most rewarding part is watching myself and everyone else develop through the whole process. I love seeing everyone get into their characters, and it’s just so rewarding to watch it all begin to seamlessly flow together, especially since we went from staging to performing in a pretty short time,” Elfert said.
UM Opera Theatre’s theme for their fall concert season is “Perfect Matches: A Season of Love and Laughter,” a title intended to align with the music choices in each show. The design of each season is intentionally planned around the needs of students and how they want to learn and grow when it comes to performing.
“An Evening of Arias” follows UM Opera Theatre’s successful October scenes program “The Tie that Binds: Scenes of Love and Conflict,” which featured scenes from opera, operetta and musical theater.
With three main concerts, masterclasses and workshops throughout the year, members are able to gain a wide variety of performing experience and skills to prepare them for the performing world.
During the show, each aria will be staged so that there is a lot of action and interaction taking place during each performance. This is meant to make each aria a show within a show where the students are playing scenes for each other as well as the audience.
Director of Opera Bonita Bunt and Music Director Professor Amanda Johnston guide the students through the process of learning complex music, language and acting skills.
“The biggest reward for me as the director of opera is seeing the continued growth from
each of our students,” Bunt said. “They are dedicated to their craft and inspiring in their art.”
The UM Opera Theatre hopes to give their students more opportunities to perform while also having the opportunity to come together as a performing ensemble and engage with the Oxford community.
“I’m really looking forward to our opera double feature in April. I will be playing the roles of Gasparina and Terentia, and both of those roles will be lots of fun,” Elfert said. “Both shows are pretty lighthearted, in contrast to last year’s ‘The Turn of the Screw.’ So I suppose I’m really looking forward to doing something new and playing more fun and girly characters.”
