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Saint Xavier University’s Music Department is hosting the 2015 Opera Workshop production on Thursday, April 16 at 4pm and Saturday, April 18 at 7:30pm in McGuire Hall.
The production will include scenes from four popular operas: Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” Jules Massenet’s “Werther,” Charles Gounod’s “Faust,” and Carl Maria von Weber’s “Der Freischütz” (The Free Shooter).
Dr. Jan Bickel, the director of Vocal Studies at SXU, is the artistic director who is responsible for the production’s musical and theatrical direction.
Her responsibilities include: teaching the music to the performers, building the sets, securing costumes, and staging the scenes.
Monica Kropidlowski, adjunct professor of piano, will accompany all scenes of the production on keyboard.
Performers include senior voice major, Nicole Henderson; senior communication sciences and disorders major, Yekaterina Neboka; senior music education and vocal performance major, Katherine Heffron; junior vocal performance major, Connor Mohrenweiser; junior vocal performance major, Kevin Christensen; and junior vocal performance major, Sean Rhead.
According to Bickel, undergraduate students often do not get the chance to sing leading opera roles on stage.
“It is amazing to see undergraduate students singing leading roles from an opera on the stage – at many large universities, undergraduate students are only allowed to be in the chorus. At SXU, they are singing the leading and supporting roles, so it is a great experience for them, and I think their student friends will be amazed to see them in a way they have not seen them before,” said Bickel.
The undergraduate students who will be performing in the production began rehearsing since classes began in January 2015. The class meets to rehearse for two and a half hours every Tuesday and Thursday.
“This is a ‘class’ for vocal majors and minors, and thus, I had a goal that they would have the opportunity to sing in multiple styles and periods of music so they would learn stylistic differences in the music and acting. They have really worked hard to understand these differences and practiced well to make the changes for each individual scene,” said Bickel.
Also performing in the production is Saint Xavier music department alumna Michelle Gliottoni-Rodriguez, who will be singing the roles of Susanna in “The Marriage of Figaro,” Sophie in “Werther,” Marguerite in “Faust,” and Aennchen in “Der Freischütz.”
Gliottoni-Rodriguez is a singer and a published author of twelve novels. While most of the scenes will be sung in English, the scene from “Werther” will be sung in French. However, the English translation, which was prepared by Bickel, will be projected while the scene is being performed.
Bickel has also prepared a narration for each opera to help the audience better understand the storylines.
Admission is free for SXU students, faculty, and staff, as well as prospective music majors and their parents. General admission is $3 on Thursday, April 16 and on Saturday, April 18, general admission is $6 and admission for seniors and military service members is $5.
According to Dr. Bickel, the opera production workshop is not just for music majors, but instead for anyone who enjoys music and theater. She encourages everyone to attend the production that she and her students have been working so hard to prepare.
“This will be a very enjoyable experience for everyone who attends. The emotional content of the scenes will run the gamut from silly to profound and everything in between,” said Bickel.
Not only will this be a memorable experience for the performers, audience members too can experience opera and feel its power firsthand. The workshop will be a unique and fantastic experience that the Saint Xavier University students, staff, and faculty will not want to miss.
“Opera allows the audience member to leave the ‘real’ world and enter the suspended reality of theatre for a while – it stimulates the imagination and allows for a very exciting and stimulating experience. I hope everyone will come and enjoy the fruits of our labors!” said Bickel.
Yasmeen Abdellatif
News Correspondent
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