Revamped Opera Program Announces 2011-12 Season
In an unprecedented collaboration with Wolf Trap Opera Company, Shenandoah Conservatory will present Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s comic opera “Le Donne Curiose” (“The Curious Women”).
In April 2011, Shenandoah Conservatory presented Puccini's “Gianni Schicchi.”
Shenandoah Conservatory Dean Michael Stepniak has announced a new opera initiative, launching in the 2011-12 season. As the newly-appointed coordinators of opera activities, Assistant Professor of Voice Byron Jones and Associate Professor of Voice Michael Forest have been working with Associate Professor of Theatre Will Ingham, Associate Professor of Music Jan Wagner, Professor of Music Karen Keating and Managing Director Kendra Ingram to help create and implement a shared vision for a rich opera season. Key to the new season is a variety of premier performance opportunities for students, including significant opportunities for conservatory voice students to engage with distinguished opera stars.
A fully-staged opera production with full orchestra will be presented in the fall semester. In an unprecedented collaboration with Wolf Trap Opera Company, Shenandoah Conservatory will present Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s comic opera “Le Donne Curiose” (“The Curious Women”). New York-based director Pat Diamond will serve as stage director, and Maestro Wagner is the music director. Diamond, who has quickly developed a national reputation as a visionary stage director, is currently directing the work at Wolf Trap. Shenandoah University has also arranged for the purchase of the set designed for the Wolf Trap production. The work will be sung in Italian with projected English subtitles.
Coming off the heels of three artistically successful and sold-out performances of “Opera Up Close” in spring 2011, the conservatory will continue the “Opera Up Close” format in Shingleton Dance Space next spring. Acclaimed New York City Opera soprano Lauren Flanigan will serve as creative director of a double-bill production she is calling “Creating the Dramatic Character.” The production will feature two contemporary chamber works: “Fables” by Ned Rorem, based on the fables of Jean de la Fontaine, and “Vinkensport” (“The Finch Opera”) by David T. Little with libretto by Royce Vavrek. Flanigan, known across the nation for both her singing and exceptional dramatic acting skills, will work with Shenandoah students on character development and ensemble work.
These two productions will be supplemented with the opera workshop class and several masterclasses with visiting guest artists. “This commitment to opera at Shenandoah Conservatory will enrich the training of our vocal students and advance our profile as an institution committed to artistic excellence,” said Dr. Stepniak.