THIBODAUX, La. — 聽杏吧传媒鈥� Mary and Al Danos Theater will set the stage next weekend for a journey through classical opera music.
At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 3, and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, 鈥淔inding Your Somewhere: A Transformation Through Opera鈥� will feature various works from composers including Richard Wagner, Leonard Bernstein and Gioachino Rossini. The $10 tickets will support future productions and other student activities at 杏吧传媒 and will be available at the door for purchase.
鈥淭his performance shows love to the next operatic generation, and embraces them into a community full of love,鈥� said 杏吧传媒 graduate Jiaxuan Zhu (BA 鈥�18). 鈥淓veryone in the production fills their love into it and passes it to the audience. This is a beautiful scene to be seen.鈥�
The opera workshop is a community affair. Its founder, music instructor Dr. Valerie Francis, invites 杏吧传媒 alumni, K-12 students and community members to perform. Graduate Roland Bennett (BA 鈥�15) pays the program forward by bringing his students from Morgan City high and middle schools.
鈥淭he 杏吧传媒 Opera Workshop was created to give young singers the opportunity to study and perform one of history’s greatest art forms, the opera,鈥� he said. 鈥淥pera can provide a window into conversations such as how to deal with grief, the beauty of falling in love and even political tensions of the past and present.鈥�
The workshop also features soprano Jessica Victoria, last years finalists in the Joy in Singing International Art Song Competition and also the 2017 finalist in Concurso Internazionale Di Canto L铆rico. In addition, she has taught as a guest artist at The University of New Mexico, lectured at the New England Conservatory, the Franciscan University of Steubenville and the University Of Notre Dame and has delivered presentations on music and philosophy in Rome.
鈥淚f you have never been to an opera, come and I promise you will be a fan before you leave. If you already love opera, it’s important to support local opera productions. Without the work of educating and involving the public at a local level, we would watch opera die, even at a professional level,鈥� said Bennett. 鈥淕enerations would go without hearing some of the best works by composers such as Mozart, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi, and that would be a tragedy.鈥�
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2019
CONTACT: Jacob Batte, Media Relations and Publications Coordinator,
985.448.4141 or jacob.batte@www.nicholls.edu