The Sam Houston School of Music is putting together an Opera Workshop October 19-20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall.
The Opera Workshop is a seminar where students can learn the vital skills needed for performing onstage and in front of an audience.
Comprised of two sections, the Opera Workshop and the Opera Players, the Workshop presents a variety of opera scenes, one-act operas and full length operas.
“It was a lot of fun, hard work, but it’s going to be really funny,” Vocal major Tim Qualls said.
Placement in either of these sections is determined by an audition, as well as the student’s experience. The Workshop’s promise is to enhance the students’ knowledge of repertoire while giving them an enjoyable environment in which to perform.
“It brought us closer together, not only as a family but musically as well,” Qualls said.
This semester’s Opera Workshop will be a production of Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, put together by Dawn Padula, Assistant Professor of Voice and Director of Opera Workshop.
In the past years, students’ productions included Carlo Mennoti’s one-act opera, The Old Maid and the Thief, Edwin Penhorwood’s, Too Many Sopranos, last year’s “Ode to Opera,” which included scenes inspired by works of William Shakespeare, and a multitude of other programs which include scenes and arias from opera’s most famous works. Last February, the Opera Players produced an opera that featured scenes of mythology and fairytale.
Any student interested in these performances or future performances can contact the School of Music at (936) 294-1360. Auditions are held at the beginning of each semester.