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Cal U Music Department To
Perform Baroque Opera Dido and Aeneas November 16-18 in Old Main
Chapel, 8 p.m. Nightly
CALIFORNIA, Pa. (October
26, 2004)…The diverse talents of California University of
Pennsylvania’s students and faculty will come together in
the school’s first-ever production and performance of an Opera.
From November 16 through
November 18, California University’s music department will
perform the Baroque Opera, Dido and Aeneas, in the Chapel-Theatre
on the second floor of Old Main Hall (under the clock tower). All
three performances will begin at 8 p.m. and, in efficient Baroque
style, is finished in an hour. Admission is free to students
with their Cal Card. Tickets for the General Public are $5.
The Cal U community and general public are welcome. For more
information, contact the Cal U music department at 724-938-4242.
The opera was written
in 1689 by the English composer Henry Purcell, to an English text.
The story is a small sub-plot taken from Virgil’s epic, The
Aenead.
The chorus is used throughout the opera to comment on the action
and to heighten the drama, as in Greek drama. The University’s
audition choral group, the California Singers will be the chorus.
Though the story of the opera is a tragic one, Purcell did not forget
to lighten the mood in two scenes, offering for the enjoyment of
his audeiences some comic relief in the form of sorceress and witches,
with their minions, plotting mischief.
The Cal U music department, and specifically the Opera Form and
Analysis class, are responsible for all aspects of this Opera, with
faculty member Dr. Ellen Michael as music and chorus director. Dr.
Yugo Ikach, newly hired assistant professor of music, is the stage
director and Katherine Sacco, music department adjunct instructor
of keyboard, will be at the harpsichord. Faculty member William
O’Donnell from the Theater Department is giving help and advice
with technical aspects such as lighting, and the Theatre department
will contribute some costumes to the production. Faculty from the
Art Department have also helped, offering assistance and advice
in this unique collaboration.
Opera class members are doing the staging, lighting, props and ticket
sales. There will also be a small professional orchestra of strings
and percussion. Solo roles in the opera will be performed
by Cal U students, with one role – the sorceress –being
sung by Lisa Brovey-Kovach, the music department’s adjunct
instructor of voice.
"We are obviously
very excited about being able to entertain the campus and local
community with this classic Opera," said Michael. "Many
people have worked very hard in this production and I think it has
been a great learning experience for our students. They are understandably
anxious to see the results of their efforts in the actual performances."
Student soloists include
Dido……………….Lauren
Keefer
Aeneas…………….(double
cast) Evan Johnson and Jacob Hagen
Belinda……………Kelly
Damico
Second Lady………(Double
Cast) Jade Lewis and Jessica Long
Sorceress………….Lisa Brovey-Kovach
First Witch………..Karen
Dorohovich
Second Witch…….Susan Singley
Sailor……………..Michael Karmazin
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