|
|
Opera performances, May 22
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Canadian Operatic Arts Academy (COAA) hits a high note this year with an expanded program and culminates with free performances consisting of 25 scenes by renowned opera composers from 1-4 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. on Saturday, May 22. The best young, budding opera singers, pianists and directors will take the stage in Western's Paul Davenport Theatre in Talbot College to perform sample scenes from some of the top operas of all time.
Held at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, COAA is an elite international program that provides singers, pianists and directors with the skills for prolific and rewarding career in the operatic profession.
Internationally acclaimed faculty from La Scala in Milan, New York, Montreal and across North America have been preparing the young singers for this performance. Since May 3, the experts provided participants with insight into the multifaceted world of opera – its preparation, performance, and business.
Topics include role preparation, performance practice, collaboration, dramatic exercises and study, audition training, promotion, management, and vocal and physical health.
“We really wanted to create a small laboratory of opera,” says COAA general and artistic director Sophie Roland, noting students see the process of how an opera is created. “This is really an academy that is focused on the process, not on the finale.
“The calibre of the singers is particularly high this year,” she notes. One of the students is a countertenor, a man who sings with a vocal range above a tenor, like a female-sounding voice.
The performances are black-box style, which will allow for some staging freedoms that are not as easily achieved in traditional opera productions.
The intensive program means faculty and students put in 13 to 15 hour days of practice. The increased number of opera experts who joined the faculty this year shows the dedication to the program, in spite of the large time commitment, she says.
“There is something more you get from working with the young singers that are so motivated,,” says Simone Luti, musical director, who is an orchestral conductor and pianist with experience in European operas. “You get to work with singers who are flexible.”
With the singers at the beginning of their opera careers, they are easily molded and eager to learn, he says.
Click here for more information about the May 22 performances.
Community Events Feed
