OSU music department presents opera
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Tickets are $7 general admission and $5 for students and will be sold at the door.
“It’s been a dream of mine to put on a full-scale production since I arrived at OSU six years ago,” said April Golliver, assistant professor of voice and the opera’s director. “This will provide wonderful experience for students and marks a turning point in the program.”
OSU students, including Karalee Terry in the lead role of Sister Angelica, comprise the 16-member cast and accompanying orchestra.
Terry said the opera will showcase the music department’s classically trained vocal performers, which sets it apart from other OSU musicals and theatrical productions.
“Musicals are great for some people, but opera is what I love and what I have been trained in,” Terry said. “This opera will give me valuable experience and marks the first time I will sing with a full orchestra.”
Terry said singing with the orchestra presents challenges for balance, since there are 47 instruments to her one voice.
Golliver added, “Traditionally, operas do not use microphones, and we are applying that convention to our performance.”
Terry will perform the lead role Saturday night, and a guest vocalist, Carolina Alvarado,
a University of Houston graduate, will perform Friday. Golliver said the role of
Angelica is typically performed by singers older than Terry.
“She has a great voice and is able to play her part with experience beyond her years,”
Golliver said. “I am pleased that we can showcase one of our own singers in such
an integral role.”
“Suor Angelica” is a one-act opera by Giacomo Puccini. It is set in the late 17th
century in a convent near Siena where the heroine has been sent by her family following
the birth of her illegitimate son.
“My goal is to grow OSU’s opera program and attract even more wonderful singers,
and I think this step from opera scenes to a full-scale production is a huge stride
for the program,” Golliver said.