By Sarah McMillin, Staff writer
The music department will host an opera performance on April 6 and April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Stretansky Concert Hall.
Students will perform scenes from Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu’s “Ariane,” French composer Darius Milhaud’s “The Abandonment of Ariane” and German-British composer George Fredric Handel’s “Arianna in Creta.”
All of the operas to be performed involve Greek mythology, specifically involving Ariadne, the Minotaur and Theseus.
The first two operas, “Ariane” and “The Abandonment of Ariane,” are performed in English. The final piece, “Arianna in Creta,” is performed in Italian. Translations and context for the final piece will be provided.
For first-year Katie Ericson, the opera performance will be her first time on stage since coming to college.
“This is the first show that I’ve been able to be involved in,” Ericson said. “Just being on stage in that context is something that I really missed.”
First-year Erin Markham said she is excited to see how all parts of the performance will come together.
“The lighting, sets and costumes look fantastic,” Markham said. “The vocal quality of this is amazing and everybody who has a part in it does it exceedingly well.” “I think the audience is going to be in for a treat,” Markham said.
First-year Naomi Cohen is more involved than the average student: not only is she in all three acts of the opera, but is also in charge of costuming everyone involved.
Most of the costumes for the opera are being rented from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Even though most of the actors only have one costume, Cohen still has to make sure they have shoes, hats, armor and many other articles of clothing.
“It’s a long multi-step process,” Cohen said. “[But] we’re all there for each other.”
The opera is being directed by associate professor of music David Steinau and much of the blocking and choreography was developed by adjunct professor of theater Aaron White.
The previous opera scenes performance took place in April 2016 and was supervised by mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler.
Other upcoming performances from the music department include the student composers concert on April 10, the University Choir and Chamber Singers concert on April 13, the University Chorale concert on April 14 and senior Dylan Little’s final recital on April 21.
All mentioned concerts will take place in Stretansky Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m.
