Paul Houghtaling, Director
2011-2012 Graduate Assistants in Opera
J. Bradley Baker, Pianist – Henderson, Texas – DMA, Coach/Assistant Conductor
Ten Yeen Chong, Pianist – Singapore – MM, Coach/Assistant Conductor
Perry Davis Harper, Tenor – Paragould, Arkansas – MM, Opera Production/Administration
Ryan Landis, Tenor – Rapid City, South Dakota – DMA, Opera Production/Administration
Amir Zaheri, Composer – Morehead, Kentucky – DMA, 2011-2012 Resident Composer
WHY COME TO ALABAMA FOR OPERA?
Click on this link to get some answers!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcOCNTGIjHI
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OPERA THEATRE NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS !
Special event …
21 AGAIN!
** The UA Opera Theatre invites you to discover the number 21′s magical musical connections at this very special event!! Saturday, January 21, 2012, 7:00-9:30 pm in the Moody Music Building lobby.
Refreshments, entertainment by UA Opera Theatre members, and a silent auction of incredible items. Come see and hear what Patsy Cline, Faust, Placido Domigo, and The Wizard of Oz all have in common!!
Tickets – $25 per person; $40 per couple.
Call 205-348-3396 for more information.
All proceeds benefit the Opera Theatre, including scholarship, curriculum, and production costs. Don’t miss this important and fun event!!!
*** December 2011 — We have advanced to the finals in the National Opera Association’s (NOA) Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition for the third year in a row. We placed second and third with scenes from La bohème and Rigoletto at NOA’s National Convention in San Antonio in January of 2011 and we will appear at the finals in Memphis on January 5, 2012 with a scene from Manon.
****** The 2011-2012 season is off to a terrific start. Our fall show Rebuild This House: The Promise of Moving Forward was a hit. It featured another another premiere by Amir Zaheri, this time a moving ensemble drama called “Look Upon These Faces.” The evening was a poignant offering to the community in the wake of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes, as well as a cathartic experience for members of the Opera Theatre.
********The UA Opera Theatre celebrated Opera American’s National Opera Week October 31 – November 2, 2011 by bringing opera workshop classes to Capstone Village Retirement Community. Members of the program enjoyed leading residents in classes in movement and improvisation and residents then served as our mock audition panel for Audition Class. Opera America was so intrigued by UA’s National Opera Week offering that they featured it in their national press release as a unique and noteworthy event.
************ In March of 2011, the UA Opera Theatre presented the world premiere of The Raven’s Revenge, a new one-act opera for men’s voices and chamber orchestra by resident composer Amir Zaheri based on a play by Jeffery Elwell. Dr. Elwell was able to join us for the final performances. We also offered the Alabama premiere of Dan Shore’s The Beautiful Bridegroom and Dan was able to be with us for a good part of the week. Click here to see an exciting promotional trailer for The Raven’s Revenge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5E0QpcGdVQ
************** We are excited about the third year of THE DRUID CITY OPERA WORKSHOP, a pre-professional training program. Click here for more information on the program and watch for news of Druid City 2012!
2011-2012 UA Opera Theatre season:
Rebuild this House! The Promise of Moving Forward
October 14, 2011 at 7:30 pm
October 16, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Choral Opera Room, Moody Music Building
The UA Opera Theatre offers a selection of scenes, songs, and arias from opera
and musical theater intended to not only lift the spirits of a tornado-ravaged
community, but to make them soar! The evening will include a new work by resident composer Amir Zaheri. An uplifting evening of theatre for the entire family, this show should not be missed!
Tickets: $10 = General Admission; $5 = students
Limited seating – early arrival suggested.
Let’s Fall in Love!
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Concert Hall, Moody Music Building
The UA Opera Theatre is thrilled to be collaborating with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra on this very special project, and is especially pleased to be a part of Maestro Adam Flatt’s first season as the newly appointed Music Director of the TSO. STAY TUNED for more details about this very cool event featuring Paul Houghtaling and the entire UA Opera Theatre Company!
Ticket information: www.tsoonline.org
Così fan tutte
In collaboration with UA’s Huxford Symphony Orchestra
March 2, 2012 at 7:30 pm
March 4 at 3:00 pm
Concert Hall, Moody Music Building
Our first production in the Concert Hall in several years, you’ll be surprised how the hall will be converted into an opera theatre. Don’t miss Mozart’s glorious score, with costumes designed by UA’s Department of Theatre and Dance. The performances will be conducted by Maestro Andy Anderson, Artistic Director of Mobile Opera.
Tickets: $20 = General Admission; $5 = students
One Night Only: An Evening of Our Pop and Broadway Favorites
April 3, 2012 at 7:30 pm – Choral Opera Room
An annual celebration of the best of Broadway, this popular event is performed in an initimate cabaret setting. Seats go fast!
Admission is free, so early arrival suggested!
Click here for past UA Opera Theatre seasons, including productions, graduate assistants, and visiting artists/instructors.
Please keep reading whether you are a potential student,
a welcomed audience member, or a Friend of the Opera Theatre
in the form of a generous donor, because …
Opera at Alabama is exciting!
Our training program includes opera as well as musical theater styles ranging from the Baroque to the 21st century. We perform Verdi and Sondheim, Monteverdi and Cole Porter, Mozart and Bernstein, side by side because we believe versatility leads to marketability. We study the art of the singer-actor, applying skills to the rehearsal process to bring music and theater to life on the stage. We offer students the tools needed to have a career in the business today and the chance to find who they are as performers. Join us in the pursuit of excellence in our craft, and start your career at the University of Alabama! The UA Opera Theatre is a comprehensive opera and musical theatre training program encompassing:
- Workshop classes appropriate to all experience levels
- Individual attention and personalized career guidance
- Aria/song audition class
- Improvisation (improvised operas on Dr. Seuss books),
- Dance, including period dances, and movement classes
- Stage combat classes
- Stage makeup classes
- Music business classes (resumes, headshots, websites, promotion and marketing)
- Technical theatre experience
- Directing experience for graduate students and upperclassmen
- Scenes, one-acts, and full productions with piano and orchestra
- Visiting artists and instructors including managers, agents, conductors
The UA Opera Theatre participated in Opera America’s NATIONAL OPERA WEEK, October 29-November7, 2010. Dress rehearsals for our production Real to Reel: Opera Goes to the Movies were free and open to the public and a free pre-performance chats was offered on opening night. CELEBRATE NATIONAL OPERA WEEK with the UA Opera Theatre in the fall of 2011!!
2011-2012 visiting artist/instructors will include (more guests TBA):
- Andy Anderson – Conductor, Mobile Opera, conductor for La bohème
- Dr. Kevin Chance – vocal coach
- Martha Wade, Wade Artist Management, New York – career consultations,
coachings, and master class - Stacy Searle Panitch - acting for singers
- Clarissa Boggess – yoga for singers
- Bradley Brookshire, harpsichordist, continuo specialist, Metropolitan Opera – coachings and continuo clinics
- John Jones, Opera Birmingham – mock auditions
- Dr. Julianne Baird – master class on baroque opera (in conjunction with the School of Music Endowed Chair Program)
2010-2011 visiting artist/instructors included:
- Dr. Kevin Chance – vocal coach
- Guy Fauchon – acting for singers
- Dr. Luvada Harrison – recitative coaching and master class; mock audition panelist
- Dr. Kristine Hurst-Wajschuk – Intro to Alexander; Performance Anxiety Workshop
- David Grindle – Executive Director, US Institute for Theatre Technology
- Wes Kenny - Conductor, Opera Fort Collins / Fort Collins Symphony – master class
- Dawn Wells Neely – acting
- Natassia Perrine – dance
- Matthew von Redlich – stage combat
Click here for photos of classes in action!
Click here for links to videos of past opera performances.