APU Opera will be putting on its spring production, “Ariodante” by George Frideric Handel, on Feb. 26 and 28. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. both dates in Munson Chapel. No tickets will be required and the event will have open seating, which means first come, first serve. The doors open at 7:05 p.m. for anyone who wants to arrive early to find seats.
The performance will be sung in Italian, but there will be English subtitles above the stage for the audience to follow along.
A pre-lecture will begin at 6:30 p.m. before both shows in Room 116 of the Warren Music Center. Melanie Galloway, the artistic director and associate professor of vocal studies, explained that the purpose of the talk is so attendees can learn about the story and the music beforehand in order to fully understand the opera and appreciate it more.
“The pre-lectures for this show will have our costume director there, our fight combat will be there to talk a little bit about what sword fighting is, and so it’s really neat. I strongly encourage people to go,” Galloway said.
The story of this production follows two people who have fallen in love but one person’s jealousy pushes him to destroy it. Fortunately, in the end, true love triumphs. The story is set in 1735, so the costumes are very traditional. Everything is custom-designed to fit that period of time, thanks to the talented costume designer Kate Fry.
“Opera is an art form that encompasses very difficult singing, the highest level singers can do. Opera communicates the voice mostly, but there is also dance and orchestra, who supports as an equal partner. So it’s different than theater in that everything is sung, and it’s different from musical theater in that everything is sung and there’s no spoken dialogue,” Galloway said.
Mekela Tyler is a sophomore music major with an emphasis in vocal performance who will be playing the role of the princess’s best friend. She started off auditioning for a voice teacher her freshman year and met with Galloway and Edwards after her audition, who mentioned to her that she would be the perfect fit for opera. Although she never anticipated being a part of the opera program, she decided after much thought to give it try.
“After I did the opera camp, I just fell in love because it imitates human life and it allows you to be as expressive as you possibly can. Opera doesn’t want you to hold back at all, and that was an emotional release for me,” Tyler said. “Growing up, I felt hindered in that way, but I just threw myself entirely into opera, and it’s been wonderful ever since.”
The School of Music is proud to present APU Opera’s program and all the hard work that went into the preparation of “Ariodante.” There is guaranteed to be some intense sword-fighting to catch the audience’s attention.
There will be other performances by APU Opera to look forward to, but one in particular that Galloway mentioned will be coming up in April.
“Douglas Sumi, the opera music director and conductor, professor Alex Russell, head of string department, and I will be doing a concert April 9 here in Munson. It is a collaborative recital, so I’ll be singing, Douglas will be playing, Alex Russell will be playing and we also have another cellist coming in, so it will be a very neat concert and it’s all music by German composers,” Galloway said.