2008 Woodie Awards
Music department prepares students for opera simulcast
Laura DeNigris
Issue date: 9/20/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The Washington National Opera will be presenting its third annual live simulcast on Sunday, September 23 to 31 universities, colleges and high schools around the country.
Some of the colleges participating in the program, in addition to Union, include: Brown University, New York University, Princeton University, Virginia Tech, and Wellesley College.
The performance, La Boheme, from acclaimed Polish director Mariusz Trelinski, is a modern-day opera about a group of artists struggling to discover their sense of belonging and identity in a technologically-developed society.
In preparation of the simulcast of La Boheme, the music department has paid special attention to courses containing curriculum about opera. For example, students in Music 213 ("Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven") and AMU 061 ("From Beethoven to Bernstein") will be conducting an in-depth study of opera.
Music Professor Dianne McMullen described these classes as students "acting out the entire opera at Emerson Recital Hall." She commented that, "I assigned parts, and then we acted it out on stage. It was great fun!"
As Joey Hunziker,'08, who is enrolled in a class on Baroque music, explained, "[La Boheme] is a particularly interesting choice, because many people may already know much of the story…[as] they have seen or heard the popular musical, Rent. Jonathan Larson based his musical on the original libretto of La Boheme, and many of the story-lines and characters are very similar, if not exact."
Hunziker learned all about the opera in his class, which covers the creation of the opera as an art form and some of the major composers of the Baroque era up to the Classical/Viennese era. Some of the musicians Hunziker studied in this class include Pero, Monteverdi, Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, and, of course, Puccini.
Hunziker commented that, "The course was a great way of exposing students to opera on an intellectual and creative level-music is a constant parallel to the range of human emotions, and the music in opera illustrates that connection with clarity and creativity."
"I had never appreciated opera before, mostly because I barely knew anything about it, and I had never been exposed to it, but the course changed that. I think that the simulcast of La Boheme is a great opportunity for the Union community, as a whole, to be exposed to opera," Hunziker continued.
McMullen excitedly highlighted Union's new Emerson Recital Hall. She said, "Union's Emerson Recital Hall has the latest technology, making it easy for Washington National Opera to broadcast Puccini's opera here. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to cooperate with Washington Nation Opera."
"This will be the first time many people in the Capital District Area might visit our building. I am sure that they will enjoy watching the opera in our comfortable and technologically up-to-date hall," McMullen proclaimed.
Some of the colleges participating in the program, in addition to Union, include: Brown University, New York University, Princeton University, Virginia Tech, and Wellesley College.
The performance, La Boheme, from acclaimed Polish director Mariusz Trelinski, is a modern-day opera about a group of artists struggling to discover their sense of belonging and identity in a technologically-developed society.
In preparation of the simulcast of La Boheme, the music department has paid special attention to courses containing curriculum about opera. For example, students in Music 213 ("Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven") and AMU 061 ("From Beethoven to Bernstein") will be conducting an in-depth study of opera.
Music Professor Dianne McMullen described these classes as students "acting out the entire opera at Emerson Recital Hall." She commented that, "I assigned parts, and then we acted it out on stage. It was great fun!"
As Joey Hunziker,'08, who is enrolled in a class on Baroque music, explained, "[La Boheme] is a particularly interesting choice, because many people may already know much of the story…[as] they have seen or heard the popular musical, Rent. Jonathan Larson based his musical on the original libretto of La Boheme, and many of the story-lines and characters are very similar, if not exact."
Hunziker learned all about the opera in his class, which covers the creation of the opera as an art form and some of the major composers of the Baroque era up to the Classical/Viennese era. Some of the musicians Hunziker studied in this class include Pero, Monteverdi, Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, and, of course, Puccini.
Hunziker commented that, "The course was a great way of exposing students to opera on an intellectual and creative level-music is a constant parallel to the range of human emotions, and the music in opera illustrates that connection with clarity and creativity."
"I had never appreciated opera before, mostly because I barely knew anything about it, and I had never been exposed to it, but the course changed that. I think that the simulcast of La Boheme is a great opportunity for the Union community, as a whole, to be exposed to opera," Hunziker continued.
McMullen excitedly highlighted Union's new Emerson Recital Hall. She said, "Union's Emerson Recital Hall has the latest technology, making it easy for Washington National Opera to broadcast Puccini's opera here. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to cooperate with Washington Nation Opera."
"This will be the first time many people in the Capital District Area might visit our building. I am sure that they will enjoy watching the opera in our comfortable and technologically up-to-date hall," McMullen proclaimed.
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