Opera Workshop To Present Opera Scenes

Opera Workshop director Jenni Cook works with Melody Chapin

The UNH Opera Workshop presents scenes from von Weber’s “Der Freischütz”, Puccini’s “La Rondine” and Barber’s “A Hand of Bridge” on Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14 in the Bratton Recital Hall of the Paul Creative Arts Center on the Durham campus and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited.

Jenni Cook is directing the program this semester while David Ripley enjoys a sabbatical. When asked about the UNH Opera Workshop program, she indicated it provides opportunities to expose students to the opera genre in a small setting conducive to young voices. This type of program was an important stepping stone in Dr. Cook’s own undergraduate education, and she is excited to share her knowledge and experiences with the students. Her experience also includes graduate study and fully staged opera productions at the University of Illinois and at small theaters in Europe.

The opera scenes are hand-picked to best suit the singers involved. There were informational meetings and vocal range checks done in the spring. She wanted to choose works that included enough “ensemble” opportunities where everyone could participate, in addition to “solo interaction” which is an integral part of the “on-stage experience” of opera. The scenes were chosen and students were cast in time to pre-register for the course. Students signed a contract promising to learn the music over the summer. By learning the notes and rhythms before classes began in August, the students are able to spend more time learning how to be more comfortable in acting situations—how to move while singing; how to sing out and present to the audience; how not to upstage the other singers. Additionally, they had more time to work on character development. Cook included writing assignments on character analysis as well as writing their personal biographies for the printed program.

When asked why she chose to prepare opera scenes rather than to stage a full opera, Cook pointed to the practicality of keeping things “small.” First and foremost is working on a “shoestring budget.” With limited funds, the students have really come together to solve costuming and scenery problems. In addition, students have learned many of the tasks of a stage manager. For example, they created PowerPoint slides to use as supertitles (translations screened above—but in this case, to the side of the performers rather than printed in a program, or “libretto”), and will project these during the performance. Working with a piano accompanist alone has also given the performers a larger “leadership role,” as Cook deems herself a “behind the scenes kind of gal.” No one is directing the action or music. This became most challenging during the Puccini which uses the musical tool of “rubato”—the give and take with the musical time. Singers and accompanist learned to listen and respond to each other. All of this knowledge becomes useful for our Music Education majors to take with them for their “High School Musical” endeavors, as well as for those that intend to perform after graduation.

Dr. Cook has really enjoyed working with the students, and was very impressed with how well prepared they were at the beginning of the semester. However, she confesses that the Opera Workshop program is a “big endeavor,” and is “ready to pass the reigns back to David Ripley!” For more information on how to get involved with the Opera Workshop program, contact David Ripley at david.ripley@unh.edu.

Left to Right

David Lamb, Jane Labriola, Jenni Cook, Zoe Jost, Danah Hashem, Julia Steinberg