22 at the Feria de Educación, a free college fair in Spanish on the Maple Mall and on Dec. The opera will also be performed twice on campus: Oct. at the outdoor Square at Campus Pointe (weather permitting, bring chairs or blankets to sit on - 3050 E. at the Woodward Park Regional Library (944 E. The four free, public performances of the opera in Fresno are: “This beautiful opera will educate our children, touch our hearts and illuminate our understanding of the meaning and power of gift giving.” Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, dean of Fresno State’s College of Arts and Humanities, adding that this will be the first opera that many San Joaquin Valley children experience. Radford’s brilliant fusion of opera with a traditional children’s Mexican story regarding the birth of the poinsettia flowers is both timely and exciting,” said Dr. Graduate voice student Ed Olivarez, of Visalia, will appear as optimist “Nobody” and junior voice student Christopher Rodriguez, of Bakersfield, will appear as the pessimist “Everybody.” Jordan Williams, a graduate student from Selma, is the pianist. Senior voice student Chrysanthe Pappas, of Fresno, appears as Lucinda’s mother. While the opera combines Mexican folk melodies with traditional Christmas carols sung by bilingual Fresno State students, the production is mostly sung in English with some Spanish.įresno State graduate voice and opera student Alejandra Tejeda, of Porterville, who also performs for the Fresno State Mariachi in the Music Department, sings the lead role of Lucinda. We don’t have to go into schools and be silly. Everybody can like opera, and even a 6-year-old kid can appreciate a story about love and loss. “The fun thing has been to create something new and to create something that will have meaning for them. “If you present the audience with a story in a language they understand and with a story that means something to them, they come and they consume the entertainment and enjoy it,” Radford said. Lucinda learns that it doesn’t matter what you give at Christmas, as long as you give from the heart. When she offers the gift at the altar, the weeds bloom into beautiful poinsettias. On her way to church she picks a few weeds from the side of the road as a gift and worries this might not be good enough for the nativity scene. Lucinda leaves to celebrate Christmas Eve without her mother and without a gift. Lucinda’s mother is too sick to help Lucinda finish the blanket. In this story, Lucinda and her ailing mother are making a blanket as a gift for the nativity scene at the Christmas Eve service. It’s presented mostly in English with music inspired by mariachi songs in Spanish. Mack and McGuire chose to break ground with a Mexican folk tale about poinsettias at Christmastime and the true meaning of giving. Radford said folk tales are a common operatic theme and are often based on European stories performed in foreign languages.
In 2015 he commissioned composer Mack and McGuire to write an original opera for Fresno State so the opera students could perform for the children of the Central Valley. Anthony Radford, associate professor of voice and opera in Fresno State’s Music Department where he is artistic director of Fresno State Opera Theatre and the Fresno State’s Children’s Opera. Fourteen performances are scheduled this fall.ĭr.
The production and the free performances are the result of a $10,000 grant awarded to the Fresno State Opera Theatre by the Central Valley Community Foundation to commission and produce the new children’s opera with part of the goal to reach communities that would benefit from seeing original live opera theatre. And two special-event performances on campus are set for this fall also. The production will also travel to various Fresno County schools during the Christmas season, beginning with a performance for school children Nov. Several free public performances are set beginning with the world premiere in Fresno on Nov. The 45-minute production, “Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena” by composer Evan Mack and librettist Joshua McGuire, is based on a Mexican folktale about poinsettias at Christmas time. Fresno State Opera Theatre cast members are rehearsing for an originally composed children’s opera featuring Mexican folk melodies with traditional Christmas carols that will be performed this fall for the first time.
0 kommentar(er)
