SHSU school of music premiers “The Marriage of Figaro”

The Sam Houston State University’s School of Music opera workshop will put on an opera for the first time during the summer on August 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center, free of charge.

The opera workshop is a performing ensemble in the School of Music, comprised of vocal performance students and voice students who are interested in working on their performance skills.

“This is the first summer we have done this, and it was a project that was the brainchild of a few students who wanted to learn the opera,” Rebecca Grimes, School of Music opera director, said.

They produce two main stage shows each academic year.

The opera they will be performing is The Marriage of Figaro written by Mozart in 1786. According to Grimes, several cuts were made to the opera but they will be supplementing the action with a narrator.

According to Grimes the plot centers around Figaro and his fiancé Susanna, who are servants in the house of Count Almaviva. Figaro and Susanna must get married before Almaviva steals Susanna for himself.

Ten students from the School of Music will be performing in the opera
The ten students were assigned roles in May, but rehearsals started on Saturday. The students will be in rehearsal for about three weeks.

The 2011 SHSU opera workshop was selected as a finalist for the National Opera Scenes Competition, and was invited to perform at the 2012 NOA convention in Memphis, Tenn.

Alumni of the opera workshop have gone onto attend the top conservatories and music schools in the U.S. and Europe such as the New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music and Rice University.

The performance in August is a comic opera in four acts and is expected to last about three hours.