Monday, April 9, 2018

2018 Opera Scenes: An Evening of Menotti

Ashland University Department of Music presents two evenings of opera scenes on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14 which will feature the theatrical operas of Gian Carlo Menotti. The nightly 7:30 p.m. performances will be held in the intimate Studio Theatre at Ashland University, and are free and open to the public.

The performances will present scenes from four of Menotti's operas including The Old Maid and the Thief, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Medium and The Consul. Complete with theatrical staging, the scenes will include lighting design by Seth Morrison, costume design by Justin Bilewicz and Drew Berlin, while Kendra Garver is the properties master.

Under the direction of Sandra Ross and accompaniment by pianist Deb Logan, this annual event features vocal performances from student singers. This year's female cast includes Samantha Eron (Brighton, MI), Gracie Fumic (Avon), Kendra Garver (Shreve), Mia Kardotzke (Clyde), Maya Rickard (Wooster), Anna Rivero (Ashland), and Rebecca Young (Sherwood, Oregon). Male singers include Cory Turpin (Ashland) and Drew Berlin (Barberton).

Equally at home on both operatic and musical theater stages, Ms. Ross has performed with Cincinnati Opera, Cleveland Opera, Central City Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Opera North, Sorg Opera and nine seasons with the Ohio Light Opera. Some of her favorite roles have been Orlovsky, Carmen and Cherubino. In Hamburg, Germany Ms. Ross appeared for 2 years as Madame Giry in Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera. A frequent concert soloist Ms. Ross has performed works including Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings Symphony, under the direction of the composer, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Beethovens’s Missa Solemnis, Prokofieff's Alexander Nevsky, Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Mass in Bflat Major, Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria, with organizations including the orchestras of Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Ashland, Toledo and Youngstown. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio Ms. Ross holds a bachelors degree from Heidelberg University and a masters degree from the New England Conservatory where she studied with the renowned Ed Zambara.

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