Brush up on your Italian

This past week on Wednesday the Lyric Opera Guild held the second of four At Ease With Opera programs for Madama Butterfly.  These presentations provide a range of information about the operas and are a great way to get familiar with what will be seen on stage.  This week Debra Karr, an instructor in the Italian department at the University of Kansas, presented “Andiamo all’opera” (or “Let’s Go to the Opera”), which covered the use of Italian in opera librettos and highlighted some common phases to become familiar with.  Below you can view or download the presentation and brush up on your Italian in preparation for Madama Butterfly.

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The remaining At Ease programs for Madama Butterfly are next Monday, August 27th and Monday, September 10th.  To learn more about the Lyric Opera Guild’s upcoming At Ease With Opera presentations, click here.

Lyric Opera Youth Opera Camp

The Company’s Summer Opera Camp begins next Monday, August 30th. More than 75 children will join our Education Department in learning about opera.  Read the press release announcing this years camp below.

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To learn more about programs offer by the Lyric Opera Education Department, go to the Education & Outreach section at kcopera.org or click here.

World Premiere Youth Opera – The Giver

This Saturday, January 14th at 2:00 p.m. in Rose Theatre at Rockhurst High School the Lyric Opera Education Department will be presenting the world premiere of the youth opera The Giver, based on the book, of the same name, by Lois Lowry.  The opera, directed by Susan Kander, also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Lyric Opera Education Department, which was celebrated on Sunday, January 8th.  You can read more about both events in a story in The Kansas City Star article by Patrick Neas.  Click to read the article.

Tickets to The Giver are still available.
Click here to reserve yours today!

Student Matinee Inspires Our Despina

Susanne Mentzer, Despina in the current run of Così fan tutte, has been blogging for the Huffington Post.  While in Kansas City she has been involved with a few different educational programs involving opera including the Company’s Apprentice programs and just recently student matinee rehearsal performance of Così fan tutte.  Ms. Mentzer’s latest posts talks about that recent experience and some other thoughts on arts education in general.  Read Ms. Mentzer’s latest contribution to the Huffington Post.

It is also worth noting that the Lyric Opera has a number of affordable educational and outreach programs for people of all ages.  The Company is glad to be able to offer these programs and is always looking for additional ways to be involved in the community spreading the joy of opera!

Congratulations to Honors Artists

2010-2011 Honor Artists and Benefactors. Pictured: Front Row: Caitlin Laird, Sicily Mathenia, Elizabeth Cozart Brett Cooper Back row: Dr. Michael Frost, Rasson Wofford, Mrs. Ginger Frost, Emma WitbolsFeugen, Kristen Alley, Anna Kain, Sarah Hennessey, Zachary Smith.

The Lyric Opera would like to congratulate the members of The Ginger Frost High School Honors Artists program, who recently performed their Spring Recital in Helzberg Auditorium at the Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.  The program culminated with the recital and a competition where select participants were awarded with scholarship funds.

This years members who received scholarship funds are: Emma WitbolsFeugen, Elizabeth Cozart, Sarah Hennessey and Sicily Mathenia.  Great Job!

The Ginger Frost High School Honors Artists program allows participants to receive training in diction, singing technique, acting, and audition and stage etiquette.  Schools are selected based upon strong relationships between the high school choral teacher and the Lyric Opera Education Department.

Student Production promises to Entertain and Inform

Students at St. Agnes Elementary School will perform the opera She Never Lost a Passenger by Susan Kander on March 10, 2011.  The opera tells the story of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.  St. Agnes students will be joined by two past Lyric Opera artists: soprano Roberta Gumbel and tenor Nathan Granner.

This opera is just one offering in the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Opera for Kids education program.  Opera for Kids teaches children in elementary grades about acting, creating costumes and sets, and singing.  The students have fun while learning how to work together to create a successful production.

The Lyric Opera and St. Agnes School invite you to support the hard work of these children and enjoy an opera at the same time!  The students have spent many hours preparing for this performance and are excited to show the public what they have accomplished.

Performance details are as follows:

Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
St. Agnes Gymnasium, 5130 Mission Road, Roeland Park, Kansas
Suggested good will offering for admission: $5.00 for single admission, $8.00 for family admission.

Honors Artists Earn Awards

The Lyric Opera would like to congratulate our Ginger Frost Honors Artists who participated in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Kansas City competition over the past weekend.    All of the Honors Artists scored very high in their respective divisions, and some won awards.  There were more than 300 singers in the competition.

Recognition and some applause should go to Emma Witbolsfeugen for 1st place in Division IV, which is upper high school women; Sarah Hennessey for 3rd place in Division IV; and Zachery Smith for 3rd place in Division III, upper high school men. Special thanks goes to Sylvia Stoner, who is our Honors Artists coach, and John Mueter who was the accompanist for the competition.

Photo of the Sugar Plum Fairy Luncheon courtesy The Independent

Five of the Ginger Frost Honors Artists were also mentioned in The Kansas City Star Magazine last Sunday for performing for the Sugar Plum Fairy Luncheon in December.  Those artists, featured in the photo from left to right, are Rasson Wofford, Zach Smith, Anna Kain, Elizabeth Cozart and Kristin Alley.

The Ginger Frost High School Honors Artists is a program of the Lyric Opera Education department and provides opera instruction for high school students who selected by their choral music teachers to audition for the program.  For more information call Paula Winans at (816) 471-4933 ext. 125 or contact us.

TOSCA Shepherd soloist auditions

Artistic director Ward Holmquist and director of education/children’s chorus master Paula Winans audition young soloists for Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s fall 2009 production of Puccini’s TOSCA.

Charlotte’s Web Preview: Paula’s perspective

Charlotte’s Web Preview: The Director’s Perspective

Charlotte’s Web makes it way to Kansas City for an encore round of performances this weekend at the Copaken Stage. Production director Linda Ade Brand recently gave a preview of the production from her perspective.