Students at Baltimore School for the Arts will be hitting the highs — and lows — of the music scale on Thursday.
Vocal students from the BSA’s music department will perform scenes from famous operas including “Hansel and Gretel,” “Madama Butterfly,” “Porgy and Bess,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Gianni Schicchi,” “Lakme,” “The Tenderland,” “Carmen” and “Don Pasquale.” The students will perform the assortment of opera scenes singing in Italian, English and French.
“It’s a great opportunity for the students,” said Loretta Young, a voice teacher with the BSA and an organizer of the Opera Scenes project. “It’s a great way to benefit the kids’ voices and at the same time entertain. The kids have a chance to stretch their voices, and most of the scenes we are doing they may have already heard by attending opera performances.”
» Where: Baltimore School for the Arts, Shaefer Ballroom, 712 Cathedral St., Baltimore
» When: 7 p.m. Thursday
» Tickets: $5 to $10
» Info: www.bsfa.org
Many students express an interest in pursuing careers in musical theater after school, Young said. “We don’t have musical theater in our vocal department, so we’ve put elements of musical theater into the opera scenes. We’re doing some grand opera, like “Don Pasquale,” as well as some light opera, like “Porgy and Bess.” It’s a lot of fun, and a lot of work.”
But the benefits are not only musical, Young explained. “This project gives our kids a wonderful view of what it takes to be part of a team, and what it takes to be part of the opera. The consistency, the discipline, the background checking, getting into character, keeping their voices ready, being on top of things. They are learning all of these things, and they are enjoying it.”
Cindy Oxberry, stage director for the Washington National Opera’s Institute for Young Singers, assisted in staging and choreographing the students’ scenes for the second year in a row. “At the beginning, we have to sit down and see what scenes can be accessible to the voices in ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades,” Oxberry said. “We pick scenes that are good for the present voices of the students to give them the experience. My bar is high for a 17-year-old singer, and you expect them to rise to the occasion.”
The students began rehearsals in September, and this week is their last chance to rehearse before the performance on Thursday night. “We have a lot of rehearsals this week, and the students all start to step up to the plate a little more, they get a little more nervous, but it’s all part of the process,” Oxberry said. “It’s very exciting.”
