When it comes to studying opera, the University of Idaho isn”t just a state destination, but a regional destination, said Christopher Pfund, a UI assistant voice professor.
“[It”s somewhere] people can come for serious opportunities – we have faculty here and wonderful voice coaches who have spent a lot of time in the opera scene.”
Pfund said UI opera students will be showcased at an opera scenes performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the University Auditorium of the Administration Building. Tickets will be sold at the door and are priced at $5 for students and seniors and $8 for adults.
Pfund said the annual performance is a compilation of scenes from various operas that are connected but a little less cohesive that a review of music theater.
“There”s a difference between producing an opera and producing opera scenes,” Pfund said. “Typically, opera scenes is a bunch of excerpts pulled from various operas and you find something to unite those scenes together.”
Pfund said last year”s opera scenes performance was centered around repertoire from the 20th century while this year”s theme will explore the concept of interdependence.
“This opera scenes we”re focusing on the concept of connectedness,” Pfund said. “The scenes are really ensemble oriented, meaning that everyone is dependent on everyone else”s part.”
One of the most prominent operas the performance features is a work by Philip Glass, which Pfund said students will perform the ending of.
“The scene we”re doing is from a ground-breaking opera called “Einstein on the Beach,”” Pfund said. “We have the organ, we have a violinist over top of that, and the last portion is this amazing love poem … it”s incredibly meaningful in a fresh and modern way.”
Pfund said Glass, an American composer, creates complicated work that is also appealing to the masses.
“A lot of people think of him as a minimalist, but I would say as far as Glass goes, he”s unique,” Pfund said. “He has a very easy language tonally – it”s the sort of music that is sophisticated, but highly listenable.”
In addition to Glass, Pfund said students will also perform a scene from opera composer Benjamin Britten, a mid 20th century composer.
“Britten”s piece is a very soft and gentle parody of the late Victorian culture and morals,” Pfund said. “That again is another huge ensemble piece where we have a town of people who gossip about how all of their kids are losing their way.”
Pfund said one of the defining characters is Opera Scenes is the music department”s focus on undergraduate students.
“We”re doing this high quality work with undergraduate students, giving them an opportunity to build their resumes,” Pfund said. “They have experiences a lot of students at big schools in the Northeast will not have.”
Above all else, Pfund said he feels the best part of this performance is the distinct uniqueness of opera as an art form.
“Opera is one of those unique art forms that requires people to put down their phones and computers,” Pfund said. “It requires people to pull out of their online world and connect in real time with one another.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CorrBond