NEC Opera
Director: John Greer
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During Orientation Week, you meet individually with Opera Studies faculty to determine a specific course of study based on previous course work and ability. You are placed in one of three sections:
- Opera Workshop
Opera Workshop deals with the basics of stage work and with the coordination of acting and singing. Students in Opera Workshop have performance opportunities in scenes presentations and may serve as chorus in major productions. - Opera Studio
Intensive work in the fundamentals of acting/singing. Members of the Opera Studio often perform secondary roles and chorus in major productions presented by the Department. - Opera Theater
A continuation of Opera Studio with greater emphasis on performance. Members of the Opera Theater perform major roles in presentations by Opera Studies.
Although the focus is training, with an eye to the future, public performance is considered an important component of the training plan. The Opera Workshop usually presents two scenes programs each semester. The Studio and Theater concentrate on scene study in the fall, culminating in four scenes presentations in October and November through the Perkin Opera Scenes, an endowed program. Two full-length, fully staged productions with orchestra occur during the academic year. Outreach programs are also performed from time to time.
Opera Repertoire
NEC Opera Theater produces two full-scale operas and a series of opera-scenes performances each year. In the past decade, the Opera Theater has produced Bernstein Candide, Bizet Doctor Miracle, Britten Albert Herring, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Rape of Lucretia, Chadwick The Padrone, Copland The Tender Land, Donizetti Don Pasquale, Viva la mamma!, Rita Hoiby The Scarf, Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel, Ibert Angélique, Menotti The Medium, Mozart Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Nicolai The Merry Wives of Windsor, Offenbach La Périchole, Poulenc The Bosom of Tiresias, Puccini Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Rota The Italian Straw Hat, Weill The Threepenny Opera, as well as occasional special premieres of works by NEC composers.