Nicholls Invites You on Musical Journey Featuring Classic Greats

THIBODAUX, La. —  Nicholls’ Mary and Al Danos Theater will set the stage next weekend for a journey through classical opera music.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 3, and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, “Finding Your Somewhere: A Transformation Through Opera” will feature various works from composers including Richard Wagner, Leonard Bernstein and Gioachino Rossini. The $10 tickets will support future productions and other student activities at Nicholls and will be available at the door for purchase.

“This performance shows love to the next operatic generation, and embraces them into a community full of love,” said Nicholls graduate Jiaxuan Zhu (BA ‘18). “Everyone in the production fills their love into it and passes it to the audience. This is a beautiful scene to be seen.”

The opera workshop is a community affair. Its founder, music instructor Dr. Valerie Francis, invites Nicholls alumni, K-12 students and community members to perform. Graduate Roland Bennett (BA ‘15) pays the program forward by bringing his students from Morgan City high and middle schools.

“The Nicholls Opera Workshop was created to give young singers the opportunity to study and perform one of history’s greatest art forms, the opera,” he said. “Opera can provide a window into conversations such as how to deal with grief, the beauty of falling in love and even political tensions of the past and present.”

The workshop also features soprano Jessica Victoria, last years finalists in the Joy in Singing International Art Song Competition and also the 2017 finalist in Concurso Internazionale Di Canto Lírico. In addition, she has taught as a guest artist at The University of New Mexico, lectured at the New England Conservatory, the Franciscan University of Steubenville and the University Of Notre Dame and has delivered presentations on music and philosophy in Rome.

“If you have never been to an opera, come and I promise you will be a fan before you leave. If you already love opera, it’s important to support local opera productions. Without the work of educating and involving the public at a local level, we would watch opera die, even at a professional level,” said Bennett. “Generations would go without hearing some of the best works by composers such as Mozart, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi, and that would be a tragedy.”

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2019

CONTACT: Jacob Batte, Media Relations and Publications Coordinator,

985.448.4141 or jacob.batte@www.nicholls.edu

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