The Allegheny Chamber Singers will perform their annual Opera Scenes program on Saturday, April 29, at 7 p.m., in Ford Chapel. The ensemble includes 10 Allegheny students, and is co-directed by Vicki Jamison and Carol Niblock.
Jamison started the program in 1987, with the first concert in 1988 consisting mainly of solos. “I wanted my students to discover for themselves that opera is the marriage of challenging and beautiful music and drama that is accessible and enjoyable to performer and audience alike,” Jamison said. “I wanted to introduce them to a musical product that for the most part was totally unknown to them.”
The program became a registered course at Allegheny in 2000 that offered students a single credit. In the fall, members present duets, trios, and group numbers from art song and oratorio repertoire, and in the spring they present opera scenes. Vicki Jamison has been the vocal director with Ward Jamison as the accompanist since the group’s formation, and in 2014 Carol Niblock joined as a co-vocal director.
This year’s Chamber Singers group includes Letitia Campo, Brennen French, Ashley Mulrayan, Kyle Donnellly, Louis Fehér-Peiker, Daniel Keitel, Troy Dinga, Morgan Hazzard, Lauren Ottaviani, and Noah Dawgiello. The concert will begin and end with the ensemble performing as an entire group, singing “Hier die Buden, dort die Schenke” from “Martha” by Friedrich von Flotow, and “The Best of All Possible Worlds” from “Candide” by Leonard Bernstein.
The rest of the pieces are duets or trios: “Cinque … dieci” and “Crudel perque finora” from “Le Nozze di Figaro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; “We are Warriors Three” from “Princess Ida” by Arthur Sullivan; “Per queste tue manine” from “Don Giovanni” by Mozart; “Schelm, halt fest” from “Der Freischütz” by Carl Maria von Weber; and “Alle prove venga avanti” from “Il Turco in Italia” by Gioachino Rossini.
Guest director Jessica Sakal is this year’s stage director, and Ward Jamison will accompany the singers.
The performance is free and open to the public, and balcony seating is available.