In just about any major you can pursue, a college education can expose students to career fields and niches they may have never considered when applying. For a small group of music department students this semester, that exposure has been to opera performance.
Opera Workshop has been taught this semester by Anna Valcour, an adjunct professor and former opera singer. She said her goal is not only to teach the performance aspect of opera pieces, but also to debunk misconceptions about the industry and teach her students how to audition and build performance resumes.
“When we first talked about what opera is and what operas we know, very few of (the students) had seen an opera or had firsthand knowledge of it,” Valcour said. “This is a way to dip your toes in to see if you actually enjoy it.”
Heather Cunningham, a sophomore vocal performance major, transferred to Murray State this semester and took Opera Workshop. She said that as a student of classical music without acting experience, she didn’t know what to expect going into the class and was surprised by how much goes into an opera production.
“It’s definitely challenging music that I’ve never had to learn before, so I feel like, as a musician, it’s helped me grow a lot,” Cunningham said. “It’s helped me think more intuitively about how I spend my time and analyze what the composer or director wants from us … on the stage.”
Cunningham and her classmates will put their operatic skills to the test next week in the Opera Scenes Performance. The performance will include seven scenes lasting anywhere from two to 10 minutes. Valcour said each student will perform in two scenes to give everyone equal exposure to a variety of genres, compositions and languages.
Cunningham’s scenes come from two different French operatic adaptations of Cinderella, one where she sings the part of the titular character and another where she plays one of the wicked stepsisters. She said everyone in the class is excited to perform after the hard work they’ve all put in.
“(The first scene) is a very heartfelt, romantic scene when Cinderella and the prince are meeting for the first time in the courtyard,” Cunningham said. “That part is taking a lot of emotional execution I don’t normally have to do. I’m typically a more reserved person, so trying to do that was more challenging at first.”
Valcour said she has always wanted to teach an opera class because there are many things she wishes she had been taught before entering the industry.
“When I was an undergraduate as a first-generation student — which many of our students at Murray State are — there was a lot of industry knowledge as well as higher education knowledge that are very difficult to figure out,” Valcour said. “I’ve endeavored to make this course lay bare some of that knowledge for students so they can prepare for the world outside Murray State.”
The free admission Opera Scenes Performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, in the Performing Arts Hall on the second floor of the Old Fine Arts building.
