The Santa Fe Opera's Apprentice program takes its show on the road with performances in 15 communities throughout New Mexico, Colorado and Texas on its annual Spring Opera Tour. Beginning April 4 in Las Vegas and ending in El Paso on May 15, two up-and–coming singers will offer public concerts as well as daytime performances for students in tour cities. The concerts are free and everyone is welcome.
"There is no better way to learn about the southwest than spending a month on the road in a van, performing for audiences, and eating on the run. That's what our apprentice singers tell us after returning from the annual Spring Opera Tour," said General Director Richard Gaddes. "They are filled with enthusiasm for the wonderful audiences, both young and old, for whom they have performed, and for the magnificent landscapes they have seen. It is a pleasure for The Santa Fe Opera to share the talents of these young performers in communities throughout the southwest," he concluded.
The public concerts will feature soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine and baritone Andrew Darling. On the first part of the concert program they will perform Susanna and Figaro's first act duet from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Gian Carlo Menotti's short operetta, The Telephone. The second half of the program is comprised of arias and songs by American composers including Aaron Copland and George and Ira Gershwin.
The daytime performances for students will be an adaptation of Menotti's The Telephone. The plot centers on a young man whose attempts to propose marriage are thwarted by endless interruptions from the telephone. In adapting the piece for the tour, director Kathleen Clawson has set it during a rehearsal for The Marriage of Figaro with Ben and Lucy as opera singers who are portraying Figaro and Susanna. During a break in the rehearsal, the action moves into The Telephone.
Ms. Guarrine and Mr. Darling will be members of the Apprentice Program this summer. Ms Guarrine was a member of the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program where she sang Veronique in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri's Hotel Casablanca. As a resident artist with the Minnesota Opera she performed Rose in Lakme, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, and returned during the current season for the American premiere of Reinhard Keiser's The Fortunes of King Croesus. Mr. Darling, a graduate of Indiana University, served as a resident artist with the Palm Beach Opera where he performed Haly and Taddeo in The Italian Girl in Algiers and Prince Yamadori in Madame Butterfly.
Kirt Pavitt begins his twelfth year as Music Director and Pianist for the Spring Tour. His ability for assembling interesting programs well-tailored to each year's artists ensures varied, informative and friendly concerts. Pavitt believes that in presenting music which is appealing to a large cross-section of audiences, programs should look neither up nor down at those who return year after year to these concerts but be entertaining and beautiful. Pavitt takes pride that after many years, the tour is welcomed each season in as many towns and cities it is possible to visit. -- www.santafeopera.org
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