BLOPERA COMES TO SHSU!
Definition of Blopera:
(Noun) – A web log about opera at SHSU
If you had told me 20 years ago that I would be an opera
director working for my alma mater, Sam Houston State University, I would have
laughed. Out loud. In your face.
After all, I was a freshly minted accountant looking to wear a power
suit and prove myself in some firm in downtown Houston. But like most musicians, I couldn’t turn my
back on this innate sense that no matter what I did, music was still a passion
of mine…you might even say it was a calling.
In 1993, I didn’t know what I would do with my musical training, but I
had an inkling that I wouldn’t be using it in the auditing department of a
major oil and gas firm. Luckily, other
people thought I had something to offer in music, and fast forward to 2012,
here I am at SHSU working to prove that opera is worth being passionate about.
Now, opera is a unique medium, and I will freely admit that
most normal individuals are not immediately drawn to the art form. (Large people screaming at you in a foreign
language? Who thought that was a
good idea?) But when you spend a little
time with the music, and the people who create it, you will understand that
opera is more than the prima donnas, the costumes, and the grand spectacle that
is the cartoon stereotype that plagues opera in today’s society. In its simplest form, opera is a collection
of human stories that are beautifully sung.
Period. And that is what I hope
people come away with when they attend an opera performance at SHSU.
There are over 400 music majors at SHSU, with about 100 of
them studying voice in a given semester.
As you can imagine, there is a lot of music being made in these two
buildings, and our students and faculty work hard to create this very musically
dynamic environment. Our opera students
come to SHSU with an innate sense of musicality, and they approach music-making
with a team mentality. (Isn’t that the
most basic requirement of putting on an opera?
Everyone works together to create something greater than themselves?) And in case you were wondering, the voice
teachers at SHSU are phenomenal - the level of student singing here reflects
that. I have opera students who are 20
years old and can tackle music that most graduate students would be intimidated
to sing – and they sing with beauty and grace and enthusiasm. But what’s most important about the opera
singers at SHSU is that even though they may not have every advantage in the
world, they will work harder than anyone I know to be the best they can be. At SHSU, that’s called having the heart of a
Bearkat – and I see that every day in my students, and in the colleagues with
whom I work. (See http://www.shsu.edu/~pin_www/T@S/2004/BearkatFacts1004.html
for more information on Bearkats). I am
humbled every time I get a chance to work with these young singers, and I thank
my lucky stars that SHSU was willing to take a chance on me in 2010.
When the SHSU School of Music decided to redesign its
website, a colleague of mine suggested having a blog on the opera website. So here it is – a chance to let readers
experience SHSU Opera from the perspective of those who create it – the
students. And yes, we are calling it
“Blopera”. (Get it? Blogging about opera? Funny…right?)
With any luck, these periodic “blops” will feature students (and maybe
even former students) reflecting on their experiences with the SHSU Opera
program and life as an aspiring singer. In
writing this inaugural “blop”, I hope it will be one of many that will help
others experience what it means to be an opera singer at SHSU, written by those
who are putting their hearts and souls into becoming opera singers. I also hope that in reading some of these
students’ stories, you will be as inspired and uplifted as I have been over the
past two years.
So blop on, my children…blop on…
(Pictured is the author in the middle of tech week. Notice how she does not have to do anyone's taxes.)
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