The Youth Opera Company Of OCM Will Serenade Vermont Audiences With a Program of Songs and Opera in Spanish

The Opera Company of Middlebury's (OCM) Youth Opera Company (YOC) will present its first program as a merged organization at the end of this month. “From Spain With Love” is a semi-staged production that weaves Spanish and Latin American art song with selections from Zarzuela, the Spanish operetta genre, into a story of love lost and found in a village in 1950's Spain. Ten teen singers from Washington, Chittenden and Addison counties have been rehearsing with pianist and YOC Music Director Mary Jane Austin, collaborative guitarist Daniel Gaviria, and YOC Director Sarah Cullins since September.

Among the composers on the program are well-known Spaniards such as Fernando Obradors, Joaquin Rodrigo and Fernando Sor. The “Schubert of South America,” Argentinean composer Carlos Guastavino, is also represented, as well as Puerto Rican composer and guitarist Ernesto Cordero. Finally, audiences are sure to enjoy the spirited selections from the Zarzuelas Luisa Fernanda, Don Gil de Alcalá and El Guitarrico.

While the music will be sung in Spanish, the audience will be able to follow the story through the English script written by YOC founder Sarah Cullins, who has woven songs and ensembles that have no compositional relationship to each other into an original story of a widowed woman and her four daughters. “One of our first priorities is making sure that the selections we choose work well vocally for the specific singers who register for our programs,” says Cullins. “We don't ‘cast a show.' We write a show that works for our cast.”

This semester's cast represents 6 high schools, the homeschool community, and a university: Burlington High School (siblings Ambrose and Momo Cusick and fellow student Siena DeMink), Rice Memorial High School (Connor Trombly), Montpelier High School (Lex Leikin), U32 High School (Elsie Pawul), Stowe High School (Neve Bruno), Harwood High School (Aiden Heath), homeschooling through the Pacem School (Bea Antos-Ketcham) and Norwich University (Emma Cerruti).

For most of these singers, it has been their first experience singing in Spanish, and for all of them, it has been their first experience singing with classical guitar. First time YOC singer Aiden Heath says of the experience, “When I first started Youth Opera rehearsals, I was extremely scared to make mistakes, but I have learned that making mistakes and trying new things are the only way you'll grow and learn.” Gaviria and Cullins, who have extensive experience in this repertoire after performing for over a decade as the 8 Cuerdas Duo, have been instrumental in giving the singers confidence with this new soundscape. “Singing with guitar requires more melodic independence than with piano, which often doubles their vocal line,” explains Music Director Mary Jane Austin. “Under the guidance of Sarah and Daniel, these students have risen to the vocal and dramatic challenges that this genre demands.”

 

Performances are Thursday, November 30 at 6pm at the Waterbury Congregational Church, Friday, December 1 at 6pm at the Faith United Methodist Church in South Burlington, Sunday, December 3 at 2pm at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Middlebury, and Sunday, December 31 at 3:30pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Burlington as part of the Highlight New Year's Eve celebration. The first 3 performances don't require tickets – admission is by donation to OCM's educational programs. For tickets to Highlight events, visit https://highlight.community/. For more information, visit www.ocmvermont.org.

Photo Credit: Jill Diemer

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