Alumni put on ‘Opera Scenes’ director hats to enhance credentials 

They were never seen on stage at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center, as more than two dozen undergraduate students were when the curtain rose on the Student Opera Theatre Association’s Opera Scenes in early March, but Fredonia alumni always had integral roles in the productions.

Five alumni, including two with undergraduate and graduate degrees from Fredonia, served as artistic or music directors in the 2020 edition of Opera Scenes.

“We often have alumni artists that have returned to Fredonia for their master’s degree or are on the faculty or staff and are involved in musical direction or stage direction of Opera Scenes,” said SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Julie Newell of the School of Music.

“It gives them an opportunity to share their skills sets in opera that they weren’t able to do while they were students, especially conducting or stage direction. It’s very difficult to secure experience in both of those leadership roles in opera because we have such an expansive program here,” added Ms. Newell, who has taught Voice at Fredonia since 1989.

She’s also a Fredonia alum, ‘82, sang in Opera Scenes as an undergraduate and has been an Opera Scenes director for nearly 30 years.

“Opera Scenes puts together a wide ranging repertoire, so it gives them opportunities that are difficult to find in other places,” Newell explained.

“Having an opportunity to serve as a stage director or music director in an operatic production of any kind provides a strong resume credential and also opens doors to other operatic production opportunities beyond Fredonia,” Newell said.

“Having an opportunity to serve as a stage director or music director in an operatic production of any kind provides a strong resume credential and also opens doors to other operatic production opportunities beyond Fredonia,” Newell said.

Collin McCrea, who received a B.M. in Music Performance, with a concentration in Voice, in 2019, was artistic director of “<o>Respawn_Object_Infinite</o>,” written by School of Music faculty Jamie Leigh Sampson and Dr. Andrew Martin Smith, with music composed by three undergraduate students Joseph Buck, Mickie Wadsworth and Sierra Wojtczack. It premiered in Opera Scenes.

Adina Martin, a graduate student in Choral Conducting who received a B.M. in Music Education at Fredonia in 2018, was music director of “L’Enfant Et Les Sortileges,” a modern fairy tale about a naughty child at bedtime.

Sai Ceng, who earned a B.M. in Music Education, 2015, and an M.M. in Music Performance, with a concentration in Instrumental Conducting, in 2017, was music director of “Carmen,” about a feminist hero whose wandering spirit will ultimately prove to be her undoing. He was joined by Mariana Bekauri, recipient of an M.M. in Music Performance at Fredonia in 2018, as artistic director.

Newell served as artistic director of “Les Mamelles de Tirésias” (“The Breasts of Tiresias”), a gender-bending, surrealist opera. Joining her music director Wayland Whitney, a graduate student in Music Performance.

Learning opportunities abound

In Sai Ceng’s view, Opera Scenes provides an incredible opportunity for everyone involved to learn about different aspects and challenges of putting together music and a stage performance.

“This is my third year of music directing and I feel like I am finally starting to establish myself as a competent conductor. Still, I have learned so much from our production of Bizet's ‘Carmen’ and discovered many more things that I must improve upon,” Mr. Ceng said.

Ceng was finishing his master’s when he conducted his first Opera Scene production. “It was an incredible educational experience as I was able to bring my technique learned from my teacher, Dr. Paula Holcomb, and apply it in a new environment. I also began to learn how I can be helpful to vocalists as a conductor, which has also improved my instrumental conducting.”

An aspiring conductor, Ceng wants to become more versatile in his field. “There are so many wonderful music genres and compositions. To be able to learn about these, and then perform with others, is incredibly fulfilling.”

What have been Ceng’s biggest takeaways from working with Opera Scenes?

“I had incredible opportunities to learn from Voice faculty members Dr. Angela Haas, and more recently, Ms. Julie Newell," Ceng noted. They taught me that the role of a conductor changes throughout the preparation of a performance. That is something I continuously think about in order to create an intelligent performance and comfortable environment for my colleagues.”

“I had incredible opportunities to learn from Voice faculty members Dr. Angela Haas, and more recently, Ms. Julie Newell, Ceng noted. "They taught me that the role of a conductor changes throughout the preparation of a performance. That is something I continuously think about in order to create an intelligent performance and comfortable environment for my colleagues.”

A Fredonia resident, Ceng is the stage manager of Buffalo Opera Unlimited.

Opportunity to premiere a new work

Collin McCrea found being a four-year cast member in Opera Scenes was a wonderful experience for every student, so he welcomed an opportunity to return. “When I was asked to direct this scene by the producer, of course I said ‘yes,’” Mr. McCrea recalled. It was uncharted territory in more than one way.

“Not only was it my first independent experience as a director, it was also a completely new scene, a world premiere,” McCrea remarked. He learned “all the practical things that go with being a director” that are not typically part of classroom instruction, such as working with the stage manager, the set and light designs and other background elements that support a production.

Performance experience that McCrea brought to Opera Scenes was gained in the Hillman Opera (“Dido and Aeneas” and “Don Giovanni”), Buffalo Opera Unlimited (“Silent Night” and “La Cenerentola”) and the Walter Gloor Mainstage Series (“Pirates of Penzance”). He’s a veteran of five Western New York Chamber Orchestra productions: “Music Man,” “Man of La Mancha,” Scenes from “Les Misérables,” “My Fair Lady” in Concert and “Amadeus: Scenes by Mozart.” McCrea has also performed at the Utah Vocal Arts Academy.

A tenor, McCrea has also been a cover for soloist with the Fredonia Chamber Choir and a soloist with Lake Junaluska Singers.

The Syracuse native is living in Buffalo, where he teaches voice at two private studios, is a section leader in the choir of Westminster Presbyterian Church and is on the lookout for new performance and directing opportunities. McCrea wants to study voice performance and pedagogy in graduate school.

McCrea’s long-term career goal? “I’d love to become a college professor,” he said.

Challenging task leads to big reward

Another Opera Scenes veteran as an undergraduate, Adina Martin was attracted to be “on the other side of things” as a music director. “Preparing music with a cast was a lot of fun, and though difficult in the beginning (Ravel is not easy to learn), it all came together well in the end,” Ms. Martin said.

Martin has been engaged in music for most of her life, beginning in elementary school when she teamed up with cousins and siblings to form a singing group, the Lyra Performers, which performed Italian folk music at festivals around Syracuse. She was also in choir, band and jazz band, as well as an accompanist for choirs in high school.

“I was in all of my high school musicals, and have been involved in operas since I was 13,” Martin said. Last year, she was the understudy for Ann in “The Astronaut’s Tale” with the Society for New Music in Syracuse, and last summer sang an aria in “Acis & Galatea” in Tel Aviv, Israel, for their Summer Opera Institute.

Even while pursuing her B.M. in Music Education at Fredonia, Martin was engaged in opera. She was on the stage crew for the Hillman Opera production of “Susannah” in 2014, was in the cast of “The Merry Widow” in 2015 and in the ensemble for the 60th anniversary Hillman Gala Concert in 2017. She was also a student conductor in the University Chorus.

Martin envisions a career to be a combination of teaching music, performing in operas and concerts and conducting. She has studied conducting under Drs. Vernon Huff and Melvin Unger and plans to complete her master’s degree in the spring of 2021.

“My biggest takeaway from Opera Scenes is how much preparation and work it takes to be a music director/conductor,” Martin reflected.

“My biggest takeaway from Opera Scenes is how much preparation and work it takes to be a music director/conductor,” Martin reflected.  “There was a lot of time on my end spent learning each role and how each vocal line interacts with the piano, and how to cue entrances in the clearest and most helpful way. Once I knew the music inside and out, the process was quite enjoyable.”

Pursuing one’s artistic vision

Opera Scenes was an opportunity Miriami Bekauri couldn’t turn down. “Carmen” is her favorite opera, and she actually performed the title role in a scene during the 60th anniversary Hillman Gala Concert in 2017, her second year of graduate study at Fredonia.

Bekauri is an active performer in Western New York, having sung with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, Buffalo Opera Unlimited, Geneva Light Opera and Finger Lakes Opera, so she brought considerable performance experience to Opera Scenes.

But outside of directing students in an undergraduate course, Mus. 213 Opera Seminar I, during her graduate study, Bekauri had little experience directing an opera.

Opera Scenes quickly changed that. Bekauri embraced the latitude to select a particular scene from her favorite opera that she knew would also be a great fit for the young voices of SOTA students.

Bekauri has appeared in many operas, but always deferred to the artistic and creative visions of directors. Now, as the director, she was able to pursue her own artistic vision to bring a scene to life. She melded all the different components together, starting with casting and then progressing to performer movements on stage and costumes to the use of props and selection of backdrops.

“I was lucky to take whatever scene in ‘Carmen’ I wanted, one that I’m very passionate about, that allowed me to put forth my best work,” Bekauri explained. “I was naturally able to come up with ideas, and didn’t hit any roadblocks. I credit part of that to the quality of the opera and the music.”

“I was lucky to take whatever scene in ‘Carmen’ I wanted, one that I’m very passionate about, that allowed me to put forth my best work,” Bekauri explained. “I was naturally able to come up with ideas, and didn’t hit any roadblocks. I credit part of that to the quality of the opera and the music.”

Bekauri’s operatic credits include: “La Cenerentola,” “The Barber of Seville,” “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” “The Magic Flute,” “Cosi fan tutte,” “Little Women,” “The Medium,” “Maria de Buenos Aires,” “Ruddigore” and “The Legend of the Fairy Melusine.” More recently, she appeared with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Western New York Chamber Orchestra as an alto soloist.

Buffalo is now home to the Geneva, N.Y., native. She is an adjunct faculty member at SUNY Buffalo State, where she teaches voice, and at a satellite campus of Houghton College, teaching music history. Bekauri’s biggest passion is in performance, and she appreciates opportunities to pursue roles in Buffalo.

In addition to her Fredonia graduate degree, Bekauri has an M.S. in Materials Science Engineering from Brown University and a B.A. in Physics and Music from Wellesley College.

Real-world experience a bonus

Wayland Whitney, a California native completing his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting, continued the tradition of the graduate assistant for orchestral conducting serving as a musical director in an Opera Scenes production. He was the Hillman Opera assistant conductor under Dr. David Rudge for two years.

With rehearsals limited to just three days, Mr. Whitney indicated Opera Scenes provides a vivid contrast to the Hillman Opera, where ensemble rehearsals are more numerous – three times a week for several months in each fall semester.

“Opera Scenes is a different sort of experience,” Whitney explained, and requires a considerable amount of improvisation and quick thinking. Whitney found directing the 12-member string ensemble at Opera Scenes to approach a “real-world experience.”

Career aspirations of Whitney, who has conducted extensively in musical theatre at the community level and also ran a youth orchestra in California for 10 years, include teaching music and directing orchestras at the college level. Whitney has a B.A. in Viola Performance from the University of California, Davis.

No finer venue than Opera House

Performers and directors of all four Opera Scenes productions gathered on three consecutive evenings to rehearse before giving three consecutive public performances.

“It’s a real perk for students to be able to have the opportunity to perform in such gorgeous facility that is intended for this kind of theatre. It’s been so beautifully restored,” Newell noted. “The Opera House space itself sets the mood for coming to the opera.”

“It’s a real perk for students to be able to have the opportunity to perform in such gorgeous facility that is intended for this kind of theatre. It’s been so beautifully restored,” Newell noted. “The Opera House space itself sets the mood for coming to the opera.”

Originally presented in Diers Recital Hall, Opera Scenes has been around for nearly as long as the Hillman Opera, which commemorated its 60th anniversary in 2017.

Staging Opera Scenes every year in the opera house adds variety to the performing arts center’s schedule, according to Executive Director Rick Davis. “I think the inclusion of a student-composed opera is definitely different, and was a big hit with audiences,” Mr. Davis added. “Also, there seemed to be an intentional focus on French composers (Poulenc, Bizet and Ravel) for the other three featured works."