Over one hundred students received their bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music on Thursday, May 9. Taking place in Hodgson Hall of the UGA Performing Arts Center, the graduation convocation ceremony was honored by guest speakers Alan Dorsey, Dean of Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Michael F. Adams, President of the University of Georgia.

UGA students receive their seat assignments prior to the ceremony

Students amass in the HHSOM lobby awaiting the procession

Graduates convene in Hodgson Hall

Dr. Dale Monson, Director of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, delivers opening remarks

Emily Roberts (flute) and Leah Craft (oboe, not pictured) performed the opening musical selection. Other performers included sopranos Addie Hamilton and Megan Gillis (accompanied by Peyson Moss), and Benjamin Rollings, piano (MM Performance)

Dean Dorsey delivered greetings from Franklin College

President Adams just prior to delivering his commencement address

President Adams is named an honorary member of the Redcoat Marching Band!

HHSOM Musicology faculty pose with their students one last time

Knox Summerour on “American Idol”

Even though school isn’t in session, there’s still plenty of news filtering out of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music! Here are a few things that have been going on here:

•  If you’re not in Athens, you can still catch a performance by UGA Jazz instructor David D’Angelo.  D’Angelo will be featured in the national tour of the Broadway show Sister Act, and will follow the production to Dallas, Tempe, San Diego, and Costa Mesa!

• Congratulations to Erik Forst, who was recently appointed Chair of Percussion at Messiah College in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania! Forst, completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance, is a student of UGA professor Timothy Adams, Jr.

• The Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance program, a New York-based performance organization for young opera singers, will feature UGA graduate student Joseph Michael Brent in Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.  Brent, a student under Frederick Burchinal, was selected from over 400 auditioned singers for the role.

• Finally, Hodgson School alumni have been featured on nationwide television recently. David Nelson, a UGA-educated trombone player, appeared on the May 11 episode of Saturday Night Live, performing in the horn section for the band Vampire Weekend. Sharp-eyed American Idol fans may have noticed trumpeter and HHSOM alumnus Knox Summerour, who has a recurring role as a backing musician on the program. American Idol‘s season finale is Thursday, May 23 at 8pm/7ct on the FOX Network.

UGA President Dr. Michael Adams

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music is greatly honored to announce University of Georgia President Dr. Michael Adams as its 2013 Graduation Convocation and Awards Ceremony speaker.

Adams, who was named the 21st President of UGA in 1997, will be retiring from the presidency this summer after 16 years of outstanding service.  He will remain with the university as a teacher and writer, and the Hodgson School Community is deeply grateful to have him with us on this very special day.

The event, which takes place on Thursday, May 9, at 7 p.m. in Hodgson Hall, will also feature comments by Dean of the Franklin College Dr. Alan Dorsey, in addition to speakers from both the undergraduate and graduate classes.

Student and faculty performances will round out the evening.  The general public can obtain tickets after May 1 by calling 706-542-2701, or by emailing Edith Hollander at edith@uga.edu.

The University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s 2^nd Thursday Scholarship Concert series closes its 2013 season with “Romantic and Élégiaque: Chamber Music for Strings and Piano” on April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Hodgson Concert Hall.

The concert, which features university faculty, will showcase seminal late-romantic chamber music compositions by Johannes Brahms and Anton Arensky, as well as Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor.

“This will be a very intimate evening, involving some of the finest literature that exists for piano and strings,” said David Starkweather, cello professor at the Hodgson School since 1983. “There’s a preponderance of minor, melancholy modes in this program, and that makes for gorgeous, introspective melodies.”

In addition to Starkweather, “Romantic and Élégiaque” features fellow faculty members Levon Ambartsumian on violin and pianist Evgeny Rivkin, both of whom came to the university in 1995 and have collaborated with Starkweather on numerous occasions. Violist Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva will join the trio for Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 2 in C minor.

“The Brahms quartet is a wonderful composition for that instrumentation,” Starkweather said. “One of his true strengths was composing for piano, and the quartet represents one of the true high points of Romantic chamber music.”

Tickets are $18 for the general public and $5 for UGA students and are available at the Performing Arts Center box office, by calling 706/542-4400 or online at www.pac.uga.edu.

Established in 1980, the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series offers showcase performances by UGA students and faculty the second Thursday of each month throughout the academic year. Proceeds from individual ticket sales and season subscriptions allow for year-long academic scholarships and assistantships for students and gives donors the opportunity to sponsor individual students of the music school at several levels of giving.

In 2011, the 2nd Thursday series provided scholarships to 30 students based on faculty recommendations, academic achievement and performance ability. The 2^nd Thursday Scholarship Series will resume this coming September.

For more information on the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series or the Hodgson School of Music, see www.music.uga.edu.

The University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music, a division of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, proudly presents its 2nd annual “UGA in Atlanta” concert on April 10.  The event, which is open to the general public, aspiring high school musicians, and UGA alumni, will take place in Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall at 8 p.m.

The performance represents an opportunity for the Hodgson School to showcase its musicians to the Atlanta community while reaching out to potential future students. This year’s concert features three of the university’s top-tier graduate chamber ensembles: the Bulldog Brass Society, the Southern Wind Quintet, and the Hodgson String Quartet.

“UGA is fortunate to have such dedicated faculty, talented students, and university support,” said Dale Monson, director of the Hodgson School of Music. “We want to share an example of this amazing environment with Atlantans—particularly area high school students and our alumni—and hopefully increase their awareness of all the great musical things happening here at the Hodgson School.”

The program features standards from twentieth century chamber ensemble literature: the Bulldog Brass Society, founded in 1996 by legendary trumpet player Fred Mills, will play Jan Bach’s rhythmic tour-de-force Rounds and Dances; the Southern Wind Quintet, at the university since 1999, will present a work by French neoclassical composer Jean Françaix; and the Hodgson String Quartet, the newest addition to the school of music, will perform Sergei Prokofiev’s 1931 String Quartet No. 1 in B minor, Op. 50. All three groups exclusively consist of students seeking Master’s and Doctoral degrees in music performance, and regularly serve as ambassadorial ensembles for the university,

“Some of the highest levels of student musicianship at our institution are represented in these ensembles,” said Monson.  “These fourteen students are perfect for ‘UGA in Atlanta’ because they represent not only what they themselves have become, but also the potential inside every young musician in the audience.  With hard work and dedication, they could be in this same position someday.”

“UGA in Atlanta” is free and open to the public.

Narayanan “NMK” Muralikrishnan, a veena performer, teacher and advocate of Carnatic music, will present a series of workshops and lectures at the University of Georgia the week of Feb. 25, including a concert March 1 at 8 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall.

Muralikrishnan is the 2013 Gordhan L. and Virginia B. “Jinx” Patel Distinguished Visiting Professor in Indian Musical Arts in the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music. The performance, which is free and open to the public, will feature Muralikrishnan on the Carnatic keyboard and the veena, a stringed instrument similar to a lute and one of the oldest Indian instruments. His family and friends will join him on vocals, the mridangam, kanjira, tabla and other percussion instruments.

“We are so fortunate to have resources allocated to bring in diverse musicians from outside the classical Western tradition,” said Jean Kidula, associate professor of ethnomusicology in the school of music and liaison for the Patel professorship. “It brings a different sound to campus, and we are able to work with great musicians. Muralikrishnan is a first-class veena player.”

A native of Tamil Nadu, India, Muralikrishnan displayed an affinity for music at an early age, studying under teachers such as veena guru Dr. R.S. Jayalaksmi, Suguna Varadhachari, Karaikudi Subramaniam, Parur Venkatrama Iyer and N. Ramanathan. His broad musical education includes graduate work in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles and masters degrees from India’s University of Madras and San Diego State University.

In addition to the veena, Muralikrishnan is also a skilled pianist, having studied piano performance at London’s Trinity College of Music. “His performances blur the line between Western and non-Western music while still preserving his core identity as an Indian musician,” Kidula said. “Apart from featuring instruments new to the professorship—particularly the veena—this will be an exposure to the continuing development of the South Indian classical (Carnatic) music traditions. Those who have attended the Patel professorship concerts in the past will get something completely different out of the experience this year.”

Created in 2008, the Gordhan L. and Virginia B. “Jinx” Patel Distinguished Visiting Professorship in Indian Musical Arts was established to attract Indian musicians of the highest caliber to the school of music, the university and the surrounding community for a week of performance and teaching.

SCHEDULE

BONUS RECITAL
Friday Evening, Feburary 22, 6:00 p.m.
Ramsey Recital Hall
Jon Manasse, Clarinet
Franklin String Quartet
Damon Denton, Piano
Debussy’s Rhapsody, Mozart’s Quintet & more

CLARINET DAY
Saturday, February 23:
Orchestra Room, Performing Arts Center
9:00 – Registration
9:30: – Jon Manasse / D. Ray McClellan Recital
10:15 – Master Class 1
12:00 – Lunch
1:30 Masterclass II
4:15 -5:15 Interview / Q & A with Jon Manasse

To Register for Clarinet Day, go to:
www.draymcclellan.com

Among the most distinguished classical artists of his generation, clarinetist JON MANASSE is internationally recognized for his inspiring artistry, uniquely glorious sound and charismatic performing style.

Jon Manasse’s current season is highlighted by continued touring with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, giving performances throughout the United States as the acclaimed Manasse/ Nakamatsu Duo. He appears as guest soloist with the Manassas Symphony Orchestra and, with Trio Solisti, collaborates on the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ Living Frescoes, presented by California’s Chamber Music Monterey Bay.

Jon Manasse’s solo appearances include New York City performances at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Hunter College’s Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse, Columbia University, Rockefeller University and The Town Hall, debuts in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Osaka and concerto performances with Gerard Schwarz and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, both at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and at the prestigious Tokyu Bunkamura Festival in Tokyo. With orchestra, he has been guest soloist with the Augsburg, Dayton, Erie, Evansville, Naples and National philharmonics, South Korea’s Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Canada’s Symphony Nova Scotia, the National Chamber Orchestra and the Alabama, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bartlesville, Bozeman, Dubuque, Florida West Coast, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jackson, Missoula, Oakland East Bay, Pensacola, Princeton, Richmond, Roanoke, Rogue Valley, Seattle, Stamford, Silicon Valley and Wyoming symphonies, under the batons of, among others, Peter Bay, Leslie B. Dunner, Peter Leonard, Daniel Meyer, Michael Morgan, Eckart Preu, Glenn Quader, Matthew Savery and Lawrence Leighton Smith. Of special distinction was Mr. Manasse’s 2002 London debut in a Barbican Centre performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Gerard Schwarz and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

During the 2009-2010 season, Jon Manasse gave the world premiere performances of a major new work commissioned for him – Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra. Music Director Neal Gittleman led the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in concerts that were recorded for commercial CD release. Subsequent performances included those with the symphony orchestras of Chappaqua, Evansville, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (CA), Roanoke and the University of Massachusetts.

An avid chamber musician, Jon Manasse has been featured in New York City programs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theatre (on Lincoln Center’s “Great Performers Series”), The Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse and Merkin Concert Hall; at the Aspen Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Colorado Springs Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival and France’s Festival International des Arts, as well as the chamber music festivals of Bridgehampton, Cape and Islands, Crested Butte, Georgetown, St. Bart’s, Seattle and Tucson. He has also been the guest soloist with many of the leading chamber ensembles of the day, including The Amadeus Trio, Germany’s Trio Parnassus and Trio Solisti, as well as the American, Borromeo, Colorado, Lark, Manhattan, Moscow, Orion, Rossetti, Shanghai, Tokyo and Ying string quartets.

Jon Manasse is also principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. In 2008 he was also appointed principal clarinetist and Ensemble Member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. As one of the nation’s most highly sought-after wind players, has also served as guest principal clarinetist of the New York Pops Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and New Jersey, Saint Louis and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, under the batons of Gerard Schwarz, Zdenek Macal, Jerzy Semkow, Robert Craft and Hugh Wolff. For several seasons, he was also the principal clarinetist of the New York Chamber Symphony. Mr. Manasse has been a guest clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic in concerts conducted by Valery Gergiev and André Previn, and, during the 2003-2004 season, served as the principal clarinetist of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, performing under the batons of Artistic Director James Levine and, among others, Andrew Davis, Valery Gergiev and Vladimir Jurowski.

Jon Manasse has six critically acclaimed CDs on the XLNT label; although now out-of-print, they continue to be sought after by clarinetists and collectors alike. Currently available is his recording of Lowell Liebermann’s Quintet for Clarinet, Piano and String Trio on KOCH International. His first pair of CDs with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, harmonia mundi releases of the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas (cited as “Best of the Year” by The New York Times) and an all-American album, were released to international rave reviews. Concerti by Mozart and Spohr with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony (2010) and Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet with the Tokyo String Quartet (2012), were also released on harmonia mundi.

Jon Manasse is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with David Weber. He was a top prize winner in the Thirty-Sixth International Competition for Clarinet in Munich and the youngest winner of the International Clarinet Society Competition. Currently, he is an official “Performing Artist” of both the Buffet Crampon Company and Vandoren, the Parisian firms that are the world’s oldest and most distinguished clarinet maker and reed maker, respectively. Since 1995, he has been Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Eastman School of Music; in 2007 Mr. Manasse joined the faculty of his alma mater, The Juilliard School, as well as that of Florida’s Lynn University Conservatory of Music.
Jon Manasse and his Duo partner, the acclaimed pianist Jon Nakamatsu, serve as Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, an appointment announced during summer 2006.

WEDNESDAY, February 20 – Edge Hall
3:30 The Anatomy of a Warm-Up
5:00 -7:00 Open Rehearsal – Mozart’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, Franklin Quartet

THURSDAY, February 21 – Edge Hall
9:00 – 11:00 – Auditioning for an Orchestra or Military Band
(student performers) Edge Hall
1:30- 4:00 Clarinet Masterclass
(student performers)

FRIDAY, February 22 – Ramsey Hall
9:00 – 11:00 Planning and Practicing for Recitals and Concerto Performances
(student performers)
11:00 Interview. Questions and Answers
6:00 p.m. Recital: Jon Manasse, Damon Denton, D. Ray McClellan, Amy Pollard, Franklin Quartet – Ramsey Recital Hall

Among the most distinguished classical artists of his generation, clarinetist JON MANASSE is internationally recognized for his inspiring artistry, uniquely glorious sound and charismatic performing style. 

Jon Manasse’s current season is highlighted by continued touring with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, giving performances throughout the United States as the acclaimed Manasse/ Nakamatsu Duo. He appears as guest soloist with the Manassas Symphony Orchestra and, with Trio Solisti, collaborates on the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ Living Frescoes, presented by California’s Chamber Music Monterey Bay.

Jon Manasse’s solo appearances include New York City performances at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Hunter College’s Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse, Columbia University, Rockefeller University and The Town Hall, debuts in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Osaka and concerto performances with Gerard Schwarz and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, both at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and at the prestigious Tokyu Bunkamura Festival in Tokyo. With orchestra, he has been guest soloist with the Augsburg, Dayton, Erie, Evansville, Naples and National philharmonics, South Korea’s Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Canada’s Symphony Nova Scotia, the National Chamber Orchestra and the Alabama, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bartlesville, Bozeman, Dubuque, Florida West Coast, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jackson, Missoula, Oakland East Bay, Pensacola, Princeton, Richmond, Roanoke, Rogue Valley, Seattle, Stamford, Silicon Valley and Wyoming symphonies, under the batons of, among others, Peter Bay, Leslie B. Dunner, Peter Leonard, Daniel Meyer, Michael Morgan, Eckart Preu, Glenn Quader, Matthew Savery and Lawrence Leighton Smith. Of special distinction was Mr. Manasse’s 2002 London debut in a Barbican Centre performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Gerard Schwarz and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

During the 2009-2010 season, Jon Manasse gave the world premiere performances of a major new work commissioned for him – Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra. Music Director Neal Gittleman led the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in concerts that were recorded for commercial CD release. Subsequent performances included those with the symphony orchestras of Chappaqua, Evansville, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (CA), Roanoke and the University of Massachusetts. 

An avid chamber musician, Jon Manasse has been featured in New York City programs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theatre (on Lincoln Center’s “Great Performers Series”), The Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse and Merkin Concert Hall; at the Aspen Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Colorado Springs Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival and France’s Festival International des Arts, as well as the chamber music festivals of Bridgehampton, Cape and Islands, Crested Butte, Georgetown, St. Bart’s, Seattle and Tucson. He has also been the guest soloist with many of the leading chamber ensembles of the day, including The Amadeus Trio, Germany’s Trio Parnassus and Trio Solisti, as well as the American, Borromeo, Colorado, Lark, Manhattan, Moscow, Orion, Rossetti, Shanghai, Tokyo and Ying string quartets.

Jon Manasse is also principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. In 2008 he was also appointed principal clarinetist and Ensemble Member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. As one of the nation’s most highly sought-after wind players, has also served as guest principal clarinetist of the New York Pops Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and New Jersey, Saint Louis and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, under the batons of Gerard Schwarz, Zdenek Macal, Jerzy Semkow, Robert Craft and Hugh Wolff. For several seasons, he was also the principal clarinetist of the New York Chamber Symphony. Mr. Manasse has been a guest clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic in concerts conducted by Valery Gergiev and André Previn, and, during the 2003-2004 season, served as the principal clarinetist of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, performing under the batons of Artistic Director James Levine and, among others, Andrew Davis, Valery Gergiev and Vladimir Jurowski.

Jon Manasse has six critically acclaimed CDs on the XLNT label; although now out-of-print, they continue to be sought after by clarinetists and collectors alike. Currently available is his recording of Lowell Liebermann’s Quintet for Clarinet, Piano and String Trio on KOCH International. His first pair of CDs with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, harmonia mundi releases of the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas (cited as “Best of the Year” by The New York Times) and an all-American album, were released to international rave reviews. Concerti by Mozart and Spohr with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony (2010) and Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet with the Tokyo String Quartet (2012), were also released on harmonia mundi.

Jon Manasse is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with David Weber. He was a top prize winner in the Thirty-Sixth International Competition for Clarinet in Munich and the youngest winner of the International Clarinet Society Competition. Currently, he is an official “Performing Artist” of both the Buffet Crampon Company and Vandoren, the Parisian firms that are the world’s oldest and most distinguished clarinet maker and reed maker, respectively. Since 1995, he has been Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Eastman School of Music; in 2007 Mr. Manasse joined the faculty of his alma mater, The Juilliard School, as well as that of Florida’s Lynn University Conservatory of Music.

Jon Manasse and his Duo partner, the acclaimed pianist Jon Nakamatsu, serve as Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, an appointment announced during summer 2006.

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s 2^nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series continues with “On the Road,” a performance by the University of Georgia Wind Ensemble on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. Tickets are $18 for the general public and $5 for UGA students, and are available at the Performing Arts Center box office, by calling 706/542-4400 or online at www.pac.uga.edu.

The concert is presented as a sneak preview of the ensemble’s upcoming performance at the American Bandmasters Association 2013 Convention next month in Tampa, Fl., as well as its upcoming tour to Paris and Switzerland next summer.

“It’s quite fitting that our Valentine’s Day concert features many of the same compositions that we’ll be performing in Paris, one of the most romantic cities on the planet,” said John P. Lynch, professor at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and director of the 60-person Wind Ensemble.  “Joining the Wind Ensemble for a 2^nd Thursday performance is the perfect way to spend this romantic evening.”

In addition to classics by seminal old-world composers J.S. Bach and Antonín Dvořák, “On the Road” will also feature works by more contemporary American composers.  Visiting professor John Whitwell will conduct Aaron Copland’s Emblems, while George Gershwin’s An American In Paris and a world-premiere of Jess Turner’s Black Bolt!, commissioned especially for the UGA Wind Ensemble, round out the program.

Established in 1980, the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series offers showcase performances by UGA students and faculty the second Thursday of each month throughout the academic year. Proceeds from individual ticket sales and season subscriptions allow for year-long academic scholarships and assistantships for students and presents donors the opportunity to sponsor individual students of the music school at several levels of giving. In 2011, the 2nd Thursday series provided scholarships to 30 students based on faculty recommendations, academic achievement and performance ability.

The next concert in the series will feature the UGA piano faculty, students, and friends in “Steinway Spectacular” in Hodgson Concert Hall on March 21 at 8 p.m. For more information on the 2nd Thursday Series or the Hodgson School of Music, please visit www.music.uga.edu.

The University of Georgia Opera Theater will present Mozart’s seminal opera “The Magic Flute” (Die Zauberflöte) at the university’s Fine Arts Theater on Feb. 15 and 16 at 8 p.m., with a special matinee performance on Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $18, or $5 for UGA students with ID, and are available from the Performing Arts Center box office, via phone at 706/542-4400, and online at www.pac.uga.edu

The three-day engagement will feature the UGA Opera Theater in conjunction with the UGA Symphony Orchestra, conducted by director of choral activities Daniel Bara.  Frederick Burchinal serves as producer of the production as director of opera at the university, while opera coach Kathryn Wright is responsible for musical preparation

The opera will be performed in German with English supertitles provided by Carroll Freeman, who is also serving as visiting stage director for the production.  Freeman, professor in opera at Georgia State University, has an extensive operatic career on stage and in television, being a two-time recipient of the National Opera Institute Award.

“Carroll is going to bring so many good things to an already great opera,” said Burchinal, Wyatt and Margaret Anderson Professor in the Arts in the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music. “Everyone loves ‘The Magic Flute.’  It’s in nearly every opera lover’s top ten, as it appeals to all ages with its blend of fantasy, virtuosic singing, and terrific, satisfying dramatic roles.”

Premiered in Vienna in 1791, the opera follows young Prince Tamino who, using a magical flute, finds himself racing to rescue his love, Pamina, from the forces of evil in a world of fantasy and mysticism. The production features UGA students Joseph Michael Brent as Tamino, Elisabeth Slaten/Evelyn Shreves as Pamina, and Christopher Voss/Evan Tyor as Papageno the birdcatcher.  Kelsey Fredriksen and Richard Block fill out the cast in the villainous roles of the Queen of the Night and Sarastro, respectively.

“It’s a story about proving one’s worth, to be exalted into one’s own—to show the world that you have the character, virtue, and strength to function as a member of society,” said Burchinal. “‘The Magic Flute’ is one of the few operas to have all those things.”