Tulsa Opera will be offering a sampling of the company’s season of Unexpected Transformations in two recitals; the first, on January 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Murray State College, Tishomingo; the second, on January 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the Goddard Center in Ardmore. Special performances of the company’s touring production of the children’s opera The Silence Tree will be held earlier on both days for area students.
Performances by members of the company’s Studio Artist Program will include favorite opera arias and ensembles, as well as musical theatre songs. Those performing include:
Stephanie Washington, a soprano and native Tulsan, received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. She went on to complete her studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and has spent the past two summers as an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera.
Sara Louise Petrocelli is a mezzo-soprano from New Jersey and is beginning her second season with Tulsa Opera as a studio artist. She was recently with Opera Company of Middlebury (Vermont) and was a 2006 young artist for EPCASO in Italy. She holds a Master of Music degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
James Callon, tenor, has spent the past two seasons on the main stage for Los Angeles Opera, Rogue Opera and Tulsa Opera, where he begins his second year of residency as a studio artist. A native of Lakewood, CA, he received his Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the University of California.
Wayne Hu, baritone, recently finished the last of his coursework at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and will receive a Master of Music degree in vocal performance upon successful completion of exams. He has served as a resident opera artist with Pine Mountain Music Festival (2006) and Opera North (2004).
Featured in the performances will be excerpts from the most successful American opera of the last ten years, Dead Man Walking, by Jake Heggie. Based on the autobiographical bestseller by Sister Helen Prejean, which also inspired the award-winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, it is the true story of a nun – Sister Helen herself- who becomes the spiritual advisor of a convicted murderer on death row in 1980’s Louisiana.
Performances of Dead Man Walking will be held in the Chapman Music Hall at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center on Saturday, February 25, 2012 and Friday, March 2, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee on Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. All performances will be sung in English.
Each season Tulsa Opera invites four to six promising young professional artists to participate in the Studio Artist Program. Selected through national auditions, studio artists are embarking on their careers in the world of opera and gain professional experience by working directly with Tulsa Opera’s world-renowned staff and musicians. They serve as primary artists for all Tulsa Opera education and outreach programs, including the Opera on Tour! initiative, reaching more than 30,000 students in more than 100 schools annually throughout Oklahoma and nearby states. Performing in our mainstage productions, they have the opportunity to work with internationally acclaimed artists.
About Tulsa Opera – Founded in 1948, Tulsa Opera enhances the cultural landscape of Oklahoma by providing high quality, locally produced opera and contributes to the future of the operatic art form by educating the community about opera and its role in our culture. Tulsa Opera is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization presenting productions made possible, in part, by generous funding from our patrons, the Oklahoma Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.