by Ashley Walling
An opera written and produced by Trevecca students will be performed at the home of Nashville Opera.
On April 23, 2016 students will perform Requiem for the Living at the Noah Liff Opera Center. This is the first time Trevecca students have performed at the center.
“The opportunity to stage a performance in a professional venue, and in cooperation with a professional opera company is a fantastic thing that was before never imagined, although now it is coming to life,” said Eric Wilson, chair of the department of music.
The opportunity began after students attended one of the dress rehearsals arranged by Prof. Rachel Nyetam, who has performed with the Nashville Opera in the past. After the rehearsal, the Opera’s education director followed up to make sure the students had a good experience. Wilson told Opera officials students were there as part of their education about how to stage an opera. The Opera officials, after hearing about the Trevecca project, offered the Liff Center for Trevecca’s production at a significant discount.
The project, Requiem for Living, began as a FLARE project, which stands for Faculty Led Academic Research Experience, is part of Trevecca’s accreditation plan to engage more students in research on campus.
The student writers began laying the groundwork for the project as early as last spring, although the real work began to set in during the fall.
“From that moment, it was a non-stop marathon,” said Wilson.
During this time the authors worked to develop the story and libretto, which is the developed text of an opera work. After authors developed the text it was passed on to the composers for the next step.
“Each composer’s voice has the chance to shine, but the work as a whole must fit together seamlessly as they set the lines and orchestration,” said Wilson.
The work of the opera thenwent to the student production team.
“To my knowledge, there is not a school of any size doing anything exactly like this. What was proposed to be a 25-35 minute one act opera has developed into a full, two act, and two- hour work with a 16 piece orchestra,” said Wilson.
Because nothing like this had been created at Trevecca before, there was no template. Students created the piece completely from scratch.
“The focus has always been simply, process over product, but the product the students have created is magnificent,” said Wilson.
The opera will be performed on campus April 14 and 15 as part of MOSAIC, an annual show of original student art works.
After the performance on campus, the crew will then take the show on the to the Noah Liff Opera Center for a 7 p.m. show on April 23.
“I am blessed to watch the seed of an idea that I had in the proposal, grow into something spectacular and artful. I have seen the students grow as artists in their respective disciplines, more importantly, as men and women,” said Wilson.
For more information about purchasing tickets for the Noah Liff performance, contact Brooke Maschmeier at bhmaschmeier@trevecca.edu.
IF YOU GO:
Requiem for a Living
On campus performance during MOSAIC April 14 and 15 at 6 p.m.
TNU main campus- McClurkan- Benson Auditorium
Requiem for a Living
April 23, 2016
Noah Liff Opera Center
3622 Redmond St. Nashville, TN 37209
Tickets: $5 for students, $12 for non-students
