& News From Our Division Chairs &
Opera Festival Stevie Rawlings
201-261-7800 x3069
srawlings@paramus.k12.nj.us
The future state of the NJMEA All-State Opera Festival is safe, having fortunately held the auditions on October 26th at Paramus HS,
prior to the “Sturm and Drang” of the century. Over forty vocalists auditioned for Metropolitan Opera singers, Wendy White and John Hancock. “It is thrilling to hear so many fine, young singers performing this literature”, said the judges over and over again. Fifteen soloists, two duets and one large ensemble earned a featured spot on the Opera Festival Concert program, held on November 17th
at 3p at Paramus
HS. All who auditioned performed in three opera choruses; “The Humming Chorus” from Madame Butterfly by Puccini; “Va, Pensiero” from Nabucco by Verdi; and “Libiamo” from La Traviata by Verdi, conducted by sponsoring directors. Three operatic orchestral offerings by the Paramus String Orchestra joined by All-State orchestra players, rounded out this most exciting festival event. Congratulations to the following award winners:
• Highest ScoringMale-Michael Kirkland,Westfield HS, Governor’s Award • Highest Scoring Female- Sarah Korath, River Dell Regional HS, Governor’s Award • Second Highest Overall Score-Christian Davakis, River Dell Regional HS Special Commendation • Highest Scoring Small Ensemble- Duet by Sarah Korath and Jane Spadaccini, River Dell Regional HS,Madame Paunova Small Ensemble Award, “Governor’s Award”
• Highest Scoring Large Ensemble - The “Prem1ers”Paramus HS, Francesca P. Kubian-Geidel Large Ensemble Award, (Governor’s Award) • Highest Overall Score -Michael Kirkland, Westfield HS C. Scripps Beebee Scholarship Award
The Opera Festival Workshop day began at 9:30 am with a Voice Master Class by internationally acclaimed lyric tenor, Ronald Naldi.
Naldi has brought his art to the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Verona Opera, Opera de Camera of Rome, L’Opera Francais, New Jersey State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Salzburger Landestheater. He holds a BM and an MM in voice from Indiana University. Interest- ingly and fortunately for us, Naldi was a participant in the NJMEA Opera Festival “many” years ago and won the C. Scripps Beebee Scholar- ship Award as a high school tenor. He later returned “in the sixties” as a guest artist to perform in the festival concert. This year, he shared his knowledge and expertise by presenting the young singers with a Voice Master Class, addressing their specific, prepared arias. Ronald Naldi is an extraordinary example of the fulfillment of the mission of the NJMEA All-State Opera Festival: providing an arena for young singers to study, hear and experience performing operatic literature on a high level. “Kudos” and “Bravissimos” to Claudette Peterson (Master of Ceremonies), David Kline (Videographer) Mike Kallimanis (Audition Chair) and Francesca Kubian (Festival Accompanist) for their tireless, unflappable expertise and dedication.
Orchestra Performance Susan Meuse
908-231-0230
susanmeuse@gmail.com
Happy New Year! I’m sure we are all looking forward to starting a new year and moving on from a difficult fall. I know that many people
have had a long and difficult recovery from the unexpectedly devastating storm. On behalf of the Orchestra Procedures Committee, I hope that you and your families are safe and sound. Our hearts go out to those who lost so much. Unfortunately, the impact of the storm resulted in the cancellation of the November All-State Orchestra and Chorus concerts. Despite
a great effort on the part of the Procedures Committees and the NJMEA Board, we were not able to reschedule and perform last fall. As I am writing this, NJMEA is still working on another performance opportunity for these
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