New Orleans Opera Executive Director Todd Simmons and soprano Kathleen Halm were on the WGNO “Good Morning New Orleans” show today.  Todd announced our wonderful new season of  “Intrigue and Passion” and then accompanied Kathleen on keyboard.

But don’t take my word for it.  Check it out yourselves.  Good Morning New Orleans

Meet Andrea Gabrielse and Ronald Laitano, expecting parents and members of the New Orleans Opera Chorus.

NOOA:  How long have you been singing with the New Orleans Opera Chorus?

AG: I started singing with New Orleans Opera in the fall of 2008. I did the entire season with them that year, while trying to finish my Masters in Vocal Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi!

RL: I’ve been singing with New Orleans Opera for 6 seasons now. I have also done minor roles with New Orleans Opera.

NOOA:  What is your musical background?

AG: I grew up in a very musical family! My parents moved to New Orleans in 1988, when I was just 4 years old! My dad came here to get a Masters and Doctorate in church music at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He stayed on as the Chairman of the Music Department! Now he is the Worship and Music leader for the State of Oklahoma! My mother is also a great singer and piano player! I have been singing and playing the piano since I was 4 years old! I went to college at the University of Southern Mississippi and received both a Bachelors and Masters in Vocal Performance and a minor in piano.

RL: I have a bachelor’s and masters degree in Vocal Performance and did a year of Doctoral music work at LSU. this opera is dear to my heart as I  have played the role of Tamino for a young artist’s program in Italy.

NOOA:  Is this your first child? And can you tell if Mozart’s music is pleasing to him/her?

AG: Yes, this is our first child! We have found out that we are having a girl and we are going to name her Adelaide Lee Laitano. This name came about because Ronald’s favorite German Art Song is Beethoven’s “Adelaide”. I can definitely tell that she loves when the orchestra is playing. Her favorite music so far in this production has been the music of Papageno! I think it has to deal with the lively upbeat tempos in his music! I also secretly think she likes the voice of Matt Worth who plays Papageno! Everytime he sings, she jumps for joy!! I must say, though her favorite voice in all of music is my husband’s voice! She loves it when he sings to her!!!

RL: This is our first child and it’s very fitting that her due date is January 27: Mozart’s birth date !

NOOA:  What has been your favorite New Orleans Opera production to be a part of?

AG: I have to give two! Carmen was a great production to be apart of! The singers were great and all the different costumes we had were a big highlight! I like this production of The Magic Flute as well! I have been able to get reacquainted with some friends I don’t get to see very much, who are apart of the principle cast! This opera is just fun to be in as well!

RL: Carmen, it was perfect.

NOOA:  Andrea, what about costume fittings? Did Charlotte Lang [wardrobe supervisor] need to make any special altercations?

AG: Ah, costume fittings. Charlotte didn’t know I was pregnant, so they went with the old measurements they have on file for me.  Obviously, they are no longer accurate! They were going to alter the costume they had picked for me, but it ended up being too short anyway. They were able to give me another lady’s costume without any alterations to it -  Sorry Givonna!! I must say, I will not have to worry about the skirt falling off!!

Yesterday we met Givonna Joseph, the Mom in our Mother/Daughter team and today we meet Aria Mason, her daughter.   Givonna is singing the role of Lily in Porgy and Bess and Aria is singing the role of Annie.

NOOA: When did you realize that singing was important to you and that you wanted it to be a part of your life?
AM: I have been singing since I was very little.   I used to sing books to my family and make up songs about whatever I was doing, which I still do!   I refused to admit it, for a long time, because I didn’t want to be compared unfavorably to my mom.   I would sing alone in my room or under my breath to the radio…until my mom caught me when I was 11, and turned the radio down, and said, “Okay, let me hear it.”   That was the first time I actually wanted to sing for anyone, and I started doing musical theater not long after that at NORD Theater.   In high school, I opened myself up to the idea that singing was a life I wanted to pursue.

NOOA: Do you have a mentor?   Who and how did this person inspire you?
AM: Obviously, my mother has been my greatest mentor and inspiration.   She is a truly gifted vocalist and a great advocate for the power of music, both as an educational and therapeutic tool.   Listening to her sing and sharing in her love for all kinds of music made me a music lover in the first place.

She raised me on everything from Earth, Wind and Fire to Led Zeppelin to Patsy Cline, and she and my grandparents had a passion for movie musicals, great entertainers, and literature, so I was exposed to eclectic styles and tastes from a very early age.   I had great teachers at Lusher, Ben Franklin, and NOCCA, who gave me a real passion for knowing every aspect of the craft and the importance of professionalism and scholarship in order to succeed.   I also had a wonderful relationship with my voice teacher at Catholic University, Regina McConnell, who was part teacher, part mom and part taskmaster.  She always encouraged me to sing repertoire I was in love with and to feel comfortable inside my own voice, and to not only embrace my strengths, but use my growth areas as a musician as motivation to be better.

NOOA: What was your first favorite song?  Do you have a favorite now?
AM: My first favorite song was a tie between “Up, Down, Touch the Ground” from Winnie the Pooh and “Beat It”.   These days, I have so many favorite songs from every genre!   It would be impossible to choose-as a reflection of this I have thousands of songs on my iPod.   My favorite piece to sing is Schubert’s “Ave Maria”.   I can remember hearing my mother sing it at Mass as a little girl, and I first sang it at Mass in college.   The Hail Mary prayer within it has brought me a lot of comfort over the years.

NOOA: How long have you been singing with the Opera Chorus?
AM: I have been with the Chorus since 2006, but if you ask any of the veteran choristers, I have been an unofficial chorister since 1984.

NOOA: Do you sing with other choirs?  Which ones?
AM: I spent three years with the choir at St. Louis Cathedral, which was wonderful, and last served as the Director of Music at Our Lady of the Rosary.

NOOA: Of all the times you have sung for the public, which has been the most rewarding to you and why?
AM: I was a founding member of City Year Louisiana, an AmeriCorps program that serves in schools and in community service projects here and in Baton Rouge.  In 2006, I was asked to sing at the national convention in New York City, in memoriam to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and in acknowledgment of the site’s founding, but also of my own losses of home and family in the storm.  I sang one of my favorite songs: “Home” from “The Wiz” a cappella before an audience of over 1,000 people with a backdrop of pictures from New Orleans and Biloxi (my father’s hometown).  It meant so much to me because the lyrics are about the comforts of home and knowing who you are and where you come from no matter what happens, and I sang it as much in honor of my fellow lost citizens but also in honor of those who had done so much for myself and others who had to redefine what home meant.  It was very emotional and I wasn’t sure that I would make it through, but hearing the audience reaction and having people tell me how much it meant to them was really beautiful.

NOOA: What has been you favorite opera to sing?
AM: I loved the works we have done by Puccini since I have been with the chorus, most especially Suor Angelica. That music was heartbreakingly beautiful and the libretto is so poignant: it also gives us a look into the inner lives of women that I find interesting.  Porgy and Bess has been one of the most fun and the most heartrending to sing as well: fun in the big chorus scenes, and heartrending in the most spiritual moments-I have really enjoyed singing Annie and helping to bring this wonderful music to life.

NOOA: Want to share any particular behind the opera scene stories?
AM: During Lucia di Lammermoor, I had a costume that easily weighed 60 pounds.   I thought I would faint from the weight of that thing!   I was onstage, singing, when I felt the dress fall open-completely-in the back.   I guess it collapsed under its own weight!   I had to get help to come close it up and get me offstage; thankfully, the audience didn’t see anything.   It was hilarious.

Givonna and Aria, Backstage during Tosca

Faces of New Orleans Opera.
The Opera Insider was delighted to hear that this weekends production of Porgy and Bess features a Mother Daughter team…the first such team for NOOA to the best of my knowledge;  Givonna Joseph as Lily and Aria Mason as Annie.   I know you will enjoy the interview below as much as I did and in Givonna’s own words, meet the Operatic Judds!

NOOA: When did you realize that singing was important to you and that you wanted it to be a part of your life?
GJ: My mother always said I was trying to sing before I could complete a sentence.   It has always been my passion.   Unfortunately for my older brother, my exuberance caused him much discomfort!

NOOA: Do you have a mentor?   Who and how did this person inspire you?
GJ: My paternal grandfather, who had a glorious bass voice, inspired me with the sound of American Spirituals.   I fell in love with them, and I still am in love.   I have been blessed with many mentors along the way.   From my teachers in elementary and high school to Ty Tracy at NORD Theater, and my first voice teacher Charles Paddock.   Mr. Paddock was the most instrumental in helping me tap deep within myself through the development of my voice.   My parents always encouraged me not to confine myself, and to be who I was born to be.   They had no money, but found a way to pay for my voice lessons.   And my daughter Aria really inspired me to come back to opera.   She said I would be happy, and I have been!

NOOA: What was your first favorite song?   Do you have a favorite now?
GJ: Deep River was my favorite that my grandfather sang.   I have favorite songs in different types of music-for different aspects of my life.   I always say that God speaks to me in song lyrics.   Whenever I am thinking through a problem, I always find the right song playing in the back of my mind.   In terms of opera, The Habanera from Carmen is my favorite, hands down.

NOOA: How long have you been singing with the Opera Chorus?
GJ: I first sang with the chorus in Lohengrin when I was a student at Loyola in the 70s.   I made my debut as a soloist in 1980 as a slave in Salome, but officially joined the Chorus in 1984 for one season.   After my daughter headed off to college in 2001, I was welcomed back to sing Lily in NOOA’s first production of Porgy and Bess.   I have been a member since – with a small break due to Katrina.   I sang with Houston Grand Opera Chorus for the ’06/’07 season, but was glad to come home.

NOOA: Do you sing with other choirs?   Which ones?
GJ: I have sung with the Symphony Chorus, but I mostly do recitals and concerts as a soloist.   I am also a Cantor at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.

NOOA: Of all the times you have sung for the public, which has been the most rewarding to you and why?
GJ: The most rewarding was when I was the Cantor for Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta Mass at UNO Arena when she came to New Orleans.   It meant so much because I knew I was in the presence of a saint.   I have never been so moved.

NOOA:  What has been your favorite opera to sing?
GJ: I love all of them. Carmen is a great one. I loved being an Abati in Manon Lescaut – great comedy. But singing Lily in Porgy and Bess again this season is indeed the highlight!  I love how this music displays the deep devotion of a people in spite of some terrible circumstances.

NOOA: Want to share any particular behind the opera scene stories?
GJ: One of my favorite stories is from Lohengrin. The chorus stood stoically on risers for most of the opera.   The costumes where really heavy- especially the men in the chain armor suits. At least three times during the performance we heard loud blunt thuds around us, but could not see anything!   It turned out that people were fainting from the lights and standing so long! Since they fell behind the risers, the audience had no clue! We kept singing though.   It is also amazing to remember that Greer Grimsley, and Anthony Lacuira were part of that chorus.   We were all so young then.

NOOA: What is it like to share the stage with your daughter?
GJ: As she sings the role of Annie, I am so proud to share the stage with her!
She used to say that one day we would be like the Judds! I guess we are the operatic Judds!

So I was curious, and the other day I went scavenging to see what the internet had to say about Kate Chopin.  Here’s what I found:

The Awakening was first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century, the plot centers around Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women’s issues without condescension. It is also one of the most important novels written by an American woman in the nineteenth century in terms of historical and social significance). When published it was assailed for its frank depictions of female sexuality but has since been cited by critics and scholars as one of the most influential American novels ever written. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism.

Why not come to Madewood on May 15th to see a modern treatment (with lovely music!) of this classic work?  It’s not every day you get to see a work-in-progress of an opera, after all!  It’s going to be a a truly unique, once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience, so what are you waiting for?

If you like keeping up with the New Orleans Opera Assoication, there are now several ways to do that online…  There’s the blog, of course, but you know that because you’re here!

You can also check out our Facebook page (just search for ‘New Orleans Opera Association’), OR you can follow us on Twitter (our user name is NewOrleansOpera).

We’d love to see you around the internet somtime!

Loyola Opera presents ‘L’Enfant et les sortileges’ by Maurice Ravel

Date: Monday, April 26, 2010

Time: 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm

Location: Dixon Court, located in front of the Communications/Music Complex

“L’Enfant et les Sortilèges,” or “The Child and the Spells,” is the story of a misbehaved child who is reprimanded by the objects in his room which he has been abusing. Ignoring his mother’s scolding, the child throws a tantrum breaking things in his room. He is taken by surprise when the objects affected by his tirade suddenly come to life and begin to talk and terrorizing him. See what happens as the child attempts to mend the relationships with the creatures he has badly bruised.

Tickets or Fees: Free

For additional information contact: Jessica Roma at 504-865-2074 or by email at tickets@loyno.edu

Hey, All!

I’m getting pretty excited about The Awkaening at Madewood… and I was checking out the official Kate Chopin website when I discovered that they have the full text of the novel online!  If you’d like to check it out, here’s the link– just copy and paste into your browser window!

http://www.katechopin.org/the-awakening.shtml

This is such a great story… it really touches me in my Louisiana soul.  I cannot WAIT to hear the music…

“What I’ve learned from Opera.”

Compiled by music students, including yours truly, using the ultimate powers of term-paper procrastination (the most highly motivating creative force on earth).  It seems like some operas have some interesting messages to convey…  Silly, yes… but I hope you enjoy.  :-)

Flying Dutchman: Being a fan girl will get you killed

La Boheme: Being an Artist NEVER PAYS, Kids, and get that cough checked out

Don Giovanni: Womanizers will go to hell.

Lakme: Interracial love is doomed to failure and suicide.

Cosi: Italians are Slutty.

Samson et Dalila: Never trust a woman, no matter how hot she is.

Tosca: When the Tenor is a Pansy, the Soprano will man up and kill the bad guy.

Carmen: Tenors should stay away from Mezzos. No, for real.

Aida: If you hold out for love, you will die in a vault

Il Trovatore: Gypsy curses are a bitch.

La Traviata: Happy Women will Die Painfully.

Turandot: What’s in a name? Also… racism.

The Magic Flute: Join the Masons, Bro!

The Ballad of Baby Doe: Money won’t make you happy, but infidelity will.

Porgy and Bess: American Opera is valid TOO!

The Pearl Fishers: DUDE! Bros before Hos. Or else.

Madama Butterfly: Xenophobia is the right choice.

Pagliacci: ::sad clown face::

Rigoletto: Ugly dudes can have hot daughters too.

Elixir of Love: Sitcoms are older than you think.

Einstein on the Beach: ??????????????????

l’Enfant et les Sortileges: Parents, please: talk to your kids about drugs.

Wozzeck: Absence of Tonality makes people cranky.

Onegin/Prince Igor/Boris Goudunov: Being Russian is hard

Ring Cycle: Who needs Tolkein? Lord of the Rings: Now with more incest!

The Marriage of Figaro: Servants are way smarter than you.

Xerxes: Arranged marriage BAD.  Tree PRETTY.

Don Pasquale: It’s okay to swindle old men if you’re in love.

Lucia di Lammermoor : Don’t tell the women in your family who they can and cannot marry. (See also: Hamlet)

Did we forget anything?  Feel free to comment!