Asbury Presents “A Night at the Opera”

January 18, 2018

Students on stage with hats and capes — From left: Shelby Thornsberry ’21, Tinson Lam ’19 and J. Adam Rousey ’18 sing “When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.”

WILMORE, Ky. —Asbury University’s Music Department presented “A Night At the Opera,” this past weekend, showcasing students talent and proving classical opera can be a source of contemporary entertainment and an avenue to glorify God through musical expression.

Every fall semester, Asbury’s Music Department offers an audition-only workshop class to focus on a specific area of vocal study. For this production, a company of eight students has been rehearsing since beginning of the fall semester, honing vocal training, learning choreography and understanding character development.

The set list included variety of well known operas, including “Carmen,” “Madame Butterfly,” and “Don Giovanni.” Director Dr. Jill Campbell explained that the piece selections were chosen to reflect themes of love, hope, struggle, and persecution.

“The music overlaps like waves in the ocean,” Campbell said. “If you want to laugh, laugh. If you want to cry, cry. God gave us the gift of the arts to respond to his love for us.”

Asbury alum and former music student Gabriel Chandler ’16 was impressed with the show and remarked that the small class size was an advantage for the students.

“Each member of the cast shined in their pieces,” Chandler said. I could tell the hard work that the students, directors and stage management put in and their commitment to sharing God’s gift of music to the best of their abilities.”

Margaret Whitworth ’19 said she was impressed by how the students conveyed the music through both their voice and body.

“I was reminded of the power of story,” Whitworth said. “Even though many of the songs were in a language other than English, I understood the message because of how they expressed themselves on stage.”

Phoebe Glaser ’18, a senior music major, sang the solo “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” from “Carmen.” She has participated in a number of workshops during her studies at Asbury.

“I always love this class because it challenges me in the two things I love: singing and acting,” Glaser said. “By the end of the show, we all feel like a big family, and that’s honestly the best part.”

— by Cathryn Lien ’18

To learn more about Asbury’s Music Department, visit: asbury.edu/Music.