Left to right, Indiana University of Pennsylvania students Kash Baldauf, Chancey Jean, Maxwell Theiss, Todd McGregor, Alyssa Horton, and Lainey Albaugh rehearse a selection from “Le nozze di Figaro” in Italian with guidance from their professor, Oliver Lo, to prepare for the Pittsburgh Opera residency at IUP this week. A concert of opera selections performed by students and IUP faculty will take place Wednesday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. in IUP’s Gorell Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the community.
Glenn Lewis, Head of Music, Pittsburgh Opera
Robert Boldin, Head of Artistic Operations, Pittsburgh Opera
Oliver Lo, Director of IUP Opera and Music Theatre
In a rehearsal room large enough for an orchestra, six music students sing a selection from a famous opera at their professor’s cue. As their voices flood the towering space with powerful harmonies sung in Italian, they seem surprisingly relaxed.
“The whole thing that you learn with it is to sing with the most ease. The difficult part is trying to fight all the muscle memory through years of exposure to other genres,” said Kash Baldauf, one of the students.
From Coaching to Concert
The students have been practicing their songs for an opera residency taking place this week at Indiana University of Pennsylvania with two distinguished members of Pittsburgh Opera.
The highlight of the residency will be a concert of opera selections performed by students and IUP faculty on Wednesday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. in IUP’s Gorell Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the community.
During the residency, Glenn Lewis, head of music for Pittsburgh Opera, will give two master classes. IUP music students will perform at these and receive feedback from Lewis while an audience of fellow students learns with them.
One of the students singing in a master class will be Chancey Jean.
“This would be my first time performing with a performing artist, so I’m very excited to do so, and to perform with my colleagues, who are very awesome,” he said.
Lewis will also give individual coaching sessions to about a dozen students who auditioned to get this rare opportunity. Among them is Lainey Albaugh.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to get to work with someone at this level in opera, and I think we’re all excited,” she said. “This is what we’ve really worked towards, and we put a lot of effort into our performances.”
Languages and Music
Voice majors at IUP take diction classes in Italian, German, and French as part of their training to sing a variety of musical styles. Todd McGregor, who has performed in IUP choirs, opera, and some musical theater, appreciates the approach.
“IUP has given us a great opportunity to be able to have a broad horizon of diverse music learning,” he said.
It changes an opera when translated words are made to fit the music, and Lewis prefers when operas are sung traditionally—in the original language reflecting the original culture and without amplifiers or microphones. For larger operas sung in languages not familiar to most of the audience, screens near the stage or on the back of chairs are often used to provide translations.
“If students go into the business, there are very few operas sung in English,” said Lewis. “I’m trying to help them do their best and inspire them to work harder or find new ways to work. A singer always wants to put their best foot forward.”
Opera Expertise
Oliver Lo, one of three IUP voice professors taking part in the residency, helped coordinate bringing Lewis to campus.
“The students are going to be coached by one of the top coaches in the country,” Lo said. “I’m very happy for them to have this experience.”
Lewis joined the Pittsburgh Opera after working for 11 years as a pianist and conductor in the opera houses of Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany. Over his professional career, he has been a regular on the staff of the Santa Fe Opera. In 2007, he made his debut at The Metropolitan Opera, assisting conductor Louis Langree. He has also worked with the Washington National Opera, the Kennedy Center, and the Vancouver Opera.
He’s played the entire score for 115 operas as a piano accompanist and will be accompanying the IUP concert, along with Evan Engelstad, an IUP music professor.
Stages in a Music Career
Director of Artistic Operations for Pittsburgh Opera Robert Boldin will offer students a master class on audition technique and the opera business, sharing insights from his long and accomplished career in music, both on stage and in administration roles.
He is responsible for the management and oversight of all artistic aspects of Pittsburgh Opera—including repertoire, casting, artistic financial oversight, and the resident artist program, as well as support for development and marketing initiatives.
He has sung with Chicago Opera Theater, Cincinnati Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Lyric Opera San Diego, as well as the choruses of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Pittsburgh Opera.
In his career master class, he’ll share what he’s learned from a lifetime of working in music.
“I’ll be pulling the curtain back,” he said. “No one career is exactly the same. You have to forge your own path.”
Conversations Bring Opportunities
Teaching IUP students runs in Boldin’s family. His father, also Robert Boldin, was a finance professor at IUP for decades, and the opera director has many fond memories of being in the Oak Grove and on campus in his younger years.
One event he came back to IUP for recently was an IUP Music Theater production of Hansel and Gretel, which IUP President Michael Driscoll invited him to attend.
Boldin was impressed with Driscoll’s interest and support for building connections and creating opportunities for music students. The idea for a residency at IUP started as a conversation with him, Boldin said, and expanded with interest and help from Lo.
Experiences that Inspire
Alumni support played a key role in making the Pittsburgh Opera residency at IUP possible. A few years ago, alumnus Edward R. Sims ’53 provided a generous gift that continues to support bringing a variety of highly accomplished visiting artists to campus. They interact directly with students, providing hands-on opportunities and inspiring experiences.
For Alyssa Horton, a music education and vocal performance major who came to IUP from a small-school music background, it’s making a big impact.
“Since coming to IUP, I’ve really had my eyes opened to, well, opera in the first place,” she said. “I had never sung it, been involved, even watched it until coming here. Now, we’re doing a master class with a lot of very important people, learning more about opera, and it’s just given me quite an opportunity to expand my horizons and learn about things that I didn’t even know were a realm of possibility within my musical career.”
Of all the genres music students explore through master classes, residency experiences, concerts, shows, bands, choirs, and other ensembles, Maxwell Theiss sees something uniquely special about opera.
“I think a lot of more modern live theater doesn’t have the same spectacle as a lot of opera does, like in the way that the music’s written when it comes to musicals,” he said. “And that’s the thing I’m really drawn to, just the size and the grandeur of it.”