CU Opera in Italy
Piccolo Festival Director Gabriele Ribis, Meagan Mahlberg, Jeffrey Seppala, Wei Wu and Leigh Holman on the stage of Macky Auditorium. (Nicole Vogel not pictured)
In August 2011, four CU students will travel to the Friuli region of Italy to perform with the Piccolo Festival. (Nicole Vogel, Meagan Mahlberg, Jeffrey Seppala, and Wei Wu.) Three will be performing in Rossini’s one-act opera La cambiale de matrimonio. (The fourth student will be performing in their concert series). Leigh Holman will serve as stage director for that production.
While in Italy, the students will receive language and diction training, musical and vocal coaching, and performance opportunities while touring the region and performing in a variety of beautiful historic venues. The Piccolo Festival is providing them with housing and a stipend. This is an unparalleled opportunity for our students to receive training in Italian opera performance from native Italians who are professional performers.
In April 2012, the Piccolo Festival performers, their musical conductor, and other guests will come to Boulder and re-mount the production of La cambiale de matrimonio as the third show in the CU Opera season. The students will reprise their summer roles in that production for our Boulder audiences.
CU Opera in the Italian press