Ann Baltz, founder and artistic director of the nationally acclaimed OperaWorks training program for singers, will be in residence at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley from April 17-22.
An opera educator, director and coach/pianist based in Los Angeles, Baltz is working with UTRGV Opera Theater faculty and students to develop a show that explores students’ real collegiate lives in the Valley through music and theater.
Performances are 7 p.m. Saturday, April 21, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 22, at the TSC Arts Center in Brownsville.
Baltz said the performance piece she creates with students will explore turning points in the lives of each of the characters.
“This is a story about people from different backgrounds who must deal with the challenges of life’s transitions – children leaving home for an education, relationships that cross cultural differences, love lost and found, and teachers who navigate their students’ educational and personal challenges,” she said.
Students will perform songs and arias from art song, music theater, popular, folk and operatic repertoire. Baltz has connected the diverse music with an original story inspired by personal narratives written by the UTRGV student performers.
She said she hopes the process will be meaningful for students in their off-stage lives, as well.
“In my experience with previous productions of this sort, the performers emerge from this process more confident, and with a clearer picture of who they are as unique individuals,” she said.
UTRGV Opera Theater directors Cathy Compton and Daniel Hunter-Holly and pianist Oliver Jia have been preparing students for the residency through music rehearsals, dramatic coaching, and movement and improvisation exercises.
Hunter-Holly said he looks forward to the opportunity for learning and growth the residency provides student performers.
“Ann has been an inspiration to me since I first met her in 2012,” he said. “She is an iconic force in the world of opera, continually advocating for an educational system that nurtures creative instinct and challenges us all to perform out of our ‘comfort zones.’ We are so thankful for the financial support we have received from UTRGV’s Transforming Our World Strategic Plan Grant, giving our students the opportunity to create this performance piece with Ann.”
The University Counseling center and clinical therapist Maria Alejandra Mazariegos have provided oversight for the interdisciplinary project.
Student photographer Veronica Gaona will document the process and performances.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Admission to the UTRGV Opera Theater performances is $10 general and $5 for students and seniors. Tickets are available in advance at patron.utrgv.edu, or at the box office beginning one hour prior to show time.
For more information, contact Patron of the Arts at patron@utrgv.edu, or call (956) 882-7025.