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rgia State’s First Opera Workshop

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Flute*s ladies: Mary Beth Cunningham, Katherine Taylor, Robin Ferguson

J. Brown, K. Jackson in Fiu te

Bring a group of opera bu fł's to-getherand the talk is bound to be volublcand lively. Make those buftea combination of expericnced profes-sionals and eager students, and a comparable flurry of action is inevi-table. Such was the atmosphere that reigned for Georgia State Univcr-sitv's First Summcr Opera Workshop frorn July 27 to August 16, an inten-sivc three wceks of discovery and learning, sponsored by the musie de-partment of Atlanta's largest state-supported university.

The project, funded by a spe-cia! grant, was highly successful in mecting its stated goals: to provide young vocal artists from the region an opportunity to honc their operatie

John Schneider, for ten years musie cntic of the Atlanta Journal, is a pianist and coach, and associate professor of musie at Georgia State Unwersity.

performing skills without having to travcl to morę distant places at greater expense, and to prepare them forcventual engagement by regional opera companies. Three options for participating were offered: perform-crs seeking graduate-lcvcl credit; per-formers not seeking credit; and audi-tors who wished to learn through obscrvation. Various municipal or-ganizations, notably the Atlanta Ci-vic Opera, hailed the venturc as a nccded element in the furtherance of operatie life.

Fcist plus four

AyAhirty-thrce participants virtually i hung on every word from the fac-ully of five. Artistic dircctor was Robert Fcist, an active conductor and au-thority on opera whose reccnt programs on National Public Radio have caught the attention of many opera fans throughout the country.

Fcist's daily lectures on opera history and stylistic traditions gave a new perspective to those whose knowledge of opera was morę hil-or-miss than formalized, and his musical coaching and direction of the sccnes staged as a kind of graduation cxercise contin-ually revealed his special insights into the subjcct.

Joannę McGhce, an authority in modern dancc, taught body move-rnent in a way that clicited raves from the students, and Stuart Culpeppcr's stage, screen, and television crcdits emincntly qualified him for teaching stage comportment and also staging the finał performances. Opera singer Peter Harrower servcd as workshop administrator and taught a class in stageeraft and makeup, while his wife, Irene Callaway, drew from her own personal expcrience in opera and from her reputation as one of At-lanta’s leading voicc teachers to