SCC music students present opera scenes

Operatic scenes of four operas with piano accompaniment, and the one-act opera, “Suor Angelica” by Giacomo Puccini will be presented by students of the Shoreline Community College Music Department in their annual Opera Workshop Performances on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1. The fully staged and costumed production begins at 7:30 p.m. in the SCC Campus Theater.

Performed with chamber orchestra, Seattle singer and actress Ellen McLain will perform the lead role of Sister Angelica in “Suor Angelica.” The program will include music from “Don Pasquale” by Gaetano Donizetti; “Fidelio” by Ludwig van Beethoven; “Eugene Onegin” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; and “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini. The majority of the opera workshop will be performed in English, with the exception of a Russian folk song in a scene from “Eugene Onegin,” coached by Tatiana Benbalit, pianist for Seattle Opera; and a scene from “Norma,” which will be performed in Italian. George Fiore, former chorusmaster of Seattle Opera and current conductor of the Seattle Symphony Chorale, coached the Italian.

Ann Raphael will accompany the opera scenes from “Don Pasquale,” “Fidelio,” “Eugene Onegin” and “Norma.” The college’s Shoreline Chamber Choir will sing in “Eugene Onegin” and in “Fidelio.”

Teresa Metzger Howe is the guest conductor of the Workshop Performances. Last spring she conducted the college’s musical, “The Boyfriend.” Howe earned her doctorate of musical arts in orchestral conducting at the University of Washington in 2001 under the tutelage of Maestro Peter Erös.

Susan Dolacky is the producer/musical director and Ann Arends is the staging director and Ron Owens is the technical director.

General admission is $12, $10 for seniors and students, and $8 for children 14 and younger and Shoreline students with college ID. Call 206-546-4606 to order tickets or purchase at the door.

Shoreline Community College is located at 16101 Greenwood Ave. N., west of Aurora Ave.