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Talent,
love of performing define performers in annual Bozeman opera
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Christopher
Bengochea as Arturo
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Jeff
Kitto as Normanno
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| by Marjorie
Smith |
| "Thank
goodness for the MSU music department," says Roberto Stivanello,
producer and director of the Intermountain Opera Association's
(IOA) May production in Bozeman of Donizett's "Lucia di
Lammermoor." "It gives us access to great musicians
-- soloists, chorus and instrumentalists. We had three MSU alums
as soloists in 'Lucia' and I am very proud of their performances.
They were high quality voices and were completely professional,
which is a reflection on the education they have received from
MSU." |
| For the
past 26 years, the spring productions of the IOA have become
a linchpin of Bozeman's -- and MSU's -- cultural life. The MSU-IOA
collaboration is a win-win situation, especially for the students
who sing in the chorus and add a professional gig to their resumes.
The IOA is the oldest professional opera company in the northern
Rockies. |
| Tenor
Jeff Kitto, '99 MusEd, sang Normanno, the scheming captain
of the Guard. It was Kitto's seventh appearance with the IOA
and his biggest role to date, although "it wasn't really
flattering to my voice. But it is a good character part. I tried
to make him really evil." |
| Jeff, who
spent two years as lead singer with the rock band The Clintons,
says, "I'm a better classical musician than rock, but The
Clintons was a lot of fun. Now I'm back into classical music,
pursuing it full time." |
| Anna
"Coco" Turck Douma, EX '93, sang the role of Alisa,
Lucia's companion. With a four-year old son and "the most
supportive husband on the planet," she balances a banking
career, family and doing "what I love to do -- performing."
"Lucia" was Douma's 12th IOA opera. She has appeared
in several musicals produced by Montana TheatreWorks and recently
joined three other singers to form Sound Alive, a "Manhattan
Transfer-esque" group. |
| Christopher
Bengochea, '01 EX, who sang Arturo Bucklaw, the murdered
bridegroom in "Lucia," grew up in eastern Montana
and came to MSU to study piano. Bengochea got his voice fundamentals
at MSU -- particularly from former faculty member David Cody. |
| "Christopher
is a young man about whom we will hear more," says Suzanne
Gorder, a voice teacher who settled in Bozeman after a career
as a coloratura soprano in Europe and San Francisco. |
| Kitto believes
the MSU music department has always had outstanding faculty.
"The individuals in the department are much greater than
the sum of the degree," he says. "I can't say enough
about Johan Jonsson and his stimulating music history classes,
or about Lowell Hickman's choral direction. And David Cody --
he instilled so much passion for music in both Chris and me."
Kitto, who once beat out Bengochea for the title role in an
MSU workshop production of "The Old Maid and the Thief"
agrees that Bengochea is a force to be reckoned with. |
| For his
part, Bengochea has no intention of abandoning his home state.
"I'll keep coming back as long as the IOA keeps asking
me," he promises. |
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