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Opera artists will teach and perform
September 16, 2006
Seattle Opera artists Holly Boaz and Shelby Rhoades will hold a masterclass and performance in Lagerquist Concert Hall on Friday, Sept. 22.
Both Boaz and Rhoades are young, up-and-coming artists, said Jim Brown, an assistant professor of music. Boaz “is a fabulous operatic soprano” and Rhoades is a vocal coach and accompanist, he said.
“I’m always looking for area artists that are at the top of the music world … people that are going to be super famous one day, and getting them before they are,” Brown said.
The masterclass, titled “The Art of the Audition,” begins at 3:30 p.m. Masterclasses are workshops where a master of an art form works with a novice, Brown explained. The event is open to students and the public.
During the workshop, Boaz and Rhoades will talk about auditioning and strategies to be successful. Participants will also have their singing critiqued by the artists, Brown said.
Boaz and Rhoades will perform Friday at 8 p.m. in Lagerquist. Their concert includes songs by Rachmaninov, Strauss and Britten.
“They are going to do some really gorgeous music,” Brown said.
Boaz and Rhoades first performed as a duo at the Art Song Festival at Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio last May. They were featured in a master class and recital series with Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey and pianist Warren Jones.
Originally from St. Paul, Minn., Boaz’s resume of operatic roles include Mozart heroines Donna Anna and Konstanze, the bel canto roles of Lucia, Adina, Gilda and Violetta, and the contemporary role of governess in Britten’s “Turn of the Screw.” She has performed with the Connecticut Opera, the Aspen Opera Theater and the Midland Symphony.
Boaz is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Music, where she received the Hilldale Fellowship Award for her research on 19th century French women composers. She earned a master’s in music from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where she was a teaching assistant in the voice department and the recipient of the Berkowitz Opera Award.
Boaz is part of the Seattle Opera’s Young Artist Program, which provides career guidance and training for young professional singers. This season, she will be featured as Alice Ford in Verdi’s “Falstaff.”
Rhoades is a native of Ohio and currently in demand as a recitalist, coach-accompanist and musical director. She recently relocated to Seattle and joined the University of Washington’s music department.
Last February, Rhoades served as the musical director for PLU’s Opera Workshop production. She currently works with the Tacoma Opera, Seattle Opera, Annas Bay Musica Festival and Seattle Pro Musica.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in piano from Anderson University and a master’s degree in vocal performance and accompanying from Ball State University. She is an associate coach for the Aspen Opera Theater Center.
PLU’s next vocal masterclass features Marni Nixon, a well-known vocalist, on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in Lagerquist. Nixon has served as the singing voice for some of the greatest movie stars in history, including Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and Marilyn Monroe. Nixon will also speak about her new book, “I Could Have Sung All Night.”
For more information, call the music department at ext. 7787 or visit www.plu.edu/~music.
“I’m always looking for area artists that are at the top of the music world … people that are going to be super famous one day, and getting them before they are,” Brown said.
The masterclass, titled “The Art of the Audition,” begins at 3:30 p.m. Masterclasses are workshops where a master of an art form works with a novice, Brown explained. The event is open to students and the public.
During the workshop, Boaz and Rhoades will talk about auditioning and strategies to be successful. Participants will also have their singing critiqued by the artists, Brown said.
Boaz and Rhoades will perform Friday at 8 p.m. in Lagerquist. Their concert includes songs by Rachmaninov, Strauss and Britten.
“They are going to do some really gorgeous music,” Brown said.
Boaz and Rhoades first performed as a duo at the Art Song Festival at Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio last May. They were featured in a master class and recital series with Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey and pianist Warren Jones.
Originally from St. Paul, Minn., Boaz’s resume of operatic roles include Mozart heroines Donna Anna and Konstanze, the bel canto roles of Lucia, Adina, Gilda and Violetta, and the contemporary role of governess in Britten’s “Turn of the Screw.” She has performed with the Connecticut Opera, the Aspen Opera Theater and the Midland Symphony.
Boaz is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Music, where she received the Hilldale Fellowship Award for her research on 19th century French women composers. She earned a master’s in music from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where she was a teaching assistant in the voice department and the recipient of the Berkowitz Opera Award.
Boaz is part of the Seattle Opera’s Young Artist Program, which provides career guidance and training for young professional singers. This season, she will be featured as Alice Ford in Verdi’s “Falstaff.”
Rhoades is a native of Ohio and currently in demand as a recitalist, coach-accompanist and musical director. She recently relocated to Seattle and joined the University of Washington’s music department.
Last February, Rhoades served as the musical director for PLU’s Opera Workshop production. She currently works with the Tacoma Opera, Seattle Opera, Annas Bay Musica Festival and Seattle Pro Musica.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in piano from Anderson University and a master’s degree in vocal performance and accompanying from Ball State University. She is an associate coach for the Aspen Opera Theater Center.
PLU’s next vocal masterclass features Marni Nixon, a well-known vocalist, on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in Lagerquist. Nixon has served as the singing voice for some of the greatest movie stars in history, including Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and Marilyn Monroe. Nixon will also speak about her new book, “I Could Have Sung All Night.”
For more information, call the music department at ext. 7787 or visit www.plu.edu/~music.