Singing in your first professional opera is challenge enough. Throw in a 12-hour, trans-Atlantic flight and a mere two days of rehearsal time 鈥� with two different conductors 鈥� and you鈥檝e got a grand task indeed.
But that鈥檚 just what student Anna Englander will face in January when she travels to Italy to sing the key role of Suzuki for three performances of Puccini鈥檚 classic Madama Butterfly in three different cities.
鈥淚鈥檒l probably still be a little jet-lagged,鈥� says Englander, 22, a mezzo-soprano who received her bachelor鈥檚 degree from CU and is now in pursuing a master鈥檚 degree. 鈥淚鈥檒l just drink a little coffee and get to work.鈥�
Englander is the first CU student to participate in a new collaboration between the college and , a Verona-based production company. , director of , Dean Dan Sher and Opera Futura President Paolo Panizza recently finalized plans for a series of exchanges in the coming year.
鈥淲e鈥檝e begun a really wonderful relationship,鈥� says Holman, who recently returned from co-directing Madama Butterfly with Panizza.
Massimo Alessio Taddia, a conductor with Opera Futura, visited Boulder earlier this year and introduced Panizza to Holman. Panizza will return in 2013 to direct La Boheme, Holman says. In turn, she will travel to Italy to 鈥減ut an American flair鈥� on Verdi鈥檚 Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball).
Perhaps most important, she says, two more students from the college will perform with Opera Futura in Italy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a great opportunity for our students,鈥� Holman says. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l be learning about opera in the birthplace of opera.鈥�
Meanwhile, Englander says she鈥檚 taking advantage of resources on this side of the Atlantic to 鈥渞emotely prepare鈥� for her performances. She has been carefully studying a DVD of the touring production and working with vocal coach on such things as diction and other artistic details.
鈥淚鈥檒l be completely prepared by the time I get there to review the staging,鈥� she says.
Englander met Opera Futura conductor Massimo Taddia in Boulder. He contacted her in September via Facebook to ask if she would be interested in performing in Italy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a big step from university productions to a professional one abroad. It鈥檚 exciting, though it鈥檚 a little scary sometimes,鈥� she says.
A native of Hungary who moved to the United States at age 12, Englander says she鈥檚 also pleased that members of her extended European family will be able to see her perform for the first time.
She came to classical training late and wasn鈥檛 involved in music at all until she joined her high school jazz choir, where another student told her, 鈥淵our voice sounds like a classical voice; it has that timbre.鈥� She took the bait, began training and soon was winning competitions and being cast in various roles.
She started her college career at the University of Southern California, but transferred to Boulder when her father, Associate Professor of Mathematics Janos Englander, took a faculty position at CU.
鈥淏eing from Europe, I really didn鈥檛 like Los Angeles; just the fact that you couldn鈥檛 walk anywhere,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 so much happier at CU. My singing has improved drastically because I am so inspired my Boulder. I just love looking at the mountains and being in nature while thinking about my pieces and arias.鈥�
Still, she never expected to be given an opportunity to perform with a professional touring company in Europe when she came to CU.
鈥淚 really hope the College of Music is able to continue this amazing collaboration, so other singers will have the opportunity to do something this special,鈥� she says.听
Image courtesy Nathan W. Armes: MASS dress rehearsal at the Boettcher in Denver, CO 4/25/2011
