Spotlight on Opera program plans welcome concert at Centenary June 24
SHREVEPORT, LA — Opera is in the air at Centenary College this summer, as the prestigious Spotlight on Opera training program calls the Hurley School of Music home during its 12th annual summer season. The summer kicks off with a welcome concert Sunday, June 24, at 7:00 p.m. in Centenary’s Anderson Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public with a reception to follow.
Hurley Artist-in-Residence Cindy Sadler founded Spotlight on Opera in 2007 as a one-week summer program. It has since grown into an independent non-profit organization, attracting students from all over the United States and several foreign countries.
“Our students spend five intensive weeks perfecting their performances for other people, so the Spotlight faculty likes to kick off by entertaining the students for a change!” says Sadler. “We welcome our singers with a little concert and reception before handing the performing reins over to them for the remainder of the program. This is a fun and casual concert which is free and open to the public, and we’d love to see the community come out and welcome our students, too – especially since it’s our first year at Centenary.”
Sadler will perform in the welcome concert along with other Spotlight on Opera faculty members, including Gale Odom, Adam Philley, Bruce Cain, Tyler Tucker, Riley McKinch, and pianist Kristin Roach, Spotlight’s music director. The repertoire includes selections from Don Pasquale, Samson et Dalila, The Elixir of Love, The Consul, The Merry Widow, and It’s Only Life.
Spotlight on Opera will present two major productions and a variety of concerts, scenes programs, and educational events during the 2018 summer season. The Gilbert & Sullivan classic The Pirates of Penzance comes to the Anderson Auditorium stage July 14 and 15, followed by Puccini’s La Boheme July 28 and 29. Spotlight artists will also present a short children’s opera, Little Red Riding Hood, at several community locations in July. For more information about all Spotlight on Opera events, visit SpotlightOnOpera.com.