Monday, April 30, 2007

Raffle Winners


Thank you to everyone who purchased a chance to win in the annual Mississippi Opera raffle fundraiser. The winners were drawn on April 21 during intermission of the production of Carmen at Thalia Mara Hall. Congratulations to:

Mary Ann McCarty - 41" Outdoor Stainless Viking Grill

Bob Soukup - Opera Length Mikimoto Pearls

Chad Clifford - 2007 C230 Mercedes-Benz


Be on the lookout for next year's chance for your name to be listed above!!!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Meet the Cast!



Photo credit Steve Rouse, USM Marketing and Public Relations





Cast members for Mississippi Opera (left to right) Oziel Garza-Ornelas as Escamillo, Fenlon Lamb as Carmen, Daniel Holmes as Don José and Hilary Ginther Carmen cover.

Oziel Garza-Ornelas’ (baritone) career already includes appearances with many opera companies in Europe and North America, including The Washington Opera (Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte), Frankfurt Opera (Belcore), Grand Théâtre de L’Opera de Limoges (Marcello in La Bohème), San Diego Opera (Schaunard in La Boheme), Orlando Opera (Schaunard), Sarasota Opera (Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon), Opera Theater of Connecticut (Escamillo in Carmen), Piedmont Opera (Lescaut and Marcello), Grand Théâtre de Genève, L’Opera de Nancy and the Neues Festspielhaus, St Pölten (Emuke in Tania Leon’s Scourge of Hyacinths produced by Robert Wilson), and Di Capo Opera Theater in New York (Silvio in I Pagliacci).

Recent engagements include debuts with the Santa Fe Opera as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, in Liège, Belgium as Germont in La Traviata, New Israeli Opera as Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Teatro Bellas Artes in Mexico City as Taddeo, Opera Carolina as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Kentucky Opera as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Shreveport Opera as Germont, and Rigoletto for Nevada Opera.


For American mezzo-soprano Fenlon Lamb’s debut Sacramento Opera as Rosina IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, the Sacramento Bee raved, “…every inch the saucy rebel [who] navigated the highly ornamented passages with creamy ease.” Described as “deliciously vulnerable” her Dorabella COSÌ FAN TUTTE was hailed by the Santa Barbara News-Press as “a charismatic characterization supported by a dynamic, rich vocal sound.” The Baltimore Sun applauded her AGRIPPIN saying “In the title role, Fenlon Lamb revealed a bright, flexible voice, ever-brilliant phrasing and theatrical flourish.”

Recently Ms. Lamb sang the roles of Stephano ROMÉO ET JULIETTE at Cleveland Opera, Maddalena RIGOLETTO for Opera Vivente and Flora LA TRAVIATA with Opera Grand Rapids. Highlights from recent seasons include Rosina IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA with Sacramento Opera, Dorabella COSÌ FAN TUTTE for both the Caramoor International Music Festival and Opera Santa Barbara, Charlotte WERTHER for Opera Vivente, the title role of IOLANTHE for Cleveland Opera where she also sang the world premiere of COME TO ME IN DREAMS with baritone Sanford Sylvan.


American tenor Daniel Holmes has been praised as a "confident and passionate Roméo" in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette with Opera North, and enthusiastically lauded as Alfredo in La Traviata, "his voice was smooth and controlled, and he sang with unpretentious confidence."

Other opera roles include Rodolfo in La Bohème at Italy's Ravella Festival, Gérald (Lakmé) at Sarasota Opera, Hoffmann in Les Contes d'Hoffmann with the Tri-Cities Opera (NY), Tom in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Sam in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, and Rinuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. He has also performed leading roles with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

This year, Mr. Holmes returned to Sarasota Opera to sing Rodolfo and as cover for Carlo in Verdi's I Masnadieri.


Hilary Ginther, a Bristol, VA native, is a senior voice performance major at USM. She has performed roles with SOMTC in Susannah, The Magic Flute, and A Grand Night for Singing. She performed as Maria in the USM production of West Side Story in Geb. 2006. Ginther studies with Dr. Maryann Kyle, who also directs the SOMTC.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

From the Students in Carmen

I could not ask for a more rewarding experience than this joint production of Carmen. As the Carmen #2, and a senior undergraduate at USM, I am learning more than I ever could have hoped from Carmen #1, Fenlon Lamb. Working with the professionals, I have received much coaching from them, and for that I am extremely grateful. This is a huge milestone for me, and I cannot express the value of this opportunity. Working with Alan Mann and the hired singers in this production of Carmen is something that very few undergraduates are able to experience, and I am thankful to the MS Opera and USM for giving the students such an incredible opportunity, and a huge stepping stone in my career as a young singer. It is making all of us much better performers to be in the presence of such fine professionals. We are having a blast!
~Hilary Ginther

Performing with professional singers and with a director like Alan Mann is a wonderful learning experience. Dan, Fenlon and Oziel have been wonderful mentors throughout this experience and have gone beyond the 'role' to help us students learn the ropes of opera performance. This is truly a wonderful opportunity for the students of USM, and for that we are grateful. (El Remendado)
~Ronald Laitano

Monday, April 02, 2007

Carmen Rehearsals Underway

Rehearsals for the April 21 production of Carmen began in Hattiesburg last week. All of the cast members have arrived safely and are vigorously rehearsing everyday.

Hopefully we will have some comments to post from the directors, cast and crew within the next few days.

Thank you for reading!