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Otello Week 7

This week we'll meet tenor Jason Collins who sings the role of Cassio, who Iago suspects of being Desdemona's lover. We'll also pay tribute to the legendary Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland who passed away on Sunday, October 10th at the age of 83.

Meet tenor Jason Collins
This week our website of the week belongs to the Opera Company of Philadelphia's, but only because we want to direct you to a 4-part interview conducted by students from schools in Kentucky, Lancaster, the Poconos, and Montgomery County and OCP's Director of Community Programs, Michael Bolton, at MAGPI's studios in Philadelphia.

Jason was born in South Carolina and educated at The Julliard School in New York City and at The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He talked his role in Otello, about what it's like to be a singer, how he discovered his voice, got his start in his career, prepares a role, and much, much more.

Below is PART ONE of the 4-part interview with Jason Collins. Click here to see all four parts.



MAGPI connects educational organizations from around the world through Internet2 technology, which is just like the internet we all use to look things up online and view YouTube videos but dedicated just for educational use. If you're interested in learning more about MAGPI, visit http://www.magpi.net/Network.


YouTube Clip of the Week

Dame Joan Sutherland was born in Sydney, Australia in 1926. Her parents were from Scotland and her early training as a singer gave her the tools to win the Sun Aria contest in Australia. This enabled her to continue her studies in London at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music.

She soon began performing in small roles at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in London, England. Her star quickly began to rise as she trained to sing the high and fast music of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini of the Italian the bel canto tradition.

Tall, statuesque and noted for her strong square jaw and high cheek bones, she became famous for the sheer size of her voice, brilliance of her high notes, and amazing vocal agility. She frequently partnered with the legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the superstar mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne.

As Elvira in Bellini's I puritani:


Singing Lakme's Bell Song:


In the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor


If you'd like to learn more about Dame Joan, there are several interviews with her online in print and on YouTube.


OPERA ON THE AIR - Your Free Dose of Opera!

This week, 90.1 FM - WRTI broadcasts a performance of Richard Strauss's Salome from San Francisco Opera from 1:00pm - 3:00pm. You can listen on the radio at 90.1 FM, or click here to listen online.

Based on Oscar Wilde's play of the biblical story of Judean Princess Salome and her obsession with John the Baptist, Strauss's Salome has been shocking opera lovers since its premiere in 1905.

This performance stars German soprano Nadja Michael as Salome and local resident Greer Grimsley as John the Baptist. Also in the cast are Elizabeth DeShong who studied at The Curtis Institute of Music and Jeremy Milner who studied at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts and who sings Lodovico in our production of Otello!

The full cast is:
  • Salome: Nadja Michael
  • Herodias: Irina Mishura
  • Herod: Kim Begley
  • Jokanaan: Greer Grimsley
  • Narraboth: Garrett Sorenson
  • A page: Elizabeth DeShong
  • First Jew: Beau Gibson
  • Second Jew: Robert MacNeil
  • Third Jew: Matthew O'Neill
  • Fourth Jew: Corey Bix
  • Fifth Jew: Jeremy Milner
  • First Soldier: Andrew Funk
  • Second Soldier: Bojan Knezevic
  • First Nazarene: Julien Robbins
  • Second Nazarene: Austin Kness
  • Cappodocian: Kenneth Kellogg
  • Slave: Renee Tatum



Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, and age to us at outreach@operaphila.org.

Until next week…

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