Opera
Director—Robert Mangialardi
The opera program at Illinois Wesleyan University School of Music presents bi-annual performances of operatic excerpts and full-scale productions. Recent productions have included The Elixir of Love, Don Giovanni, Iolanthe, Gianni Schicchi, The Magic Flute, The Beautiful Bridegroom, and Too Many Sopranos.
The School of Music's Opera Program has long been recognized as a fertile training ground for the serious performance major. We commit faculty resources and financial support to help the performance major interested in the Musical Stage (Opera) so that they will experience their art by "performing" and "experiencing" their craft.
The philosophy of Opera at Illinois Wesleyan, under the direction and supervision of Robert Mangialardi has addressed both the essential expectations of the profession and the extraordinary belief put in to practice that the young singer must have the opportunity to test their talent and hone their skills in front of an audience. So to that end the program of performance studies (BM in Voice) has been constructed to meet the professional needs of the young singer through the more advanced skills of the upper class student.
Staged musical experiences are offered on two levels: (1) Opera Workshop offers a laboratory experience where students receive the basic stage training through the academic/performance experiences through musical excerpts and scenes; (2) Opera Theatre is an auditioned experience devoted to the spring performance of one-act and full-length operatic works. In addition, students may select independent study projects in opera, which may include serving as assistant conductors, or presenting a program or short scenes.