See opera academy in action at Bradley Fair

Sixteen students from across the country and beyond are living and breathing opera in McPherson.

Wichita Grand Opera has launched its first Opera Academy of the Midwest, an intense, specialized and exclusive three and a half weeks of studying, rehearsing and professional development. The academy began July 1.

The students are staying at Central Christian College and rehearsing daily at the McPherson Opera House, where they might learn from Metropolitan Opera star William Powers in the morning, work with conductor Martin Mazik in the afternoon and study with pianist and coach Nyle Matsuoka in the evening.

“At the same time, they’re also having workshops where they will take scenes from the operas that they are all understudying roles for,” says Edward Lada, Wichita Grand Opera’s music administrator and an instructor at the academy.

The public will get an opportunity to see the opera students perform Saturday night at Opera on the Lake at Bradley Fair.

Academy fellow Caroline Waugh, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University originally from Jamaica, says the training has been consuming and rewarding.

“After three weeks, you are actually going to be in the production,” she said. “In school, you are training. This program takes you into the profession.”

Waugh has participated in several summer programs.

“This one stands out in my mind,” she said. “We are actually in an opera house rehearsing on stage almost every day. We’ll be singing alongside Sam Ramey – we’ll be singing alongside these amazing established artists.”

Wichita Grand Opera has had a young artist program since 2003, but this is the first year for the self-contained residence that is the Opera Academy of the Midwest. In August, many of the students will move to Wichita to be involved in the WGO season.

Lada said WGO conducted three rounds of auditions over the last year and a half, considering about 250 singers nationally and internationally. The academy attendees were selected as fellows, studio artists or apprentices. Those selected as academy fellows are considered ready to transition to a professional career. The studio artists are singers ready for specialized training, and apprentices are those in the early stages of their development.

“It’s not just knowing the notes and knowing the words but knowing how to dissect the music … kind of the nuts and bolts on how you really bring it to life as you’re performing it,” Lada said. “The best part is seeing the light-bulb moments, when they really get something, and then all of the sudden their performance goes to another level.”

Studio artist Anthony Nguyen, who recently graduated from Portland State University, said he was excited to be selected for the inaugural class of the Opera Academy of the Midwest.

“I feel like I’m learning a lot, not just about the art but about the business side and marketing yourself,” he said.

For Nguyen, a highlight has been working with Matsuoka. “We had a hard time as a group coming together as a chorus,” Nguyen said. But within two hours, Matsuoka had the singers jelling.

For his part, Matsuoka hopes to provide the singers with at least one tool they can take away for their development beyond the practical matters of learning their parts for WGO performances.

“The thing that I have enjoyed the most is that we have such a wide range of singers and in such different parts of their developments,” he said. “We have singers that are teenagers, all the way through singers that are basically working professionally. … As important as it is to come and get the musical training, the language training and the acting training, it’s also a great experience for them to get to know the people they’re probably going to be singing with in the future.”

Apprentice Skyler Dykes is among the beginners, and she was amazed to discover a program of such high caliber in her home state. Dykes graduated from Topeka High School this spring and will study vocal performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this fall.

“I’ve also really enjoyed the individualization of the program,” she said. “Everyone will leave the program with equal training no matter their age or where they are, but no two individuals will have the same experience.”

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 3:07 PM with the headline "See opera academy in action at Bradley Fair."