Cal Poly Opera Workshop Students to Perform March 4 and 5

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Students in Cal Poly's Opera Workshop will present two performances of “Classic Scenes from Opera and Broadway” in the Pavilion of the Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, and 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5.

The program will feature an eclectic mix of arias, songs and ensembles, ranging from works selected from the classical repertoire through contemporary American classics and musical theatre.

The concert repertoire has been selected to guarantee that all music majors studying voice have roles. Music Department vocal faculty members Katherine Arthur and Jacalyn Kreitzer stage and direct. Kreitzer is also the workshop producer.

Staff accompanist Paul Woodring will accompany scenes by composer W.A. Mozart—the first half of the program—and Music Department seniors Katie Dugan and Brigid Drury will accompany scenes by composers Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Georges Bizet and Leonard Bernstein.

Woodring also makes a comical appearance as Dr. Pangloss in Bernstein’s “The Best of All Possible Worlds” from “Candide,” and Music Department Professors Thomas Davies and Ken Habib tango their way through the finale, “I Am So Easily Assimilated,” choreographed and assisted by Cal Poly Orchesis dancers Nicole Thompson, Guinevere Chan, Alexia Beghi and Kelsey LaTourette.

Performances are musically prepared by Arthur, Kreitzer and Woodring, with costumes by Cal Poly alumna Laura Pryzgoda and props and sets provided in part by Howard Gee and the Theatre Department.

Tickets are $6 for students and senior citizens and $10 for the public. They are on sale at the Performing Arts Ticket Office 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends. Order online at www.pacslo.org; by phone at SLO-ARTS (756-2787); or by fax at 756-6088.

Patrons who buy season tickets to four Music Department events through the Performing Arts Ticket Office will receive a 10 percent discount; a 15 percent discount is given to those who buy tickets to five or more events.

The performances are sponsored by the Cal Poly Music Department, College of Liberal Arts, Instructionally Related Activities program and in part by local donors. For more information, call the Music Department at 756-2406.

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