UK Opera Theatre undergrads to present acts by Mozart
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 15, 2024) — University of Kentucky undergraduate opera students will present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's first act finale of "Cosi fan tutte" and an extended second act finale of "Le nozze di Figaro" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, in the Schmidt Vocal Arts Center on UK's campus. The workshop will be free and open to the public.
Staged by UK Opera Workshop Director Christopher Burchett, the workshop will feature UK opera undergraduate students Calia Burdette, Will Jones, Svitlana Merlichenko, William Middleton III, Lydia Naberhaus, Anazha Santiago, Tess Sergent, Max Taylor, Andrew Tran, Dejah Watts and Grace Wong.
"The UK opera workshop class is one of several building blocks for vocal students here at UK," Burchett said. "The workshop program provides an atmosphere of instruction and exploration as these singers learn what it is to be professional performers. My hope is that they leave each semester with a greater knowledge and confidence in their craft, ready to take on even bigger challenges without the fear of failure. Because the UK Opera Theatre program has provided not just the foundation to maximize their talents, but the understanding of what will be expected of them when they enter the professional world."
UK Opera Theatre is part of the School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts. The school has garnered a national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, music therapy, composition and theory and music history.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.