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Seniors selected for Opera Scholars program
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
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The Dallas Opera has selected the membership of its 2009-2010 Opera Scholars class, and two Alvarado Indians are among those chosen. The names of Alvarado High School seniors Sara Fischer and Lea Krivan are on the very short list of only 16 high school students selected to participate in this exclusive program.
Music teachers throughout the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area submit nominations for Opera Scholars. Linda Bedwell, Associate Director of The Dallas Opera, noted the selection committee faced an unusually difficult task in putting together the roster of this year's scholars.
“We had a very large number of nominations to the program this year and they all had strong qualifications,” Bedwell said. “We had to narrow our selections to 16 and then place a few students on the wait list in case someone should drop out of the program early. Unfortunately, we had to decline some students based on the size of the program.”
Through a series of class sessions, Dallas Opera Scholars introduces young men and women to opera as an art form. The scholars receive a behind-the-scenes look at the many aspects involved in putting an opera production on stage as well as study and attend final dress rehearsals or performances of some of the season's operas.
The Dallas Opera and its patrons underwrite the entire program, so there is no cost to the students selected. Among the topics covered are Dallas Opera productions, the history of opera, voice types and their registers, careers in opera, the relationship between roles and voice types, opera composers and their styles, and the differences between opera, operetta, and musical theater.
The students also receive tours of Dallas Opera rehearsal and production facilities. This season is a particularly auspicious time for the Opera Scholars. The Dallas Opera is moving into its new performance home, the Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.
Sara Fischer has been active in both the band and the choir programs at AHS for four years. According to Edward Smith, AHS choir director, Sara is definitely a leader in the school's top choir, Honor Chorale. “She leads by example,” he said. “She comes to class almost every day, she works hard, and she has an amazing voice. She is highly respected here by students, faculty, and staff.”
Sara earned a superior rating and a gold medal for her vocal solo performance at the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest in May.
Lea Krivan sang in the Alvarado ISD choir program in junior high and as a high school freshman. She moved out of the district at the end of her freshman year.
“I was not very happy when I learned Lea was moving to Weatherford,” Smith said. “I called my friend Pat Banks, the choir director there, and I told him he was getting a wonderful person with a beautiful voice. Pat is an excellent director, and Lea benefited from singing for him.”
Smith said he received a telephone call from Banks this past summer informing him that Krivan was returning to Alvarado for her senior year. “I was much happier about that move,” said Smith. “I refer to those two years as Lea's missionary work in Parker County.”
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