PSU Magazine Spring 1997

point in the workshop's history, but subsequent productions of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde (1994) , Dido and Aeneas on the 300th anniversary of composer Henry Purcell's death (1995), and Donizetti's The Elixir of Love (1996) have maintained the high standard. To the outsider, the programming of the annual opera productions may seem unusual. PSU doesn't offer the standard professional opera house repertoire of nonstop Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, and Mozart. As Dobson explain, "Young students don't have the vocal capacity for verismo singing. Only schools with doctoral programs-and therefore older students--can tackle Verdi and most Puccini." PSU's offbeat repertoire, though, produces two useful and important results: students learn about the enor– mous variety and scope of operatic repertoire, and local audiences have an opportunity to see shows that they'd never see in a decade of attending Portland Opera and eattle Opera. 0 pera productions demand teamwork, and many people have lent their expertise over the years, from occasional vocal or instrumental ringers (local professionals brought in to fill a gap) to choreogra– phers, set and costume designers, conductors, stage directors and managers, not to mention the thousands of students who have sung roles or chorus parts and played in the orches– tras. But at the center of the program is Dobson, who with her colleagues Bruce Browne and David Jimerson conducts the business of the Music Department's vocal sector. Christine Meadows '83 is one of seven adjunct in tructors who administer to the vocal needs of the Music Deparunent's 80 voice majors. She and Diane Hammack MST '91, Janine Kirstein, Richard Lippold, Richard Poppino, Alyce Rogers, and Vijay Singh MST '94 take eight students each, as well a offer other courses (Poppino, for example, teaches German, Italian, and French diction; Singh handles vocal jazz). Meadows, who went to Indiana University for a master's degree and then to three years at the New York City Opera ("the house that Beverly Sills built"), is clear on the impulse behind PSU's opera program: "Ruth makes the program go." "The be t thing about the PSU program, when I was a student and now," continues Meadows, "is that it gives students an opportunity to perform. I sang in only one prod uction at PSU [The Secret Marriage in 198 1], but because of the program I had a chance to do other things around town, concerts and plays. It was rea lly important to get that experience young." Meadows parlayed her Portland experience into a professional career that includes not only teaching, but regular appearances with James DePreist and the O regon Symphony and with John Trudeau's Columbia Symphony, as well as one or two opera or oratorio experiences a year with major American opera companies. PHOTO BY llA N CARTER The Magic Flute was one of the Opera Workshop's most lavish productions. Carey Wong of Seattle pr vided set and costume design. Pictured here is Kimberly Goodwin-Helton singing the part of the Queen of Night. SPRING 1997 PSU MAGAZINE 17