| Stamford Advocate Newspaper PERFORMANCES AIM TO CONVERT SOME TO OPERA By Ray Hogan Staff Writer Published February 12 2006 |
Soprano Betty Jones will make a guest appearance each evening during “A Night at the Opera"
Wendy Gerbier hopes that "A Night at the Opera" appeals to fans of opera and show tunes, the two styles of music
it will feature in separate acts.
But she might be more pleased if fans of the latter were won over by what they experience in the first act.
Until three years ago, she was one of them. Gerbier grew up surrounded by music. She started on violin at age 9
and later became president of her college's singing group. A chance church encounter led her to opera, and she's
spent the past few years studying, performing and trying to expose new audiences to the music.
"It really does touch the core of human emotion," Gerbier says. "To most people who don't understand opera, it's
intimidating. It was intimidating to me. I had people that showed me what opera truly is."
"A Night at the Opera," part of Stamford Center for the Arts' African-American Cultural Series with performances
Friday and Saturday, is in its second year and will feature selections from classic operas such as "Norma," "Don
Carlos" and "Dido and Aeneas" and popular musicals such as "Showboat," Chicago" and "The Phantom of the
Opera."
"We are going into some musical theater as well, so not to be a little too overwhelming," Gerbier says. "We didn't
want to present opera where for two hours straight they were hearing things in different languages -- All of them are
done in English and bring a sense of familiarity. It shows the audience that (both styles) are part of the same thing,
touching on human experience and human emotion. I wish that when I was younger it was presented to me that way."
The show tunes will be sung by the same singers presenting the operatic work. They are mezzo-soprano Gerbier,
sopranos Michelle Abraham Lambert and Sarah Arikian, baritone Christopher Schaljo, bassist John Dominick and,
for the Broadway segment, the group The Majestics.
For the past two years, Gerbier has found her singers through an audition call in Classical Singer magazine. Most
live in Fairfield or Westchester, N.Y., counties. On the evenings of the performance, she invites leaders from local
opera and classical music groups to showcase her discoveries. "We find emerging professionals people don't get a
chance to really hear because they are not as known and are still getting there," she says.
To help the audience connect with the material, "A Night at the Opera" employs a narrator -- Eugene T. Jones -- to
introduce each piece and outline character and plot as well as pertinent information about the culture when each
was written. Jones is the husband of soprano Betty Jones, who will make a guest appearance each evening and is
Gerbier's vocal coach. Another guest is pianist David Hollander.
"I'm the odd man out, the only pianist among a bunch of singers," he says. "I'm playing the music of Chopin and he
always was to be found in the evenings at the opera. He loved opera dearly and his compositions are highly
operatic."
Like Gerbier, Hollander, a Wilton resident, believes that introducing classical music to a new audience is a way to
ensure its future.
"It's important that we keep classical music alive with live performances," he says. "These are great works that were
written to be heard in the moment by living performers. É This music was originally financed by the wealthy elite, but
so many of the themes were derived from folk material, music of the common man. Like all great art, it resonates with
all human experience, so everyone can enjoy it."
To that end, The Studio of the Rich Forum will be transformed into a candle-lit, circular-table cabaret-style setting.
Dress code is cocktail or black-tie. Gerbier says last year's event drew a mix of well-versed opera fans and those
new to it.
Friday night's performance culminates with a reception; Saturday night ends with a less-formal meet and greet in the
lobby of the Rich Forum. For Gerbier, last year's sold-out event was an encouraging sign. Now she's thinking of
staging more than one event each year.
"I feel like I'm on a ride and on a high and haven't come off it really," Gerbier says. "What is happening is beyond my
wildest dreams. I'm glad that I'm not just singing but helping to contribute and give back. It moves you emotionally,
but you have to get it. It's emotionally moving once you understand what opera is."
"A Night at the Opera" will be presented at The Studio at Rich Forum, 61 Atlantic St., Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.
m. Admission is $30. Audience members are asked to dress in cocktail or black-tie attire. Call (800) 233-3123 or visit
www.onlyatsca.com.
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
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