‘Le nozze di Figaro’ to Open at the PAC

April 21, 2016

Georgia Southern Opera and the Georgia Southern Symphony will present a full production, “Le nozze di Figaro,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on April 22 and 23 at the Georgia Southern Performing Arts Center. Both performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public.

The most frequently performed Mozart opera, Le nozze di Figaro, is comprised of some of the most beloved music of all time. Georgia Southern Opera director Arikka Gregory has led the student cast in months of preparation of this masterful score.

Meanwhile, she has also been working to provide the students and their audience with the trappings of a large opera house theatre experience. “We have rented an enormous set,” said Gregory. “It arrived on a 53′ semi and took 10 hours and almost 30 people for us to unload and assemble, but it is worth it because the end result is really quite stunning.”

Gregory’s students are excited to have this opportunity to participate in such a huge project.

Junior choral music education major Travius Burch said he feels “truly blessed to be a part of a cast that is so vastly different, but strongly dedicated to each other and the music. I feel like we feed off of each other’s energy on stage, and it’s so much fun!”

For vocal performance junior Alex Smith, work on the show “has become one of the things in my life I’m most proud of. Working with an incredible director, an inspiring cast, and some of the best music I’ve ever had the privilege to sing is going to stay with me for a very long time. It’s a show for everyone, and after listening to it close to 50-plus times since starting the work, I still laugh out loud every time I hear the countless witty jokes, cry every time I hear the breathtaking arias, and get goosebumps when the ensemble numbers have characters all expressing different emotions through the same music. It is a perfect piece of art.”

This is Maestro Adrian Gnam’s first collaboration with Georgia Southern Opera, which makes the event even more memorable.

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is the largest of the eight colleges that make up Georgia Southern University, and it plays a central role in every student’s core of knowledge. CLASS, also described as the University’s College of the Creative Mind, prepares students to achieve academic excellence, develop their analytical skills, enhance their creativity and embrace their responsibilities as citizens of their communities, their nations and the world. CLASS offers more than 20 undergraduate degrees and several interdisciplinary minors from its 11 departments and five academic centers. CLASS offers eight master’s degrees, two graduate certificates and one doctoral degree.  For more information, visit class.georgiasouthern.edu.

Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving approximately 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. GeorgiaSouthern.edu.