DMMO’s The Magic Flute provides professional opportunities for area music students and alumni
Students and recent alumni of Drake University, Iowa State University and Simpson College will join principal artists on stage as the chorus in The Magic Flute on March 5 and 6 at the Des Moines Civic Center. Many of the students are also employed as covers for principal roles in the production.
Halle Fish is a 22-year-old senior at Drake and is covering the infamous and virtuosic role of The Queen of the Night. On the first day of rehearsal, she sang the role’s famous aria amongst a group of professionals in the field—many of whom she’d never met before. She says the experience has been formative in her development as a singer.
“This is my first professional production and my first time singing with DMMO. I’ve been able to meet and sing with talented professionals, explore the precision and expertise needed in this field, as well as grow and evolve as an artist,” Fish said.
Fish’s vocal instructor and Professor of Voice at Drake, Leanne Freeman-Miller, knows this opportunity doesn’t happen often and is grateful students like Fish are getting this experience as undergraduate musicians.
“The opportunity for undergraduate voice majors to be hired by a professional opera company is extremely rare in academia. I feel incredibly grateful to Michael and DMMO for engaging our students in this unique production of Magic Flute,” Freeman-Miller said.
The chorus started rehearsal in early February with Chorusmasters Tim McMillin and Lisa Hasson, preparing them for music and staging rehearsals with Maestro Christopher Allen and Director Erik Friedman. Many of them experienced this professional process for the first time, instilling confidence and giving a glimpse of potential future careers in the field.
For Iowa State Associate Professor of Music, Mary Creswell, it’s that support of her students after graduation that makes this experience so important.
“My role as a voice teacher does not end with my students at graduation. Helping them begin their graduate school endeavors and professional engagements is every bit as important to me as our studio work during undergraduate years,” Creswell said.
Some members of the chorus have moved out of their undergraduate studies and started their journey toward a professional career. Simpson alum, Jared Campbell, is grateful to be onstage with DMMO and understands the importance of this unique conception of the production.
“Being a Simpson graduate, I have been around DMMO for many years. Getting to know the singers and staff at DMMO has always been a joy for me,” Campbell said. “I think this kind of production is very important to share in Des Moines. DMMO has always picked shows that will push boundaries and expand people’s minds.”
This dazzling, technicolor production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sublime fairytale is sure to achieve that mission, as it’s truly opera as you’ve never seen it before. The production launches DMMO’s 50th anniversary season and is the first collaboration between DMMO, the Des Moines Symphony, and Des Moines Performing Arts (DMPA). It pays homage to silent films of the 1920s and features hand-drawn animations projected onto the set that interact in real time with the singers.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Music at Iowa State, Chad Sonka, is excited for his students to experience these mediums coming together in such a unique way.
“Opera is the highest form of communication on stage, and for the students to participate in and bear witness to that from all angles is invaluable,” Sonka said.
DMMO is excited to have these students and alumni comprise the chorus of The Magic Flute in addition to former members of our Apprentice Artist Program and the 2022 Opera Iowa Touring Troupe. The Magic Flute will be presented for two performances on March 5 at 7:30pm and March 6 at 2:00pm at the Des Moines Civic Center. Featuring the musicians of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra in the pit. Tickets begin at $25 and are available at www.dmpa.org or by calling DMPA’s Box Office at 515-246-2300.
The tenors, baritones, and basses rehearsing a scene on stage at the Civic Center.