Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 1, 1994 TAG: 9404010233
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis Banks
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
L'amour a trois?
To satisfy your curiosity, you'll have to come to the opera workshop at Radford University's Preston Auditorium Tuesday. Music professor Clarity James is directing an evening of exciting opera, starting at 8 p.m.
The workshop, an annual event, offers Radford University voice students the opportunity to perform opera and to work with props, costumes and lighting.
James, a distinguished mezzo-soprano who has performed with many of the top national opera companies, says the workshop provides a challenge for her students.
Singing opera, she says, is "the most challenging, highest level of competency."
"Yet it's something that singers can strive for, and my students have come through wonderfully."
The students participating in this year's workshop have devoted many hours to the production, even though they earn only one hour of academic credit for the project.
"They do it because they learn something from it and they love it," James noted.
Tuesday's performance includes Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Telephone," an opera buffa (Italian farcical opera) in one act, and scenes from five other operas. The finale is a full-cast performance of Johann Strauss' comic German opera, "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat").
The workshop will be fully staged and costumed. James will be assisted by Elizabeth Curtis and Michael Snyder on piano.
Admission is free for Radford University students and staff or $3 for the public.
IT'S OFFICIAL: Smithfield Plantation, an official Virginia Historic Landmark, opens today for tours. The 18th century house will remain open through Nov. 1. Tours are available Thursday through Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Smithfield is adjacent to the Virginia Tech campus just off Duck Pond Road. Built in 1772, it was the home of Col. William Preston who made it a Revolutionary stronghold.
Smithfield also was the birthplace of two Virginia governors, James Patton Preston and John Buchanan Floyd.
The Williamsburg-style structure features authentic colonial furnishings, a colonial kitchen and garden, a museum and a gift shop.
Tours are $4 for adults and $1.50 for children under 12. Call 951-2060 for more information.
HYPNOTIZING HORNS: Virginia Tech's Department of Music is putting on a French horn concert with guest artist Robert Pruzin Monday at 8 p.m. in Squires Recital Salon.
Pruzin, an associate music professor at the University of South Carolina, was formerly a member of the United States Marine Band, The President's Own. Currently, he plays principle horn in the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra and the Augusta Symphony Orchestra. He's also a member of the Carolina Camerata Woodwind Quintet.
Virginia Tech's Wallace Easter will join Pruzin in this concert. Easter, an associate professor in Tech's music department, plays principle horn for both the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra.
Guest artist Charles Fugo, piano, will perform with the duo.
The musicians will play works by Jan Koetsier, Otto Ketting, Kerry Turner and Jan Segers.
More good news! Admission to the concert is free.
BETTER THAN WAFFLES: The Liege Philharmonic of Belgium has a long-standing reputation for excellence. The orchestra is a favorite in Belgium, as well as in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, France and Holland.
The ensemble performs at major music festivals and has won lots and lots of awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque. Records on the EMI, Ricercar and Musica Magna labels are distributed worldwide.
Southwest Virginia is the lucky spot on the map next week.
The Liege Philharmonic will perform Thursday in Radford University's Preston Auditorium. The 8 p.m. concert features Paul Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber," Cesar Franck's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, and Beethoven's Symphony in D minor.
Pierre Bartholomee is the conductor. Virtuoso Ory Shihor is the pianist.
Public tickets for Thursday's concert are $8 for adults and $4 for children. Admission is free for Radford University students and staff.
Call 831-5420 for ticket information.
WHAT A LIFE!: "A Life in the Theatre," a comedy by David Mamet, is the latest workshop production by Virginia Tech's Theatre Arts-University Theatre. It opens Monday and runs through Wednesday with performances at 8 each evening in room 204 of the Performing Arts Building.
The original version of the play was written for two actors who perform, argue and discuss their work in the footlights. This production follows the lives of two women: Elizabeth, a seasoned actress played by Bonnie McCormick, and Jane, an aspiring star played by Heather Avery. The actresses step into the illusory and unpredictable world of theater, inviting the audience to meet a variety of fascinating characters.
Gregory Justice, an instructor in Tech's theater department, is the director.
Admission to the performances is free. For more information, call the Division of Performing Arts at 231-5200.
by CNB