Oberlin Opera Singers to Perform in Cleveland and Buenos Aires By Marci Janas '91 and Rebecca Wilson
	Related Links: • Programs • Educational and Cultural Exchange • Singers		From left, Jorge DeLasseletta, the director of Gianni Schicchi, Mike Telin '84, executive director of Trinity Cathedral's Music & Performing Arts, Jonathon Field, and Andrea Galan, the Ohio Arts Council's representative in Buenos Aires. Many cast members of the upcoming Cleveland productions of Dido and Aeneas and Gianni Schicchi at Trinity Cathedral are finishing their preparations wearing T-shirts and shorts. It’s not that they are impervious to winter weather; they are 5,200 miles away in a different season. On January 30 and 31, 2004, at 7 p.m., student singers from the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music will present the two operas at Cleveland’s historic Trinity Cathedral. The genesis for this educational and cultural exchange program goes back five years, when Governor Bob Taft signed an agreement between the State of Ohio and the City of Buenos Aires. A grant from the Ohio Arts Council has made the resulting international opera project possible. "This opera project represents the first collaborative effort between performing arts organizations in Ohio and South America," says Oberlin’s Director of Opera Theater Jonathon Field. "This particular production of Dido and Aeneas represents a dynamic intersection of old and new: the ancient story is retold using innovative technology and video artistry. Composer Henry Purcell told the story of Dido through a filter specific to his time—17th-century England. This production does the same for our time," says Field. "We’re creating softscenery—coined after the term software—to suggest that the witches in Dido have comprised a reality of light that all the other characters believe is real, but is ultimately as changeable as the images on the screen of your computer." Field, who is also director of Lyric Opera Cleveland, will direct two mixed casts of Oberlin and Instituto students in the Cleveland and Buenos Aires productions of Dido and Aeneas. Trinity Cathedral’s Daniel Hathaway will conduct the opera. Following Dido and Aeneas, students of the Instituto will present their production of Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, directed by Jorge DeLasseletta and conducted by Bruno D'Astoli. The Trinity Chamber Orchestra will accompany both operas. Trinity Cathedral is located at 2230 Euclid Avenue. Tickets for the Cleveland performances are $10 and $20 and can be purchased by calling Music & Performing Arts (M&PA) at Trinity at 216-579-9745 or by visiting their web site.
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