Spokane Opera team, artists and fans celebrated 4th of July at the 20th Ave. Parade. Singing the National Anthem, soprano Dawn Wolski and Tim Campbell. Parade guests: Dr. Elizabeth Welty and Mateusz Wolski, Margie May-Ott and Betty Kiemle with board president, Donald Morgan.

A unique effort was launched around August 2008 to bring together: a) musicians from different parts of the world; to b) celebrate the beloved art of Western Music tradition and its cultural and historical heritage; and c) democratically speaks and plays to millions of viewers from around the globe through 21st century technology, YouTube videos.

Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, was the artistic director for the project which culminated with a live performance at the Carneggie Hall on April 15, 2009. Videos of the performance can be found, of course, on YouTube Symphony.

Local trumpeteer Eric Moe, performer at Spokane Opera’s Diamonds&Divas and more recently at The Magic Flute 2009 production, was one of the 90 musicians selected from 30 different countries to participate in this amazing project.

“I have met the other trumpet players, and they both seem like nice guys with great credentials! One has played 2nd trumpet with the National Symphonie d’Lyon in France, and the other is a senior at Northwestern in Chicago. He subs with the Chicago Symphony,” says Moe.

Congratulations Moe and we look forward to seeing you around upcoming opera performances and shows! Moe’s website: Eric Moe

Wine Tasting Party at Mary Ann and Bill Frandsen’s House. Featuring Drew Smith as master of wines, Char Zykowski from Apple Charlotte as the chef, Heather Holzapfel as the singing diva and Dr. Craig Smentek and Dr. Sima as “honorees.”

A Symphony Triumphs Over Hard Times
If the musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra are feeling demoralized, they certainly did not sound so on Tuesday night at the Carneggie Hall.

The program, part of Carneggie Hall’s Honor! Festival, was a celebration of the African-American cultural legacy of Jessye Norman. It included tenor Russell Thomas (a Spokane Opera past performer) singing George Walker’s “Lilacs”, bass-baritone Eric Owens as soloist in Mahler’s “Songs of Wayfarer”, Milhaud’s “La Creation du Monde” and Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony.

Fifty students from Wellpinit High School and Jenkins High School (Chewelah) attended last month’s production of Spokane Opera’s “Magic Flute”. Thanks to a generous grant from Sterling Savings Bank, tickets were made available to these students to attend this exhilarating drama-comedy “combo” of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sung in English.

The art-deco sets (borrowed from Eugene Opera in Oregon) blended seamlessly with the elaborately restored interior of the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, showcasing outstanding singing by national, regional and local artists, including members of Gonzaga University’s student chorus…. in keeping with Spokane Opera’s mission to develop local musical talent. Maestro Dean Williamson, artistic director of Opera Cleveland and conductor at Seattle Opera, led the production with an experienced hand according to the review in the “Spokesman Review”. The “cast, set make for enchanted evening” headlined the review of this work featuring a bird catcher, wicked queen, heroic prince and princess, evil overseer, benevolent priests, dancing animals and magic bells and flute.

Chewelah Theater Teacher/Director Janet McLaughlin noted this is the third year her students received tickets to Spokane Opera productions: “Hansel and Gretel” in 2007, “Tosca” in 2008, and “Flute” in 2009. Wellpinit is close behind, seeing both “Tosca” and this year’s Mozart work according to Instructor Jane Swiatek. Swiatek and McLaughlin reported their students were very excited about this year’s production of ”The Magic Flute”, appreciating the chance to dress up (an opportunity to recycle prom gowns), to visit the splendor of the Fox Theater, to be a part of the opera crowd, and to enjoy the scenery, costumes, make-up, hair styling, lighting, expert role characterizations, and outstanding singing mixed with dialogue. “The music was spellbinding, and the arias of the lyric soprano (The Queen of the Night) truly amazing” said Swiatek.

According to McLaughlin the students, some now “seasoned opera buffs”, agree ”that each year it gets better and better. She commented “that there is no doubt in my mind that these students will support opera in the future”. Perhaps one day they, like the envied Gonzaga students, will join those University choristers on stage. In the meantime, “What a night we had” McLaughlin said ”. Wellpinit students prolonged that spirit, enthusiastically singing the Queen’s incredible stratospheric Second Act aria both on the bus ride home and in school the following day. As Swiatek noted, they too are becoming theater critics and aficionados.

Some 250 students and chaperones from other high schools and secondary schools in Wilbur, Ritzville, Colfax, Newport, Rathdrum, Post Falls, Spokane and also Cranbrook, Canada also were recipients of Sterling Savings Bank’s generosity.

Larry Ludwig, Rice, WA