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A Lawyer, a Student, and a Retiree Join Hands to Sing Opera

Claire Kidwell
/
KSMU

Dress rehearsals for Springfield Regional Opera’s production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” are underway ahead of its opening weekend; the show opens Friday. 

And the people who make up the chorus have a wide variety of other occupations.

KSMU’s Claire Kidwell is one member, and has this first-person account of being an opera chorus member in Springfield.

Music has always been a passion of mine, so when I found out I could sing in the chorus of one of my favorite operas, I jumped on the chance.

I’m not alone—the men and women singing next to me come from pretty diverse backgrounds.

There's Mark Ellman, who is a retired financial planner.

We've got Reidar Hammond, who practices criminal defense law.

And Karen Nelson, who works part-time with Branson schools and manages rental properties.

Our opera chorus has local pastors, repairmen, and college students as part of our ranks, too.

Since we don’t sing that much in this production, there’s a lot of downtime to get to know one another.

I sat down during the Sitzprobe—which is a fancy term for orchestra rehearsal—with some of my fellow chorus members.

Hammond, whom you heard earlier, is a lawyer and has been a member of the SRO chorus for 15 productions.

He says music is his “outlet.”

“I was singing in a community chorus, and was invited to be a part of the opera chorus and I’ve never gone back, so I’ve done a production or two every year since.”

He never studied music. Neither did Karen Nelson, the Branson teacher you heard earlier.

There are, of course, quite a few music majors participating since members from the Drury University Chamber Choir and Drury Singers make up about half of our chorus.

Anna Meadows is double majoring in Environmental Biology and Spanish at Drury.

Credit Claire Kidwell / KSMU
/
KSMU
Monday Rehearsal for The Magic Flute

“I love music, I think it’s such an enriching part of life. It’s a really good way to express myself, and to kind of work through issues I may not be able to work through otherwise, and it’s a lot of fun!”

As dress rehearsals begin, most of us sit out in the Gilloiz Theatre seats to watch the parts of the opera when we aren’t on stage. We act sort of as a practice audience, and laugh along to all the chaos that ensues.

It’s not all fun and games, though. It’s hard work. For some chorus members, the music—and especially the German—is intimidating.

Ellman, the retired financial advisor, has experience singing in church and in a band, but opera was completely foreign to him. Cara, his daughter and another member of the chorus, got him involved.

“She was told that there was a shortage of men who could sing and read music, and so she asked me if I would join the ensemble and I agreed. This is a first, I’m struggling with the German but I’m doing my best.”

I try to memorize German lyrics in between classes and writing news reports. It’s starting to flow better for me when I sing on stage.

This particular opera is accessible to a wide audience because of its happy theme, great triumphs, and lighthearted music. Plus, I get to sing notes written down on paper by Mozart himself.

Meadows also added that “it’s hilarious,” and that there’s something people can take away from the production.

“Actually all the characters are flawed in one way or another, I think that’s really relatable and really human, and it’s going to be a really good time.”

SRO’s production of The Magic Flute opens Friday at 7:30 pm at the Gillioz Theatre and runs through Saturday, April 14.

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