Opera Mainstage

2024 Opera Production

Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor

Wheaton College Opera MainStage will present The Merry Wives of Windsor by Otto Nicolai at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, January 10-13, 2024. Otto Nicolai’s version of The Merry Wives of Windsor is an operatic adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedic play. This production, set in the 1950s, will be sung in English and feature Florence Price’s Encore Songs.

The performances will take place at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, January 11-13, in the Armerding Center for Music and the Arts Concert Hall located at 520 E. Kenilworth Ave, Wheaton.

Tickets start at $12 and can be purchased here. Please note: taxes and ticket service fees apply to all tickets.

 


Opera Mainstage Program Information

Opera Mainstage is a meticulous year-long course that provides primary attention to the careful musical, vocal, and dramatic learning of a given role as students participate in the production of a classic operatic masterpiece. This program strives to prepare students for further pre-professional study in opera.

Fall Semester focuses on preparation and rehearsals of a full-length operatic production with four public performances.

Spring Semester provides training in acting, movement, dance, stage combat, audition techniques, scene study and an informal performance.

Recent Performances

  • 2023 – Little Women, the Broadway Musical
  • 2022 – "Old Man and the Thief" and "Trial by Jury"
  • 2021 – The Marriage of Figaro
  • 2020 – A Light in the Piazza
  • 2019 – L'Orpheo
  • 2018 – Die Fledermaus
  • 2017 – Magic Flute
  • 2016 – Noye’s Fludde
  • 2015 – Dido and Aeneas
  • 2014 – The Tender Land
  • 2013 – Pirates of Penzance

Faculty

The Conservatory's opera faculty are accomplished professionals who provide rigorous instruction to educate and prepare students to proceed into today's competitive vocal world. All of the professors listed under "Voice" in  will take part in training students in opera.

Accolades

Conservatory graduates have won prizes and/or were finalists in competitions through the following programs:

  • Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition
  • Bel Canto Opera Foundation
  • Lyric Opera Chicago - Ryan Opera Center
  • Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist Program
  • Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Program
  • Santa Fe Opera
  • Wolf Trap Opera
  • Richard Tucker Music Foundation
  • Opera Index Award
  • Stella Maris International Vocal Competition

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