The UNCG School of Music has been recognized for years as one of the elite
music institutions in the United States. Fully accredited by the National
Association of Schools of Music since 1938, the School offers the only
comprehensive music program from undergraduate through doctoral study in
both performance and music education in North Carolina. From a total
population of approximately 12,700 university students, the UNCG School of
Music serves over 575 music majors with a full-time faculty and staff of sixty.
As such, the UNCG School of Music ranks among the largest Schools of Music
in the South.
The UNCG School of Music now occupies a new 26 million dollar music
building which is among the finest music facilities in the nation. In fact, the
new music building is the largest academic building on the UNCG Campus. A
large music library with state-of-the-art playback, study and research facilities
houses all music reference materials. Greatly expanded classroom, studio,
practice room, and rehearsal hall spaces are key components of the new
structure. Two new recital halls, a large computer lab, a psycho-acoustics lab,
electronic music labs, and recording studio space are additional features of the
new facility. In addition, an enclosed multi-level parking deck adjoins the new
music building to serve students, faculty and concert patrons.
Living in the artistically thriving Greensboro—Winston-Salem—High
Point “Triad” area, students enjoy regular opportunities to attend and perform in
concerts sponsored by such organizations as the Greensboro Symphony
Orchestra, the Greensboro Opera Company, and the Eastern Music Festival. In
addition, UNCG students interact first-hand with some of the world’s major
artists who frequently schedule informal discussions, open rehearsals, and
master classes at UNCG.
Costs of attending public universities in North Carolina, both for in-state
and out-of-state students, represent a truly exceptional value in higher
education.
For further information regarding music as a major or minor field of study,
please write:
Dr. John J. Deal, Dean
UNCG School of Music
P.O. Box 26167
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6167
(336) 334-5789
On the Web: www.uncg.edu/mus/
Roman
Fever
by Robert Ward
Studio Opera
Friday, November 30, 2001
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Sunday, December 2, 2001
Recital Hall, School of Music
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music presents
Roman Fever
an opera in one act
Music by Robert Ward
Libretto by Roger Brunyate
Based on the story by Edith Wharton
First performed by the Triangle Opera Theatre on June 9, 1993
Produced by permission of E.C. Schirmer Music Company, Boston
Cast
(in order of vocal appearance)
Alida Slade Abigail Southard
Grace Ansley Kim Brooks
Eduardo, the waiter Sidney Outlaw
Barbara Ansley Rita Dottor
Jenny Slade Tara Stafford
********************************
Synopsis
Two recently widowed American ladies, Alida Slade and Grace Ansley, are
taking tea on the terrace of a Roman hotel, overlooking the Forum. It is the
early Spring in the year 1924. The ladies reminisce about their first meeting in
Rome as girls, some twenty years before. Alida was engaged to Delphin Slade;
Grace had been attracted to Delphin also, but had married Horace Ansley only a
few months after. The two couples had returned to New York and largely lost
touch in the intervening years. This was such a coincidence - meeting in Rome,
at the same hotel, and each with a daughter as young as they were at their first
meeting!
They compare their lives over the past two decades. Delphin had been a high-flying
lawyer who rose rapidly to prominence on the international scene. Grace
and Horace, however, had remained content within the close and professional
circles of "old New York." They also compare their daughters, who seem to be
opposites of they themselves. Barbara Ansley (Babs) is vivacious and a born
leader, while Jenny Slade is a caring and dutiful daughter to Alida, apparently
lacking in ambition or the spirit of adventure, much to her mother's dismay.
The girls arrive, having come from taking coffee with two young officers of the
Italian Flying Corps. They seem entranced by the romance and adventure of
flying, and at the possibility that the men will take them up, if they can make the
arrangements. The conversation changes to how times have changed. In Alida's
Coming Events
Melanie Hoffner
Saturday, December 1, 1:30 pm
Recital Hall
Page Howell, clarinet
Sunday, December 2, 3:30 pm
Organ Recital Hall
Jennifer Hance, oboe
Sunday, December 2, 7:30 pm
Organ Recital Hall
*Gate City Camerata
Sunday, December 2, 7:30 pm
Recital Hall
Darin Achilles, trombone
Monday, December 3, 5:30 pm
Organ Recital Hall
Holly Brazell/Jennifer Venning,
sopranos
Monday, December 3, 5:30 pm
Recital Hall
Benjamin Twyeffort, trumpet
Monday, December 3, 7:30 pm
Recital Hall
Christi Wilson, flute
Tuesday, December 4, 5:30 pm
Recital Hall
*"An American Tribute"
Wind Ensemble/Choral Ensembles
Fundraiser for the State Employees
Combined Campaign, United Way
member agencies and the
“September 11th Fund”
Tuesday, December 4, 7:30 pm
Aycock Auditorium
Tickets $16, $12 & $8.
Sean Devlin, trombone
Wednesday, December 5, 5:30 pm
Organ Recital Hall
Keyboard Division Recital
Wednesday, December 5, 5:30 pm
Recital Hall
Kemp Baker, tenor
Thursday, December 6, 5:30 pm
Recital Hall
*University Band
Thursday, December 6, 7:30 pm
Aycock Auditorium
Daniel Rice, trombone
Friday, December 7, 5:30 pm
Organ Recital Hall
Sapphires women’s a capella ensemble
Friday, December 7, 5:30 pm
Organ Recital Hall
*Holiday Choral Concert
University Chorale
Men’s Glee
Women’s Choir
Women’s Glee
Sunday, December 9, 3:30 pm
Aycock Auditorium
*Symphony Orchestra
Monday, December 10, 7:30 pm
Aycock Auditorium
*Fee charged. Please contact the
University Box Office at (336) 334-4849
or visit our campus locations at either
Aycock Auditorium or the School of
Music. The box office will be open one
hour before each event. Ticket prices
are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $3
for students.
Abigail Southard (Alida Slade) is a second year Master’s student at UNCG
from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Last year, she was Eurydice in
Orpheus in the Underworld, and was a soloist with the North Carolina
Symphony during its residence at UNCG. She is a graduate of Ithaca College,
where she portrayed Jenny in Down in the Valley, Edith in Pirates of Penzance,
and appeared in the ensemble of The Bartered Bride. Abigail has also appeared
in scenes from Così fan tutte (Despina), Susannah (Susannah), and The Saint of
Bleecker Street (Annina). Her other interests include modern dance and ballet.
Tara Stafford (Jenny Slade) recently performed the role of Barbarina in the
Marriage of Figaro with Springfield Regional Opera. Originally from
Rogersville, Missouri, Tara is a first year Master’s student at UNCG after
completing her BM at Drury University, where she appeared as Laurie in The
Tender Land, Cunegonde in Candide, and Miss Silverpeal from The Impresario.
She was a national finalist in the Music Teachers National Association
Collegiate Artist Competition in 2001, and won the Missouri state MTNA and
NATS competitions in 2000. In July of 2000, Tara was voted the Opera in the
Ozarks' Outstanding Young Female Artist for their summer season.
****************
Production Staff
Stage Director/Producer/Designer David Holley
Musical Director/Pianist Heather Hamilton
Costume Designer Deborah Bell
Costume Assistants Niki Hernandez-Adams
Shanelle King
Stage Manager Jennifer Odom
and Grace's generation, chaperones would have most certainly been the norm, and
with the danger of catching Roman Fever, there were health reasons for keeping a
close eye on young women. The waiter tells the ancient story of two sisters who
loved the same man. The older sister sent the younger to the Colosseum at night to
collect flowers for her album, and as a result, the younger sister caught the Roman
Fever and died.
When Alida finds out that one of the Italian pilots is the Marchese Compolieri (one
of the best catches in Rome), she immediately makes plans. The phone rings - it is
the Marchese asking for Babs. The officers have arranged for planes that very night
and propose a moonlight flight and dinner in the Alban Hills. The girls run off to get
ready.
Alida is jealous of Barbara's chances of winning the Marchese, making Grace
uncomfortable, who departs to purchase a stole for Babs. The evening bells ring,
awakening Alida's old, troubling memories. She resolves to make a new life for
herself through her daughter, who presently enters, prettily but practically dressed.
Alida pressures her to dress better in order to catch the Marchese, including offering
Jenny the pearl necklace Delphin gave her (in order to outshine the stole Grace is
buying for Babs). In exasperation, Jenny blurts out that the trip has been arranged
mainly so that the Marchese can be alone with Babs, who then enters in a stunning
dress, causing Alida to break the string of pearls in frustration. The girls and the
waiter scramble to retrieve them.
Grace re-enters and comments on the comic scene. She dismisses the waiter and
compliments the girls on their appearance, while Alida remains unusually quiet.
When the waiter returns with the cards of the two young men, Alida asks the girls to
make her excuses and Grace sends the girls off alone, leaving the ladies together in
the gathering dusk.
Alida once more recalls the events of the past, including Grace's awful illness twenty
years before. She always thought it was "the fever," but when Grace is non-committal,
Alida presses. She did go out that night, didn't she? She went to meet
Delphin Slade, Alida's own fiancée. Alida can even quote the letter that took her
there, supposedly from Delphin, because she wrote it - not meaning any harm. Alida
did not expect Grace to get so ill, but just wanted her out of the way for a few weeks,
as a childish revenge. Grace is horrified: it was the only letter she ever had from
Delphin, and he didn't even write it!
The waiter enters to switch on the lights for dinner, making the ladies feel awkward.
They begin to gather their things to leave. Eventually, Grace says that she is sorry
for Alida - sorry because Alida had to wait that night and Grace did not. Alida
doesn't understand how Delphin could have met her when he didn't even know, but
he did - Grace replied to his letter and they did meet at the Colosseum. Alida,
gathering herself from this shock declares herself the winner, since she had Delphin
for twenty years and all Grace had was a brief memory and a letter he didn't even
write: Grace has nothing. On the verge of leaving, Grace turns quietly and says,
"Nothing? I had Barbara!"
UNCG Opera Theatre
Spring Semester 2002 Productions
Pietro Mascagni’s CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
Accompanied by the Philharmonia of Greensboro
January 24 and 26, 2002
Aycock Auditorium
W.A. Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE
April 11, 12, and 14, 2002
Aycock Auditorium
Please contact the University Box Office at (336) 334-4849 or visit our campus locations at either
Aycock Auditorium or the School of Music.
Robert Ward
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Robert Ward studied with Howard
Hanson and Bernard Rogers at the Eastman School of Music, with
Frederick Jacobi, Bernard Wagenaar, Albert Stoessel and Edgar
Schenkman at the Juilliard Graduate School, and with Aaron
Copland at the Berkshire Music Center. He is a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been awarded
three Guggenheim Fellowships, as well as grants from the
Rockafeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Mr. Ward has received honorary doctorates from Duke University
and the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. He has
served on the faculties of Queens College, Columbia University,
and the Juilliard School of Music, where he was also Assistant to
the President from 1952 to 1956. In addition, he was the Director
of the Third Street Music School Settlement from 1952 to 1955.
He was Executive Vice-President and Managing Editor of Galaxy
Music Corporation and Highgate Press until 1967, when he
became President of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Until
his retirement in 1987, he was the Mary Duke Biddle Professor of
Music at Duke University.
Robert Ward's large and distinguished musical creations include
six symphonies, seven operas, three concertos, two cantatas, and a
ballet (as well as numerous shorter orchestral, chamber, choral and
vocal works), and have been commissioned by the New York City
Opera, Broadcast Music Inc., the New York Philharmonic, the
Friends of Dumbarton Oaks, the Juilliard Musical Foundation, and
many others. His opera, THE CRUCIBLE, based on the play by
Arthur Miller, won both the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the
New York Music Critics Circle Citation for the same year.
The Artists
Kim Brooks (Grace Ansley) is a first year Master’s student at UNCG from
Wilmington, North Carolina. She has been a first place winner in the College
Women Categories in NCNATS and also in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Student
Competitions, as well as a first place winner in the Charlotte Opera Guild
Scholarship Auditions. Onstage, she has performed the roles of the Monitor in
Suor Angelica and the Shepherd Girl in Good King Wenceslas, and in scenes
from Carmen (Carmen), Le Nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), The Magic Flute
(Third Lady), Die Fledermaus (Orlovsky), and Così fan tutte (Dorabella). Kim
has also appeared as a soloist with the UNCC Chorale and the Myers Park
Methodist Church.
Rita Dottor (Barbara Ansley) is a first year Master’s student at UNCG from
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Her operatic credits include Sophie in
Werther, Despina in Così fan tutte, Blonda in Die Entführung aus dem Serail,
and Celie in Signor Deluso. Most recently, she performed the role of Gilda in
Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Oberlin Conservatory’s summer opera program in
Cassalmaggiore, Italy. She completed her BM at Southeastern Louisiana
University, where she received a full scholarship for violin and voice
performance, graduated Magna cum Laude, and was awarded the James Wilcox
Award for most outstanding graduating senior. Last year she had opportunity to
perform in the Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s Christmas Carol, and she was
the recipient of the Kiwanis Club of Toronto Foundation scholarship.
Heather Hamilton (Musical Director/Pianist) is originally from Richardson,
Texas, and is working toward a D.M.A. in piano performance at UNCG. She has
a B.M. in piano and oboe from Sam Houston State University, as well as a M.M.
in oboe from Northwestern University, where she was an assistant to Ray Still of
the Chicago Symphony. Ms. Hamilton was on the faculty at Sam Houston State
for ten years, coordinating the class piano and accompaniment programs and
serving as coach/accompanist of the Opera Workshop. Her numerous solo
appearances (on piano and oboe) include engagements with the Dallas,
Amarillo, and Waco Symphony Orchestras.
Sidney Outlaw (Eduardo, the waiter) is a baritone from Brevard, N.C. Last
year, he sang the role of Mercury in Orpheus in the Underworld and in the
ensemble of Amahl and the Night Visitors. Sidney has also performed in
Greensboro Opera Company’s productions of Otello and The Barber of Seville.
He has been very successful in National Association of Teachers of Singing
(NATS) auditions, winning first place in the North Carolina auditions in 2000
and 2001, and second place in the regional competition in 2001. In April of
2002, Sidney will portray the role of Sarastro in UNCG's The Magic Flute.
Roman
Fever
by Robert Ward
Studio Opera
Friday, November 30, 2001
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Sunday, December 2, 2001
Recital Hall, School of Music
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music presents
Roman Fever
an opera in one act
Music by Robert Ward
Libretto by Roger Brunyate
Based on the story by Edith Wharton
First performed by the Triangle Opera Theatre on June 9, 1993
Produced by permission of E.C. Schirmer Music Company, Boston
Cast
(in order of vocal appearance)
Alida Slade Abigail Southard
Grace Ansley Kim Brooks
Eduardo, the waiter Sidney Outlaw
Barbara Ansley Rita Dottor
Jenny Slade Tara Stafford
Production Staff
Stage Director/Producer/Designer David Holley
Musical Director/Pianist Heather Hamilton
Costume Designer Deborah Bell
Costume Assistants Niki Hernandez-Adams
Shanelle King
Stage Manager Jennifer Odom
UNCG Opera Theatre
Spring Semester 2002 Productions
Pietro Mascagni’s CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
Accompanied by the Philharmonia of Greensboro
January 24 and 26, 2002
Aycock Auditorium
W.A. Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE
April 11, 12, and 14, 2002
Aycock Auditorium
Please contact the University Box Office at (336) 334-4849 or visit our campus locations at either
Aycock Auditorium or the School of Music.
