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News & Photos
Concert Choir Sings With Baltimore Opera Company
In an effort to build future audiences, the Baltimore Opera Company has established a long-term goal of having every Baltimore area student in grades 7-12 attend an opera performance once a year for free. In order to receive free tickets, schools must come up with a project that teaches students about the opera that they would like to attend.
When Head of Upper School Choral Music Philip Olsen learned that the BOC’s 2006-2007 season included Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Nabucco, he immediately knew the perfect project for McDonogh students.
The opera is famous for its "Va, pensiero" chorus that is sung by Hebrew slaves awaiting their fate by Babylonian King Nabucco. When the opera premiered in 1842 the Italian people, angry about the current Austrian occupation of Lombardy, immediately identified with the song and demanded an encore at each performance. Today, "Va, Pensiero" is still regularly given an encore.
Olsen’s idea was to teach the concert choir "Va, pensiero" and have them sing the encore from the audience of one of the BOC's performances. The project was immediately embraced by the BOC and students eagerly learned the piece.
On Friday, October 27, members of the concert choir had the privilege of singing with the Baltimore Opera Company Chorus during a rehearsal for their upcoming performance. They were very complimentary about our students,” said Olsen.
“It was an amazing experience. They gave us great pointers,” said one student. Another concert choir member exclaimed, “The sound was so loud, my whole body was vibrating!”
The 55-member concert choir will sing their official encore during the BOC’s November 17 performance at the Lyric Opera House. Twenty students from John Wood’s history classes and John Grega’s religion classes will also attend the performance.
The McDonogh community will have an opportunity to hear the concert choir perform "Va, pensiero" at the Upper School choral concert in Tagart Chapel on Saturday, December 9, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 10, at 5:30 p.m.
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In an effort to build future audiences, the Baltimore Opera Company has established a long-term goal of having every Baltimore area student in grades 7-12 attend an opera performance once a year for free. In order to receive free tickets, schools must come up with a project that teaches students about the opera that they would like to attend.
When Head of Upper School Choral Music Philip Olsen learned that the BOC’s 2006-2007 season included Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Nabucco, he immediately knew the perfect project for McDonogh students.
The opera is famous for its "Va, pensiero" chorus that is sung by Hebrew slaves awaiting their fate by Babylonian King Nabucco. When the opera premiered in 1842 the Italian people, angry about the current Austrian occupation of Lombardy, immediately identified with the song and demanded an encore at each performance. Today, "Va, Pensiero" is still regularly given an encore.
Olsen’s idea was to teach the concert choir "Va, pensiero" and have them sing the encore from the audience of one of the BOC's performances. The project was immediately embraced by the BOC and students eagerly learned the piece.
On Friday, October 27, members of the concert choir had the privilege of singing with the Baltimore Opera Company Chorus during a rehearsal for their upcoming performance. They were very complimentary about our students,” said Olsen.
“It was an amazing experience. They gave us great pointers,” said one student. Another concert choir member exclaimed, “The sound was so loud, my whole body was vibrating!”
The 55-member concert choir will sing their official encore during the BOC’s November 17 performance at the Lyric Opera House. Twenty students from John Wood’s history classes and John Grega’s religion classes will also attend the performance.
The McDonogh community will have an opportunity to hear the concert choir perform "Va, pensiero" at the Upper School choral concert in Tagart Chapel on Saturday, December 9, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 10, at 5:30 p.m.