Time to enjoy a dose of opera on the High Plains

My mother was a lifelong fan of the Metropolitan Opera.

Most Saturday mornings of the September-March opera season (I'll bet some of you didn't even know opera had a season), she wrestled the antenna on our portable radio into compliance, shushed my brothers and me into reluctant silence, and settled in for the live broadcast of the opera matinee from Lincoln Center in New York City.

If it was one of her favorites and she wanted to be sure she wouldn't be interrupted, she might pack a sandwich for herself and take a drive in the car for the duration - a three- or four-hour escape into the beloved music of her youth.

My mother would have been beside herself with joy to learn that the music department at Eastern New Mexico University is doing its own radio opera production on Saturday.

But, this is one you won't have to shush the children for. In fact, they'll likely enjoy it, too, because this 35-minute performance of Vittorio Giannini's radio opera, "Beauty and the Beast," is a familiar story loved by all ages.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, tune your FM radio dial to 89.5, or visit kenw.org and click on the "Listen live" button, and you'll get to hear the end result of a months-long rehearsal and recording process by the students and faculty in the ENMU music department.

Fun fact: Saturday will also be the first time for the 10 students in the cast to hear their recording in its entirety, according to Travis Sherwood, assistant professor of music at ENMU. It has been recorded take by take in individual studios all over the music building over the past few weeks.

This was a production idea born of the pandemic. With live performances halted, Sherwood said the hunt began in the fall for a way to allow students to stay involved in musical performances, but in a safe way.

Radio opera fit the bill.

Although it could not have been foreseen at the time, the multi-million dollar renovation of the music building more than a decade ago included upgrades that helped make this production possible.

The recording that airs Saturday was made with students each in his or her own studio, outfitted with headphones, microphones, monitors, and using technology called SoundJack that Sherwood said was invented in the 1990s but really came into its own this last year.

"Beauty" in this production is portrayed by senior Anna Gonzales, a 2017 graduate of Portales High School, who said she's enjoyed this unexpected venture into radio recording.

"It's just exciting to bring this old performance platform back," she said. "It's like getting a glimpse into history."

The "Beast" is sung by Cameron Colson, a senior from Edgewood. He said working on this production has been a great example of "musicians finding a way to persevere through" this time of no live performances.

"The whole experience has been entirely unique," Colson said. "We get instant feedback after each session. We get to know how it was and we get to try it again. The final product will be so much better because of that."

Gregory Gallagher, assistant professor of music at ENMU, will be the fingers on the piano you hear in Saturday's performance.

He said a positive that has come out of the experience was "more time to delve into the music," than is usually possible with a live production.

"The students have had to practice deeper skills," he noted, and without the costumes, props, and other visual cues of in-person performances, they've had to "learn how to use their voices only to tell the story."

Sherwood said his department has enjoyed long-standing loyal support from the community and it was important to them to be able to have a product that could be shared with the community.

To make it as accessible as possible, the department is also offering a downloadable listening guide that even includes coloring pages. It was developed by Stephanie Beinlich, assistant professor of music, in collaboration with art department students, and should be available at https://www.kenw.org/programs/great-arts-eastern.

"This is an excellent opera to listen to even if you've never listened to one before," Gonzales said. "It's pretty short, it's in English, and most know the story of Beauty and the Beast."

Sherwood concurs, promising "drama, passion, comedy, beautiful music, and a familiar story" that will leave audiences "wanting more."

I may have to make a bologna and mustard sandwich in honor of my mom and spend that half hour in the car Saturday morning, enjoying a dose of opera on the High Plains, pandemic style.

Betty Williamson marvels at the bottomless well of human creativity. Reach her at:

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