Press Releases
UNL SCHOOL OF MUSIC'S OPERA PROGRAM WINS 6 AWARDS AT WATERFORD FESTIVAL IN IRELAND
UNL Opera celebrates winning six awards at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera in Ireland. (first row, L-R): William Cover, II, judge David Turner, Jim Ford, Ariel Bybee, Anna DeGraff and WIlliam Shomos. (back row, L-R): Adam Fieldson, Jake Bartlett, Thom Gunther and Tyler White.
Lincoln, Neb.—The University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music Opera production of Frank Loesser's "The Most Happy Fella" won top marks at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera in Waterford, Ireland, last month.
Co-directed by Associate Professor of Voice Ariel Bybee and her husband James Ford, Associate Professor of English, the production featured 50 students, crew and pit musicians from the UNL School of Music.
"Jim and I were as proud of the students off stage as on," Bybee said. "They were exemplary in every aspect of the trip, whether they were walking the streets of Galway or singing their hearts out on the stage of the Theatre Royal."
UNL's "The Most Happy Fella" won the Waterford International Trophy as the top overall production of the Festival, the first American winner in the Festival's 49-year history. UNL also took home five additional awards:
* Best Male Singer: Dr. William Shomos, Associate Professor and Director of UNL Opera
* Best Female Singer: Anna DeGraff (B.M. from Lincoln, Neb.)
* Best Choral Presentation: "Abbondanza" by the "Three Chefs" from Most Happy Fella: Thomas Gunther (M.M. from Muscatine, Iowa), Jake Bartlett (M.M. from Creston, La.) and Adam Fieldson (B.M. from Cedar Rapids, Iowa).
* Best Musical Director: Dr. Tyler White, Associate Professor and Director of Orchestras
* Best Sets: Laurel Shoemaker (B.F.A. Theatre 1980), as adapted by Will Cover, II (B.A. Theatre 1998)
"Jim and I went to the stage when it was announced that we won the award for best set," Bybee said. "All the cast, crew, family and friends were sitting together. When we came on stage for the second and third awards, they were shouting louder and louder. By the time they announced that we were the first place winners, everyone was screaming. It was too much fun and so exciting."
School of Music Director John W. Richmond said he is proud of UNL's showing in Waterford.
Jim and Rhonda Seacrest. Photo by Stephen Hermann, UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
"This is a tremendous affirmation of the ongoing growth and development of our opera productions, of course, but it also speaks to the deepening of our programs in voice performance, choral performance, orchestral performance, theatre, and on and on," Richmond said. "Opera is a wonderful convergence of so many art practices. That our production of "The Most Happy Fella" won this international competition is a source of tremendous satisfaction and pride for our entire School."
Jim and Rhonda Seacrest, longtime patrons of the UNL School of Music, made this tour possible, through a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The Seacrests also made a separate gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation that created the UNL Opera/Chamber Orchestra, now known as the Philharmonia.
Richmond said the opportunity to put UNL students and faculty before this international competition simply would not have been possible without the Seacrests' generosity and enthusiasm.
"They are angels to us," Richmond said.
The Seacrests also sponsored the UNL Opera's 2002 trip to Waterford, where "The Bohemian Girl" won four awards, including best operetta.
The next UNL opera production, Mozart's classic "Cosi fan tutte," opens Nov. 8 and runs Nov. 9 and 11 in Kimball Recital Hall.
For more information, visit the web at www.unl.edu/music/ or call Promotions and Publicity Coordinator Michael Edholm at (402) 472-6865 or e-mail medholm2@unl.edu.
