Stafford troupe enables local opera lovers to find their voice

There is a popular meme that says, “Everything I know about opera I learned from Bugs Bunny.”

That may be true for many people, but the Stafford Opera Troupe makes opera more accessible and enjoyable for the general public and for students who want to learn the art form. The organization was founded in 2016 by two Mountain View High School graduates who attended Liberty University – Corinn Fulton and Bree Nichols.

Both were avid opera fans and lamented the lack of performance opportunities in the Fredericksburg area. One evening they discussed this lack with Fulton’s mother, Bonita Keene.

“They said, ‘You can go to DC or New York or Richmond, but there’s nothing nearby,’ and they loved opera,” Keene recalled. “One day they were brainstorming at home and said, ‘Why don’t we start our own opera company?’ And I thought, ‘Why not?’ And that’s how it started.”

Keene was a choral teacher in Mountain View, and in that capacity he had connections to the Stafford music education system as well as space for rehearsals and performances.

In the first year, they began with eleven students from Mountain View. Fulton was the theater director and Nichols served as music and vocal director. They recruited friends who were also at the university and studying opera as coaches and teachers.

Instead of performing an entire opera, they rehearsed and performed scenes from various operas. The response from the participating students and the audience was very positive.

For the troupe’s second season, they decided to perform a small-scale opera, Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. The following year, they performed an English-language version of La Cenerentola (Cinderella) by Rossini. At these sessions, the coaches and teachers sang the principal roles and the senior students sang the supporting roles. This was the model for subsequent seasons. The principal singers/coaches receive a small salary and room and board.

“We’re looking for students who are currently doing their bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate,” Keene said. “True professionals probably won’t join our small program, but the people who are working toward that and are still studying. For them, it’s a great experience because it adds value to their resume and gives them exposure.”

Students pay only $150 to participate in the program. This amount is kept low so that as many students as possible can participate. Mentors are housed in the volunteers’ homes for the week. Most of the students are locals, but some come from outside and must arrange meals and accommodation.

“Everything else is donations or whatever, because we want these people to be exposed to opera in a safe environment,” Keene said. “They’re actually too young to sing opera, but to be in an ensemble that supports these older cast members, we call it a summer opera program.”

Keene’s son, Evan Keene, is a coach with the Stafford Opera Troupe. He also composed an original opera based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which they performed for the third time in 2019. Evan Keene is involved with the local Aspire Musical Theater, where he has been able to recruit high school students interested in opera to the program.

“They didn’t really know anything about opera, but then they got in a room with opera singers and heard it and felt it and experienced it,” he said. “It was an eye-opening thing. Many of the parents told me their children came home excited. That’s the whole idea of ​​what we do here, because you can listen to a recording of an opera, but it’s not the same as being in a room with it. It opens up a whole new world of what you can do with your voice.”

Caden Files, who met Keene through Aspire, is participating in the program for the first time.

“I thought, I’m not doing anything this summer, so I might as well give it a go,” Files said. “They did a sing-through thing on one of the big songs and I couldn’t figure out the sound. It was incredible. I’m kind of a music nerd. I’m still new to it, so to hear the sound that was coming out of their voices was just absolutely divine.”

“I’ve never been into opera before. Maybe I’ve listened to a song and thought it was stupid, but then I went back to my country music. I like country, pop, musicals, blues, jazz, I love all of it. Now I’m getting to know a whole new world of music and it’s incredible.”

This year, the troupe is staging Die Fledermaus by Johann Stauss II. The opera was originally in German, but they will perform an English translation. It is a light comedy with a lot of spoken dialogue, so it translates well for a wide audience. The venue for the performance is the University of Mary Washington’s Seacobeck Hall Theater, a smaller space than the Mountain View Auditorium – but one that offers better acoustics and a more intimate atmosphere.

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In addition to bass-baritone and composer Evan Keene and his sister Corinn Fulton, faculty members for this year’s program include music director Dr. Jordan Davidson, an associate professor at James Madison University and choral instructor at Spotswood High School near Harrisonburg; soprano Mollie Nesaw, who teaches at Mosley Music in Hanover, gives private voice lessons, and holds a music degree from Virginia Tech; UMW music graduate and soprano Katherine Preseren, who performs in the all-female rock band Ladia; and piano accompanist Bethany James, who also accompanies the Chamber Chorale of Fredericksburg.

Sam Fulton, a veteran local actor, is the technical director and handles set design, sound and lighting. Lauren Terrill is a graduate of Mountain View High School, where she now teaches Spanish, is a vocalist, and is the troupe photographer.

Since co-founding the Stafford Opera Troupe, Bree Nichols has earned her doctorate from the University of North Texas and is currently singing opera in Prague. She is still involved with the troupe and is teaching a virtual class with this year’s students.

Bonita Keene hopes the word will spread to other students in the area who are interested in opera.

“We have a teacher from Spotsylvania High School who sings, and she brought one of her students with her,” Keene said. “I hope that when local high school teachers see what we’re doing and how it benefits students, they hear these voices and think, ‘This could be my future.’ I think when they see how this benefits their students and their program, it will grow.”

When you go

“Die Fledermaus” performed by the Stafford Opera Troupe, July 12 and 13, 7 p.m., Seacobeck Hall Theater, University Of Mary Washington, 1701 College Ave, Fredericksburg. Admission is free.