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MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE ANNOUNCES
FORMATION OF A NEW CHILDREN’S CHORUS
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Permanent Children’s Chorus will Perform Opera,
Give Community Performances
DETROIT, Michigan, July 2, 2007…Michigan Opera Theatre is pleased to announce the formation of a brand new performing ensemble: The Michigan Opera Theatre Children’s Chorus. Led by Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus Master Suzanne Mallare Acton, this permanent children’s choir will be the first of its kind for Metro Detroit children. Accepting children ages 10-16 by audition, the choir will perform as a separate ensemble and with international opera stars in Michigan Opera Theatre productions.
“This is an exciting development for our Community Programs Department,” says Michigan Opera Theatre General Director David DiChiera. “In creating this ensemble, we hope to nurture young talent and foster musical ability so children can go on to great careers in opera or theater having learned with the best.”
Children accepted into the MOT Children’s Chorus will learn the various aspects of opera and voice training, including voice studies, movement and audition techniques in a professional environment with internationally-renowned opera singers and voice specialists as coaches and mentors. With the opening of the new Ford Center for Arts and Learning at the Detroit Opera House in 2006, the physical space is now available to undertake this large and promising project. A generous grant from the Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Foundation is providing the startup funding necessary to form the ensemble.
The new MOT Children’s Chorus members will have the opportunity to join the ranks of many previous MOT chorus members that have gone on to perform professionally. Several children that have performed with Michigan Opera Theatre have performed in Broadway, television and theater. Former Troy resident Sutton Foster, a previous ad hoc MOT chorus member is a Broadway artist and won a Tony Award for her Broadway performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2002. More recently, Livonia native Jonathan B. Wright, who performed in the 2003 MOT production of Dead Man Walking, is performing on Broadway in the highly-acclaimed musical Spring Awakening.
Other children from Michigan Opera Theatre productions have gone on to careers in theater production. Jeffrey Seller, who performed in MOT’s production of Carmen in 1977 is now a Broadway producer and the winner of two Tony Awards for Best Musical, Rent (1996) and Avenue Q (2004). Rent went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Seller also produced De La Guarda (1998) and Baz Luhrman's production of Puccini's La Boheme (2002).
Also a former Troy resident, Colleen O’Shaughnessey is another product of Michigan Opera Theatre productions that pursued a career as a voice actress after her involvement with Michigan Opera Theatre’s production of I Pagliacci in 1985. Known for her roles as the voice of Jazz Fenton on the Nickelodeon television show Danny Phantom and the voice of Sora from the first and second seasons of the popular television show Digimon, O’Shaughnessey has had an extensive career in voice acting in movies and television.
“So many talented chorus alumni have made professional careers for themselves on the stage,” says Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus Master Suzanne Acton. “We are excited to lay the musical groundwork for future Broadway and opera stars."
Auditions for the children’s chorus will be held in July and August, 2007 for children ages 10-16, and the ensemble will rehearse and perform at the Detroit Opera House from September 2007 through June 2008 on Mondays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Interested persons may contact Suzanne Acton, MOT Chorus Master at sacton@motopera.org for further information. An audition notice will be released when audition dates are scheduled.
The Michigan Opera Theatre Children’s Chorus
The mission of the MOT Children’s Choir is to provide exceptional choral music and theatrical performance instruction in a professional environment to young people. This instruction will foster their creativity, personal expression and social growth. Offering a curriculum that embraces diverse cultures and traditions and a rich and extensive range of musical genres, the program will seek to instill personal and artistic excellence in its students. In keeping with its role as a major cultural resource to the entire community, Michigan Opera Theatre will offer these unique learning opportunities to a diverse group of students from varied economic, cultural and social backgrounds.
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