Miami Student

Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: Campus

Opera students rehearse in Presser Hall. Their performance this fall includes two one-hour operas at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 19 to 21 at Hall Auditorium

Miami University's focus on undergraduates could not be better understood than by those involved in Miami's opera program, as they receive opportunities usually given to graduate students at other schools.

Mari Opatz-Muni, director of the opera program, was hired as a voice teacher at Miami 13 years ago and took on the opera program three years later. She found Miami's program unique because of the undergraduate focus and felt the opportunities available to all students were very beneficial.



"A lot of our graduate students have come from very large programs where they didn't get the opportunity to perform as undergraduates," Opatz-Muni said. "They come to Miami so they get that performance experience.

According to Opatz-Muni, more than 100 students are involved in opera. Auditions are always open to all students though most roles are cast with music majors, both graduates and undergraduates, as they have experiences non-music majors do not have. At other schools, Opatz-Muni added, performance majors are usually the only students to get these roles.

Junior Emily Moses, a music education and vocal performance major involved in the opera program for her second year, chose Miami instead of larger schools because the program was more personal and the potential she would have for undergraduate experience.

"As an undergrad I'm given opportunities to perform roles if I were at Juilliard or Indiana I would never get," Moses said. "Because of that I'll graduate Miami as a better musician with things on my resume that students at other universities only dream of having."

Moses said graduate students rarely taught classes and she appreciated the fact she knew all of her colleagues in the program.

A. Kori Hill, a second year in the opera program and assistant principal of the second violins, likes the experience she has had with opera.

Continued...

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